Hannibal Review: Collapse

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I’m not sure how Hannibal continues to top itself in regards to gore, yet "Roti" featured Dr. Gideon attaching still-wagging tongues to the necks of dead bodies and performing surgical art on those that wronged him.

What does it say about me that I’ve just come to accept goriness as part of Hannibal’s charm?

Will's Challenge

The dream Will has with the iceberg beginning to break was a good reference into his current state of mind. Will’s consciousness is collapsing into his subconscious and the empathy he uses to put himself into the minds of killers is beginning to take its toll on him. Those breakings to Will are like a metaphor for Freud’s ideas on consciousness. where the conscience part of his personality is sinking down into his id and superego drives.

Will feels himself going crazy, that he’s not in the right state of mind, but since his encephalitis is completely unknown to him he thinks everything is in his mind. Jack’s advice to Will is sound. He can’t allow himself to take it all in, otherwise it will consume him and compromise his health. He needs to find a way to let that pain go when it’s all over.

Whether Will wants to or not, he is in some instances throughout Hannibal Season 1 following his gut. It can even be argued that Will's way of solving cases is entirely gut based. A reader named TiffanyO in the “Fromage” comments brought up a great theory about the moose being Will’s subconscious to lead him to what he knows deep down.

Almost every week the moose makes an appearance. A strong, majestic, and self-confident animal that is ready and waiting for Will to take charge and lead, but Will hasn’t found those qualities in himself yet. He’s still relying on others to tell him what he has or doesn’t have.

Will bringing “Hobbs” to Lecter was a culmination of his encephalitis, subconscious and mental deterioration. I was hoping Gideon would begin to piece together Will’s encephalitis and let it slip to him. The two did develop an unlikely but calm and peaceful conversational friendship. Sadly, Will’s mild seizure pulled him out the conversation he already knows the answer to:

Gideon: Are you the ripper?
Lecter: Terrible thing, to have your identity taken from you. | permalink

Lecter is brilliant - and it’s not a difficult intuitional leap to see that he’s continuing to play Will and his condition into the scenarios he needs. He wanted to meet Dr. Gideon, most likely as another professional courtesy, but more importantly Lecter wants to systematically reduce Will’s support system.

By sending Gideon after Alana, it’s one less person in Will’s life and one less person in Lecter’s way. If Will begins to lose all the constants in his life, then very soon the only person he has to rely on is Lecter. It all plays into Lecter’s plans. If he can push Will far enough that the BAU team loses their faith in him and Alana can’t help him, then Lecter is nearly uncatchable.

The final few minutes of “Roti," meanwhile, are still turning about in my head with Lecter and his therapist:

Lecter: I see his madness and I want to contain it like an oil spill.
Therapist: Oil is valuable. What value does Will Graham's madness have to you? | permalink

I still believe Lecter is completely manipulative and only focused on himself... yet he has somehow convinced himself that, on some level, he views Will as his friend. In Hannibal’s world, this can totally pass as friendship, but Will doesn’t stand chance because all of it is completely rigged. It’s completely perverse.

Roti Review

Editor Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.9 / 5.0 (39 Votes)
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Hannibal Season 1 Episode 10 Quotes

You and I are just going to have to have a difference of opinion doctor.

Jack

Lecter: I see his madness and I want to contain it like an oil spill.
Therapist: Oil is valuable. What value does Will Graham's madness have to you?