Hannibal “Takiawase” Review (2×04)

Hannibal is full of death, but the way the show handles it is so artful.

The various crime scenes dreamed up by the writers showcase a wide variety of imaginative, unique, and truly unsettling imagery, and that’s no different with the bee (BEES?! Sorry, I had to make that reference) corpse this week. However, what I want to expand upon is the idea of death from a psychological and emotional perspective.

Bella’s arc and Pims’ arc (Amanda Plummer) are parallels here, emphasizing the idea of death as a form of mercy, a way to reduce the pain you and those around you experience. Bella’s arc is pretty devastating throughout, highlighting her relationship with Jack and exploring the reasonings behind her decision to commit suicide. Both sides contain valid points, and when Hannibal listens to Bella explain about sparing Jack the pain of watching her die, something registers with him. He’s the kind of person who transforms death into art, his personal pride, his food. Some sense of dignity and beauty still prevails in death, and we should do what we can to preserve that.

Their scenes also hint at how much he genuinely likes and respects Bella. At heart, he’ll always be a serial killer and will always want to wield the power–as he reduces life or death to a coin toss–but he also seems to have a dynamic with her that he has with very few people (Mikkelsen and Torres are fantastic at conveying this). This–along with his fascination with Will–will almost definitely bite him in the ass someday, but right now, everything revolves around him. In fact, the episode does a nice job of portraying Hannibal as a God-like figure throughout, from Bella’s Lazarus reference to the final shot with Beverly, and with the concept of him having control over Bella’s life. Going off that point, we’re also reminded of how much was lost when Abigail died; the fishing scene at the beginning is a fantastic set up for the rest of the episode, emphasizing just how much other forces controlled Abigail’s life. She’s always been bait, and although Will knows not to hunt like Beverly does, he also knows that his luring method comes at the expense of those around him.

So much of this series is about obsession, and that central Hannibal-Will obsession–which works both ways–is sure to carry over to those around them. And as these people try to break free or, in the case of Beverly Katz, look for that elusive evidence, they might be digging themselves deeper, eventually clashing with and possibly even destroying each other.

So, although Beverly’s investigation at the end of the episode is a bit reckless, it’s entirely in character for her; I can easily see Hannibal or Will slipping up due to their preoccupations with the other, and this is something we’ve already started to observe. They’re such meticulous people, but emotion can take control. In this world of serial killers and hallucinations and dreams and death, something’s bound to go wrong.

GRADE: A-

OTHER THOUGHTS:

-It’s so nice to see Kacey Rohl back as Abigail Hobbs. She was absolutely stellar last year, and I was sad to see her go.

-“When the drone mates with the Queen, its ejaculation is so explosive it’s audible to the human ear.”

-Great casting of Amanda Plummer, Honey Bunny of “Pulp Fiction”, to play the killer here.

-I hope this isn’t the last we see of Hettiene Park. She’s done good work with the character thus far, and I’d like to see more. Also, what a badass she is in that final scene.

-“You are not the only psychiatrist accused of making a patient kill. We have to stick together.” Oh, Dr. Chilton. I’m really enjoying his dynamic with Will right now, as he sees through Graham, but is undone by his own ego.

-The whole “Will’s memory” scene is just beautifully directed, and that Hannibal Picasso face will stick with me for a long time.

-Gina Torres is fabulous throughout.

Photo credit: NBC, Hannibal

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