Reviews

Hannibal: Trou Normand, Review

We take a quick look back at Fromage as we review the latest from our favorite chef.

By Gerri Mahn | May 24, 2013 | | 0

Last week on Hannibal (Episode 8 “Fromage”) we learned that Lecter’s patient Franklin attracts psychos the way porch lights attract moths. His buddy Tobias appears to be a wackadoodle. A wackadoodle who enjoys killing people and turning their guts into strings for musical instruments like cellos. Because making your own catgut is just not old timey enough. Dueling serial killers? Le sigh. I am almost glad I nearly missed this episode. Almost. Of course then I would have missed Will and Dr. Bloom overanalyzing sexy time. And Lecter and Dr. Du Maurier gazing at each other with smoldering sexual tension. Also, Lecter and Tobias gazed at each other with smoldering sexual tension. That was nice. For me.

So two serial killers bonded over the arts? Yeah, that was totes plausible.

Anywho. Lecter snapped Franklin’s neck. No shock there; Franklin was goddamn annoying. Then he and Tobias (who was apparently both a music teacher and a ninja) had a kick ass fight scene. Guess who won?

Sorry Tobias, Lecter’s heart belongs to Will.

This week sees Will hanging out on a beach in the cold and snow, with a totem pole of body parts which looked really labor intensive to assemble. This is why I am not a serial killer; I lack the drive. [Editor: And cuz its wrong?] [Gerri: Um…Yeah. That too…. ]

Speaking of drive, Will blinked and ended up in Lecter’s office. Only he could not remember how he got there, even though it was a three hour drive to Baltimore. My question is not how he got there; it is why his fellow FBI agents let him shamble off the crime scene like a friggen’ zombie. Good lookin’ out guys.

The answer? It appears that no one can tell the difference between “normal” Will and “zombified” Will. That is never a good sign.

As for the totem pole, it was compiled from 17 bodies, most of which were recorded as having died from natural causes. Will believes that they were all murdered. He indicates as much to the classroom full of imaginary students he hallucinates lecturing to. Oh muffin. You are turning into a bigger wackadoodle than the music teacher/ninja/patron of the classical arts/serial killer boyfriend wannabe Tobias.

Anywho. This week’s killer was not a spry young man. He was old. Really, really, old. Crawford and Will find him sitting in his living room, all his stuff packed up, ready to go be a paragon in prison (which he correctly points out would be preferable to the kind of crap retirement community he could afford on his pension). Only it turns out that his last victim (who the killer thought was the son of his first victim) was really his son. Yes, it gets a little convoluted there. Old killer seems mildly distressed when he finds out. He does not say anything, but you can hear his internal dialog giving a hearty “Goddamnit”.

In other news, Abigail Hobbs is dreaming about her father’s victims. Luckily she has intrepid reporter, Freddie Lounds to help her find closure. For a price. Say the price associated with a tell-all book deal? Will and Lecter come over to play good dad/ bad dad and advise her not to spill her guts.

What in the hell is going on with this show? Great characters, sublime cinematography, gorgeous sets, and plot devices that run naked through the weeds, screaming and flailing their arms? Ninja music teacher serial killers? Ridiculously strong geriatric killers? The daughter of a serial killer who is also guilty of murder wanting to collaborate with a complete douche of a reporter? In what universe people?

Speaking of the murder Abigail committed, her victim Nicholas Boyle turned up. Well, his body did at any rate. And Abigail was the one to dig him up and dump him on the FBI’s doorstep, much to the irritation of Lecter. Careful Abigail, you don’t want to go the way of Franklin.

Abigail’s two dads are determined to look after her and keep her safe. Will takes a break from being a wackadoodle in time to realize that Abigail killed Boyle in self defense; and Lecter helped her cover it up. When Will confronts him about it, Lecter decides to exercise his new friendship muscle (heh) and manages to convince Will to keep Abigail’s best interests at heart by keeping her secret. Speaking of secrets, Abigail finally came to term with the fact that she was complicit in her dad’s killings. She was the bait; she lured the victims in. Naughty minx.

Lecter assured Abigail that he and his co-parent, Will, were going to protect her. Interesting. Last episode he expressed his desire to protect Dr. Du Maurier. And he looked positively radiant when he discovered that Will had survived the musically inclined ninja, Tobias. He cares. He really, really, cares. Should we be surprised? No, because a big hearted Lecter is actually cannon.

Harris’s first book, “Red Dragon”, depicted Lecter as a pure villain. But we learn that his anger with Will is directly related to his feelings of betrayal. In “The Silence of the Lambs”, Lecter expresses affection and a protective streak for Clarice Starling. But it was not until the novel “Hannibal” that we really saw Lecter hit his stride in terms of motivation.

He does not kill randomly; he never killed randomly. He dispensed his own brand of justice. Lecter does not see himself as a cold hearted killer. He identifies as a kind of extreme (and extremely hungry) Batman. Someone who strives to protect the people he cares about, much in the same way he attempted to protect his baby sister Mischa when they were children (“Hannibal Rising”). Attempted and failed. I wonder if he will have better luck prior to incarceration. Somehow I doubt it.

Decorative arts created with body parts this episode:

17 composite bodies tied together by a senior citizen in the shape of a totem pole.

Hey, that is pretty cool, how can I get down with Native American folk art?

http://www.ehow.com/how_4802418_build-american-style-totem-pole.html [Editor: Um, Gerri, why would we want to create a totem pole out of bodies?][Gerri: Just because mine is made out of bodies doesn’t mean yours has to be. Duh. ][Editor: What do you mean yours? ..Gerri?]