Hannibal Season 3 Final Scene

[Alix Stocking]

Thefirst time we see Will ever is at the crime scene of the Marlows. Word of God had it that these were the firstmurders of the Red Dragon, but this idea seems to have been dropped by season three forwhatever reason. No one mentions the Marlows at all during the Red Dragoninvestigation, so it is not going out on a limb much to say that in show canon,the Marlows were killed by someone else (and their murders possibly wentunsolved.)

What I think happened is thatthrough all this hand-wringing about Will getting more involved with profiling,it was already a too late. Will was way farther gone than anyone realized.Every time he reviewed a crime to teach it to his class, he walked through itall over again, experiencing it as if he was there, as if he had done it. And becausehe taught crime scene analysis, this could have been happening to him constantly and relentlesslyfor years on end, while he told no one.

Note: Before I recap this episode, I have to acknowledge that Bryan Fuller's Hannibal was canceled earlier this week. I can't help but view this episode in a more melancholic vibe since at this point the future of this excellent show is uncertain. Fuller has said that there are options for the acclaimed drama but nothing has been set in stone. Hopefully other networks can step up to pick up this show, which is unlike anything else on television in terms of storytelling, but if anything I think we should be grateful that the show was even able to get this far. I've been watching Hannibal since the beginning, so if this is truly the last season then the journey was more than worth it and hopefully this means that new viewers can discover this excellent show.

More than any other episode, so far, this season, Hannibal's fourth episode is concerned with discovering what happened after last season's shocking events. Taking the structure of a heist film, the episode focused on Dr. Frederick Chilton (Raul Esparza) assembling the people that were hurt by Hannibal. After four episodes, we finally discover what happened to Dr. Alana Bloom (a superb Caroline Dhavernas), Jack and Will as well as the Vergers: Mason (Joe Anderson taking over Michael Pitt) and Margot (Katherine Isabelle).

One of the coolest aspects about this episode is that director Marc Jobst really focuses on the aftermath of last season's finale and even has the audacity to push the title character to the side. What is fascinating to see is that, in many ways, all of these people have been profoundly affected by the events; in other words they're emotionally broken by what happened. They all have motivation against Hannibal and therefore the stakes increase dramatically as a result.

Aside from pushing its title character out of the main narrative, this episode also boldly introduces new paths for the characters, including Alana. It's going to be interesting to see how this new alliance, between Alana and Mason, evolves over the course of the season. It's pretty clear that Alana is not the same (everything from her tone of voice to outlook on Hannibal) and I can't wait to see how the writers continue exploring this edgier version of her character throughout this season. They even managed to incorporate that edgier, deadpan humor (the theater line was particularly brilliant given how operatic this episode was) into her excellent conversations with Mason.

Besides Alana, we also got a glimpse into what happened to Jack before he arrives in Italy. This entire sequence, detailing Jack's survival and how it affects his life with his wife Bella (an absolutely heartbreaking Gina Torres), is absolutely emotionally gut wrenching. It's interesting to see that for a show known for pulling no punches in terms of graphic content, it's remarkable how the show handled this scene. It's handled with an almost lyrical level of fragility and grief. Both Fishburne and Torres are exceptional in this short sequence. Another standout was the funeral scene between Will and Jack (it was beautifully shot by James Hawkinson; I love the touch of Will being out of focus during the conversation) discussing Bella's fate and Will's mission. Another great recurring motif during this episode was the idea that characters are plagued by visions of loved ones that are dead. We saw this again with Will and Abigail (in a very haunting shot) but it appears that Jack also had a similar experience with Bella.

What this episode does great is that it finally reveals the aftermath of the Season 2 shocker. But it also effectively lays out the plan for what the characters will be up to this season. We know that Willa and Jack are in Italy but the Alana/Mason alliance is definitely one that sounds promising considering how changed Alana is as a character. Finally, it's interesting to see the fascination that the show has with eating someone. Last episode, Hannibal revealed that he needed to eat Will as a form of forgiveness and now Mason wants to eat Hannibal. His excuse is a little different and definitely verging on an almost ritualistic form of expression. Mason considers Hannibal a savior and to achieve his version of enlightenment he must eat him.

The series is based on characters and elements appearing in Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, with focus on the relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham's most cunning enemy. The episode revolves around BAU following the track of a killer, who disposed bodies on a river after deeming them useless. With Graham incarcerated, Lecter aids BAU in the case. Meanwhile, Graham goes through therapy with Bloom in order to find more about his lost memories.

Twelve weeks earlier, Lecter prepares kaiseki for Crawford. Their conversation reveals that both men are under investigation for misconduct in relation to Will Graham's (Hugh Dancy) apparent murder spree. Crawford and Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) are questioned by Kade Prurnell (Cynthia Nixon), an investigator for the Inspector General's Office. Bloom has lodged a misconduct complaint against Crawford for letting Graham continue to work despite his mental deterioration, and she refuses to recant her complaint despite pressure from Prurnell, who is eager to avoid any public embarrassment of the FBI. Meanwhile, Graham is questioned in his cell by Dr. Frederick Chilton (Ral Esparza), who is determined to find everything wrong with him. He is also constantly visited by Lecter, who is curious about his progress.

In Rockville, Maryland, two city workers discover six corpses on a river. Lecter helps the BAU in the case, filling Graham's role of deducing the killer's motivations and methods. Graham, meanwhile, has started therapy with Bloom, who wants to help him fill the gaps in his memory through the use of hypnosis, but this is apparently unsuccessful. Elsewhere, a young man named Roland Umber (Ryan Field) is approached by an unseen person in a subway train. At his house, he notices plastic wrap on his car and while he inspects, he is kidnapped and taken to an unknown location, where the kidnapper injects him with heroin and sprays him with water.

Lecter theorizes that the killer is preserving the bodies to create a human model collection and that those in the river are imperfect castoffs. At the hospital, Graham has a flashback of Lecter forcing Abigail's ear down his throat with the use of a plastic tube. He pleads Crawford for help, but Crawford is not convinced of his claims as they haven't found a single piece of evidence against Lecter. That night, Umber wakes up inside a grain silo. He finds that he is stitched to a collection of dead bodies in the silo and screams in horror.

In June 2013, Bryan Fuller announced that the first episode of the season would be titled "Kaiseki".[1] NBC would confirm the title in February 2014, with Fuller and executive producer Steve Lightfoot writing the episode and Tim Hunter directing. This was Fuller's 11th writing credit, Lightfoot's fourth writing credit, and Hunter's second directing credit.[2]

According to Fuller, the episode serves as a two-parter with the following episode, "Sakizuke", deeming it a "pseudo pilot". He also teased, "Will knows something no one else knows, and it's a great place to put a character. One of the things I was most excited about in Season 2 was seeing Will Graham hit rock bottom."[3]

In September 2013, Cynthia Nixon joined the series in the recurring role of Kade Prurnell, "an employee of the Office of the Inspector General in FBI Oversight who is investigating the events of the first season and Jack Crawford's culpability."[4] According to Fuller, Prurnell was based on the character Paul Krendler, who debuted in the novel The Silence of the Lambs. As the series did not have access to characters originating from the novel, Fuller changed the name, with "Kade Prurnell" serving as an anagram for "Paul Krendler".[5]

The episode also introduced Jonathan Tucker as Matthew Brown, an orderly at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.[6] The original plan was having the character Barney Matthews, who appeared in The Silence of the Lambs. However, the series did not receive permission to use it, so the producers created a new character based on Barney, making him "younger and perhaps a little more opportunistic."[7] Fuller said that if they had access to Barney Matthews, he would have wanted Chi McBride, whom he worked with on Pushing Daisies, to play him.[8]

On the opening fight, Fuller commented, "I felt like we had so many moves during the season that were as exciting (if not more exciting), and it felt like the logical conclusion to the Jack Crawford/Hannibal Lecter relationship would be a knock-down, drag-out fight of some sort."[9] He also said, "we knew that there was going to be a conversation that you didn't hear, and also circumstances that you wouldn't have assumed going into it with Jack Crawford actually showing up, having gone rogue and taking matters into his own hands, and essentially coming to dinner as a vigilante."[10]

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