Will finds out about Margot’s pregnancy, but he isn’t the only one to discover the secret. And Freddie Lounds is put to rest — or is she?
The very first scene of this episode of Hannibal features the weird stag man watching the elk give birth in the woods, and guess who is “born” from the elk? Will, of course! So you know things are about to get weird real fast.
Euphoria
Will and Hannibal share another disturbing meal early on in the episode, one that involves swallowing tiny cooked birds whole. Watching them swallow the tiny creatures actually bothered me more than a lot of the meal scenes on the show, where the food is people, and I don’t know what that says about me except that this show has desensitized me to fictional cannibalism. Winning?
Hannibal says that the first time he ate this particular dish, he felt euphoric. Will says he felt the same way when he killed Freddie Lounds last episode, and Hannibal is obviously pleased. In addition, Will admits that killing is changing the way he thinks. Well, yea, especially since the guy profiles serial killers and all and thinking is a big part of that. Nothing like adding in a little experience to truly understand the mindset, I guess!
Freddie Burns
Not long after, we switch to a scene of a security guard in a car garage, who watches as a burning body in a wheelchair careens down a ramp to land at Freddie Lounds’ parking space. The show really wanted to pack some of the super disturbing stuff in the first few minutes, I guess.
Orthodontic investigation proves that the body is Freddie, and that she’s been dead at least 24 hours. The corpse also, notably, has a cut from a hunting knife on it, as a sort of strange trophy, it’s suggested.
Fire is mythical, Will says. And whoever killed Freddie didn’t burn her to have her rise from the ashes, but so that they could instead. And this was really the point when I realized the metaphors and pretty language were going to get a bit out of hand on Hannibal tonight. It got to be too much for me.
Eating for Two
Margot, Hannibal and Will discuss the fact that Margot is pregnant with Will’s child, and Margot says she got what she wanted from Will and lied to get it. Hannibal admits that he was aware of her goal of getting pregnant, but not that she was going to involve Will the way she did.
Will asks Margot what she wants from him, and she really doesn’t demand anything. Only what he’s willing to give, she says. She’s okay with the kid having a male influence — as long as it’s not her brother, whom she says is “not good with children.”
Then we see just how bad Mason is with children, when he goes to the camp he pays for disadvantaged youth to attend, and makes a little boy cry by telling him he can’t see his foster family again. He does this in order to collect the kids tears, because the guy is a freaking psycho, in case you hadn’t noticed.
Mason Visits Hannibal
Later, Mason admits to Hannibal that maybe he’s been too harsh on the kids at the camp in the past, and maybe taken advantage of them, but he paid for it — with five hundred hours of community service and therapy.
He didn’t really gain much from the therapy though, because he got his doctor involved in something unethical and the guy ended up cutting him some slack. Basically, Mason’s never really gotten his comeuppance for his cruel actions.
When Mason brings up being the sole Verger heir, Hannibal makes a statement about that only being true unless biology provides another. So he essentially lets the cat out of the bag about Margot, because Hannibal is kind of an awful person. He’s gotta know that won’t end well for her.
Alana’s Accusations
When Will wakes from a nightmare about the burning body to find Alana at his door, he realizes she’s worried he killed Freddie. When she asks whether he did, he doesn’t give a straight answer, which obviously makes her even more conflicted.
Will reminds her that when he told people Hannibal was a killer, no one believed him, and no one will believe her if she tells people the same about him. So it really doesn’t matter what she thinks, in the end. Alana tells him she believes his relationship with Hannibal is destructive, and he throws back at her that Hannibal is good enough for her, at least. Oh, burn.
Will tells Alana she should be afraid, and gives her a gun, telling her she should practice with it in case she needs to use it on whomever she’s afraid of eventually. I guess since he can’t tell her that there’s something else going on with the Hannibal situation, all he can do is arm her to protect herself if she gets into a bad place because of it.
Later, she questions why Will is attending Freddie’s funeral, and he makes a comment about killers often attending the services of their victims. When she says she knows he’s not there looking for Freddie’s killer, he admits he’s in attendance because his psychiatrist thought it would be therapeutic. Just another way of planting that seed of doubt about Dr. Lecter in Alana’s mind.
Heart-to-Heart
In one of the strangest scenes of the episode to me, and that’s saying something, considering, Will and Hannibal have a heart-to-heart about fatherhood and Abigail and everything wrapped up in those subjects. Hannibal admits that technically he’s never been a father, though he was one to his sister, Mischa. When Will pries further, Hannibal says that she’s dead, but that Abigail reminded him of her.
When Will asks why Hannibal killed Abigail, all Hannibal will say is that it had to be that way. Will admits that he still dreams of the girl, about taking her fishing, and the two very clearly both have tears in their eyes. It’s a bit bizarre to see.
But what’s even more bizarre is hearing Hannibal apologize for taking Will’s relationship with Abigail away from him. He admits, in fact, that he wishes he could give it back, and I’m not sure he isn’t being truthful about that.
Effigy
Shortly after the funeral, Freddie’s body is found in effigy form, on display in the shape of the goddess Shiva. At the scene, Will and Alana both speak to Jack, analyzing the killer, and Alana is clearly still distrustful of Will.
Will says their killer has a benefactor, and Alana says that maybe the killer didn’t assemble Freddie’s body in such a manner, but that perhaps it was their benefactor instead. She says it’s a courtship, which is kind of a strange word to use here, but okay. Most importantly, she’s crying a bit during the conversation, clearly upset by Will’s words and manner.
Margot’s Secret
Mason subtly confronts Margot about her “secret” in one of their barns, and starts making suggestions about them starting the next generation of Vergers to carry on their legacy. It’s all very creepy, and he even says that a child would bring them closer. As in, a child that is both of theirs or…?
Margot won’t admit that she’s pregnant to her brother, but it’s clear that he knows. So it’s no surprise when she’s later hit by a car when she tries to run far and fast from her psycho sibling, and it turns out to be Mason’s right-hand man Carlo who caused the crash.
Mason’s Machinations
After the collision, Margot wakes on an operating table. Her brother is dressed in scrubs above her, and he tells her that the records will show that there’s something wrong with her “lady parts,” and that a doctor will recommend that everything be taken out. She cries, Mason collects one of her tears, and a team of doctors move in while I watch in horror.
I have to say, considering creator Bryan Fuller has stated to BuddyTV that he considers himself a feminist, this scene was really disappointing to me. I understand why it was done, since the show can’t exactly have a mini Will running around, but having a female character’s reproductive parts forcibly taken from her, seemingly somewhat for the shock factor of it, seems decidedly un-feminist to me.
Will’s Loss and Gain
In another Will/Hannibal conversation, they talk more about Abigail and how she had to be sacrificed. When they speak of God and prayer a bit as well, Will admits that he prayed he’d see Abigail again, and Hannibal says that, well, he saw a part of her, didn’t he? Really not helping, Dr. Lecter.
Hannibal says God is “beyond measure in malice and matchless in irony,” and that, although Will lost a child, in a way, he’s now gaining one. Then the stag thing shows up on the stable, arranging itself into a Shiva pose, and again with the overly surreal stuff. Stick with subtle a bit more, Hannibal.
Striking a Nerve
When Mason and Hannibal talk again, Mason recalls times as a child when he’d watch his father stick knives into pigs, only as deep as was necessary to test the thickness of the skin. Basically where they’re going with this is that he did the same to Margot, but Hannibal says Mason went too deep and struck a nerve.
Mason reveals that he knows about Margot’s little plan regarding Will and an heir, and that he can be just as resourceful as she can. He’s weirdly smiley with Hannibal this whole conversation, and it’s both entertaining and frightening to see the two interact.
Paranoia
Hannibal and Alana discuss Will and Alana’s paranoia in regards to him, and Hannibal says that they’ll never really be alone since Will is always in the room with them. And for some reason Alana doesn’t find that weird in the slightest, or at least she doesn’t show that she does.
Alana says she doesn’t think Will is getting better, and Hannibal jokingly asks if she’s questioning his therapy before kissing her hand. While he does so, he notices gunpowder residue on her skin, and when he asks whether she’s been shooting a gun, she doesn’t hide the fact that she has been. Hannibal appears a bit unsettled after hearing this, and that probably doesn’t bode well for Ms. Bloom.
Freddie Rises From the Ashes
Alana finally confronts Jack with her fears, and demands that the man stop lying to her about the whole situation with Hannibal and Will. When she admits that she has no confidence that she knows who Hannibal is anymore, that appears to be the tipping point for Jack.
Jack asks Alana to come with him, and he leads her to a room whose sole occupant is none other than Freddie Lounds! The ginger journalist jokingly asks how her funeral was, and Alana is clearly relieved. Probably because this proves that Will is not the serial killer she thought he was, yay!
Will’s Threats
After Will sees Margot in the hospital, he leaves once Hannibal arrives, and makes his way to Mason’s slaughterhouse. On the way, he appears to attack Carlo as well, I’m guessing in retaliation to what happened to Margot and his unborn child.
Will punches Mason before holding him above the pigs he has that eat human flesh, and rants at the other man about whose idea everything was — does he really think it was Will’s idea to go kill the man, or Margot’s idea to secure an heir? The only thing they all have in common, he reminds Mason, is that they have the same psychiatrist.
Then Will holds a gun to Mason’s head, and suggests that the man should feed Hannibal Lecter to his pigs instead. He’s completely serious and dead-eyed about it, and it’s a little scary to see.
So Will and Jack are still playing the game against Hannibal after all! Now Alana is in on the secret, along with Freddie, so who else will be before the big Jack/Hannibal showdown? We’ll have to watch the last two episodes of Hannibal this season to see!
Hannibal airs Fridays at 10pm on NBC.
(image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
