im just so confused to this show because i cant figure hannibal out since he keeps contradicting himself. But its so good.
well i think it isn’t easy to see through and i can assure you that’s all intentional!
this is just the act that hannibal plays. it’s not really that he contradicts himself. we just think that he does, because his actions don’t really fit to each other. we have figure to his intentions out:
first, we have hannibal who is will’s friend. he cares deeply for him and wants to help him.second, we have hannibal, the psychiatrist. he is curious about how far a person can go if you put him in a certain position.third, we have hannibal, the intelligent psychopath and cannibal.
so no we put those three layers together. i’m not an expert but if you finish season 1 and catch up with season 2 it will be probably more clearly for you. hannibal spends time with will and thinks they share something. that’s their foundation of friendship. also when they have the abigail thing going on and him saying they are her “fathers”. that’s where cares personally about will. but the psychiatrist is fascinated with him: he often remarks how amazing he thinks will’s imagination and empathy is, therefore, hannibal is interested in will as an object of science. that would be okay, but we have layer 3. the intelligent psychopath. he is curious about how will would react if he is put into a certain position, how he would act. and as you see, and will see, hannibal carefully plants those positions for will, and by doing it, he puts him in charge for the murders he comitted and makes everyone believe that will is the chesapeak ripper / the copycat killer / etc which is a double win for hannibal.
and apart from that, hannibal gains amusement. he’s curious, so he “winds up” will and watches him go. and as bedelia remarks (at some point): hannibal honestly, /genuinely/ believes that he’s doing nothing but good to will, that he helps him, that he thinks he’s his friend, and that’s where the psychopath aspect comes to play.
i know this is very confusing, and that’s why hannibal is such a fascinating character that is well written, and the show does good on making the audience wanting to figure out hannibal - because on the one hand, we see hannibal the human we sympathize with, and hannibal the monster, who harms people for fun.
i hope i could help you to figure it at least a little out omg and i hope you don’t mind me publishing this because this is kinda long and i’d kinda like to keep my answer somewhere! x
