Hannibal: Tome-Wan review

Last week Graham suggested to Mason Verger that he feed Hannibal to his pigs.

Oh the best laid plans of mice and men. How often they go awry. Well, only if you are a buffoon like Mason. As we might have guessed, the meal he planned for his piggly wigglies does not work out as intended.

We learned that both Graham and Crawford are fishing for enough ammo to successfully convict Hannibal for murder. At this point they would take any murder. The murder of a hobo. They aren’t discriminating. And both men are willing to push their pursuit of the good doctor to the absolute moral limit. This includes letting Graham kill, mutilate, and eat another killer while also torching a corpse in order to fake the death of Freddie Lounds.

This week sees the return of the devastatingly lovely Du Maurier. Crawford managed to hunt her down so that they might use her as a witness against Hannibal. Unfortunately the only thing that Du Maurier admits to is a murder she committed (ostensibly in self defense) with Hannibal’s encouragement. Even though he did not commit the crime, he was the driving force and that, she points out, is the major problem. While Crawford and Graham think they are manipulating Hannibal, Du Maurier tells them that Hannibal is merely letting them think they have the upper hand.

And that becomes the central theme of the episode. Who is really hunting who? Who is being manipulated? Who has the power? Oh come on – it’s Hannibal. The real question here is who are we kidding? While Graham might be up to the challenge of bringing his bromance down, he is ultimately hindered by his moral compass.

Anywho. At his next therapy session, Mason, irritated that Hannibal gave Margot ideas, antagonizes Hannibal by being intolerably rude; he puts his feet up on Hannibal’s desk and stabs holes in his office furniture. All the while, Mason explains that he is very good at playing chicken. He never blinks.

Later he sends his Sardinian thugs to pick the good doctor up and fetch him to the pig pen, where Graham is waiting. And here is where everything starts to go sideways (SPOILERS ahead!). The whole point of playing Hannibal and Mason off one another was so that Crawford and Graham could catch the good doctor 86-ing yet another of his patients. Instead, Mason insists Graham kill Hannibal himself. Which, and let’s be honest here, Graham should have done and then called it a day.

Instead, he frees his bromance loose and manages to get knocked unconscious for the ensuing fight. He comes to in the midst of some artful blood smears and finds a half eaten Sardinian. As for Mason, well, Graham finds him at his house, feeding slices of his face to that pack of useless, long suffering dogs. Seriously. The most useless pack of dogs in the history of domestication. Why do they keep letting strangers into Graham’s house?

Graham seems more amused than upset by Mason’s situation. He and Hannibal discuss it at length, observing Mason’s condition and how it lends itself to honesty. Here Graham sees his opening, indicating that Hannibal should be honest with Crawford and let him see who he really is. Hannibal acknowledges this would only be polite; after all, Crawford is now his friend. And with friends like these …

At any rate, Hannibal instructs Mason to eat his nose (to spite his face), before he breaks Mason’s neck. In front of Graham. How is this not enough to land him in prison?

The final scene finds Crawford paying the still living Mason (who seems to have retained his sense of humor, and let’s face it – if you don’t have that, then you aren’t really living) a visit and inquiring how he came to be in this predicament. Cool as a cucumber, Mason insists that he fell into the pig pen. True to his word, he doesn’t blink.  

Body parts eaten this episode: Mason Verger’s face; although only the dogs got a taste

How do you make that: How about a nice recipe for head cheese instead? http://www.food.com/recipe/head-cheese-259955

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