This week's Hannibal episode, "Sorbet," was like a convoluted puzzle of patients and psychiatrists. There were layers upon nuances of relationships and characterizations that were enough to make my head spin.

Guest star Gillian Andrews assumed the role of Hannibal's own psychiatrist, Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, who had retired, but who Hannibal apparently refused to stop seeing. She found him fascinating enough to continue seeing him even after she stopped her practice.

He visited her just after a patient of Hannibal's named Franklin admitted he wanted a friendship with Mr. Lecter. Within moments of having a discussion with Franklin that they were, indeed, NOT friends but doctor and patient, Hannibal was having a very similar discussion with Dr. Du Maurier. It was she who said something we'll all remember from a case the older Lecter helped to solve...

"But you are wearing a very well tailored person suit....Less of a person suit and more of a human veil." 

She noted how lonely it must be for him and he protested that he had friends and opportunities for friendships. She proceeded to pour him a glass of wine to continue out their play, and moments later he was presenting a similar situation to Will. At their session, he similarly offered wine and questioned whether they were truly doctor and patient or merely having conversations.

This unveiling of Hannibal Lecter is truly a masterpiece on television. Discovering why he is who he is, if given the opportunity, will be a fascinating ride. As his patient, Will, summed him up, unknowingly as describing The Ripper:

Jack: Tell me how you see The Ripper, Will.
Will: I see him as one of those pitiful things sometimes born in hospitals. They feed it, keep it warm, but they don't put it on machines. They let it die. But he doesn't die. He looks normal. Nobody can tell what he is. | permalink

It was fascinating to compare the interactions of all of the doctors and patients with how Hannibal sees his himself through their eyes. He asks questions of them for the answers he seeks of himself. Getting the answers as the killer that he does through seeing Will is a completely different layer to his personality and equally as challenging to dissect. 

By including Lecter in the investigation of who Jack thinks is The Ripper, Jack gives Lecter information on how to maintain distance from the authorities and keep his work artistic in nature. There was a brief second as Will watched Hannibal at work in the ambulance that I could have sworn he was seeing the man inside the person suit. 

Brian: We're either looking for someone with short bowels or someone who is making sausage. | permalink

You'd think given the meals served with such artistic presentation by Hannibal... the skill he exhibited in the ambulance... his past as a surgeon... his keen observatory skills and the quote that was tossed around in the room full of victims... that Will might have seen, in that special way of his, even a little dream sequence of the possibility of someone like The Ripper doing just what Hannibal was doing that evening.

With every murder involving the loss of organs and Hannibal Lecter known for serving them, that their paths haven't crossed just seems inconceivable. I guess it is possible to be too close.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.