“Hannibal” Episode 3.3, “Secondo.” Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne, Gillian Anderson; Written by Angelina Burnett, Steve Lightfoot, and Bryan Fuller; Directed by Vincenzo Natali.
I sat down and pulled my “Hannibal” file out last night (yup, that’s a real thing I have) and realized I never posted the review I had prepared for last week’s episode. Full disclosure – the idea of writing any kind of review or analysis of that episode really intimidated me. I do realize that I’m basically confessing that I might not be very good at this, but I’ve never really claimed to be a scholar of the medium. This is a thing I do for fun – I like sharing opinions on television and movies, though I have no critical schooling at all. And man, “Hannibal” sometimes makes me feel wildly underserved in the schoolin’ department. In the best possible way.
So let’s do a quick rundown of 3.2, “Primavera.” The episode featured the resurrection of Will Graham. He survived his Hannibal experience, and was surprised to see that Abigail had survived hers as well. Her explanation to Will: “He knew just how to cut me.” And that’s not too far a stretch for viewers, especially those well versed in Hannibal lore. He was a surgeon, a supremely talented one, so he would know how to slice a throat and stay death.
Will and Abigail travel to Italy and find Hannibal’s latest art installation. Will speaks with local law and learns the legend of Il Monstro, and how this inspector has waited to catch the depraved criminal. There was, per usual, stunning cinematography and a particularly wicked shot of Hannibal hiding a breath away from Will in a catacomb. But the episode mostly served as a discussion on philosophy, theology, and the romantic horror of Hannibal Lecter. And I say “romantic” more in the sense of an aesthetic than an expression of love. Though the former certainly came into play, as we become more privy to all the different ways in which characters succumb and become engulfed by Il Monstro. When Will had his final revelation about Hannibal, it was revealed that Abigail had been a figment the entire time, and that she hadn’t actually survived the brutal attack that ended season two. It was a beautiful hour of television, and can we just talk about that scene with the wendigo in the church? Easily one of the coolest moments in the medium.
Which brings us to “Secondo.” Jack Crawford arrives in Italy and has a similar conversation with the inspector. He seems to be aware that Hannibal is luring Will, and that Hannibal might finally not be in control of a situation. Will has ventured to Lithuania and Lecter castle, where he discovers the former lady in waiting to Hannibal’s aunt, as well as a prisoner that has been held decades in the ruin. This man is Chiyo’s prisoner because she could not allow Hannibal to murder him after the prisoner ate Lecter’s sister during wartime. It’s later revealed that this man in turn fed a young, starving Lecter food that contained the remains of Mischa. In true Lecter style, he decreed her punishment would be to maintain his sentence for the rest of her life. Meanwhile back in Italy, Bedelia provides some of the sassiest psychoanalysis in history, and Hannibal is – surprise! – eating people.
The episode featured all the usual signatures; stunning cinematography and lighting, lush saturation of colors, deep and philosophic dialogue. The biggest takeaways here are not necessarily what we see onscreen, but the things we’re meant to just know.
Hannibal and Bedelia had several conversations about Hannibal’s impulse control and Bedelia’s waning loyalties. She firmly stated, admirably, that she had a plan to get out of the mess she had made for herself. But during dinner, Hannibal used those ol’ handy surgeon skills to firmly plant a tool in the temple of a colleague. Try though she might, Bedelia was unable to continue her meal while the debilitated man giggled madly about his new blindness, so she removed the implement and the man bled out into his dinner plate. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I giggled, albeit uncomfortably, when Hannibal announced “techinically, you killed him.” And she did. Which likely threw a kink in her extraction plan.
“Secondo” also reveled in what has to be the most obscene, blatant, gorgeous depictions of cannabilism in television history. Hannibal prepared an arm for his guests, and they devoured their meal in slow motion, sexual hysteria. It was, if I can be honest and not put on some sort of government list, glorious.
But the minutiae of the episode was just that. The meat of this hour was more about the actualization of the relationship between Hannibal and Will. It’s close to no longer being inferred, but shouted from the rooftops.
Let’s start with the most obvious: Hannibal served Punch Romaine before inserting a semi-blunt object into one of the more important lobes of his dinner guest. But was the foreshadowing for his victim, or a sign of things to come for Hannibal?
Most of the gorgeous Lithuanian cinematography centered on Will Graham, haloed in fireflies. The firefly, for those who don’t experience them, seem ordinary and common by day but at night their bioluminescence displays a light show so ethereal it’s capable of lighting an entire cornfield. I think their use in these scenes served to tell viewers that will had an episode of self illumination, a realization about his nature, his self, and how he is tied to Hannibal even in the throes of his horror and revulsion. Will developed a plan to release the cannibal in the basement, but it ended badly when Chiyo murdered the man. Will then decorated the body in a familiar style, and strung him up displayed as a dragonfly.
Throughout these scenes, Will was also surrounded by snails. Snails have served up many a metaphor; they’ve been used as Christ and resurrection symbolism, and their cyclical continuity is a perfect example of uncalculated mathematical perfection. They’re also largely hermaphroditic and court by firing calcium “darts” at each other before mating. Will Graham returned from persecution, despair, and death. Hannibal Lecter lives a life of cool calculation and expects nothing but perfection of etiquette and performance. And while the two might not be firing Cupid’s arrows at each other, they are trading elaborate corpse art and I think you get my point.
And then there was the aria. I did have to look up the lyrics – I can usually identify a lot of classical music but I know very little about lyrical content. Imagine my delight when I found the lyrics to this “Don Pasquale” aria:
Tornami a dir che m’ami,
Dimmi che mio tu sei;
Quano tuo ben mi chiami
La vita addoppi in me.
La voce tua si cara
Rinfranca il core oppresso:
Sicuro a te dappresso,
Tremo lontan da te.
Turn to me and tell me you love me
Tell me that you are mine
When you call me your beloved
Life redoubles in me.
Your voice, so dear,
Revives the oppressed heart:
Safe while close to you,
I tremble when far from you.
Look, this is not about “shipping.” This is not about a headcanon or seeing clues that aren’t there and it’s certainly not about accusing the show of queerbaiting. But this is a show about lovers. Hannibal Lecter may very well not be able to experience love, at least not as most of us know it. And I firmly believe that gender plays no role in the people Fuller’s Hannibal Lecter chooses to study or with whom he connects. And this Hannibal Lecter believes he has found a kindred soul, a soul mate, in Will Graham. He has wooed, he has dominated and abused, and he continues to obsess to the point of making errors in his normally effortless and divine sociopathy. For this relationship to be consummated in a traditional way would certainly be obscene – not because of gender but because of the nature of the beast. It’s only “love” in the way that a broken, brilliant man can experience and its finale could never promise redemption or happiness.
The true mystery of the show is whether or not Will Graham shares the passion. Is he slowly slipping, falling prey to the romance of Hannibal’s depraved codependence, or has he had an epiphany regarding how far he needs to go to end the terror of Il Monstro?
Sorry this review is so comically late. Sometimes life gets in the way of joy, and yes – talking about how pretty a show about a cannibal is brings me joy. Don’t judge. But it would seem that my assumption about the plot line of this season was prophetic, and “Hannibal” will not return to NBC for a fourth season. We Fannibals are certainly hoping for a Netflix salvation, and I believe that there are plenty of stories to tell.