Relevés sees the penultimate episode of Hannibal this week,
an intense affair in which truths are discovered and Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s
orchestrated plans come to fruition – nicely laying the ground work for what
will inevitably be a dramatic and tumultuously thrilling season finale.
We begin this episode at the hospital, following Will Graham’s
mental breakdown, neatly swept under the proverbial rug and pitted as a 'fever'.
Whilst at the hospital, Graham befriends last week’s protagonist Georgia
Madchen, who currently resides in an oxygenated tank as a means of recovery.
Compared to her previous disorientated and zombified demeanour, Madchen is
lucid and almost healthy, able to have lengthy conversations with Graham
regarding each others recovery and mental well being. Her next step of
recovery is electrolysis, something she wishes to avoid as it will cause her to
remember the gruesome acts of murder she previously committed. It will also help her
remember the killer of Dr. Sutcliffe – our beloved cannibal. No surprise then,
that Lecter manages to orchestrate her fiery death by placing a hair comb in
her tank, which generates static, causing it to combust and burn her alive inside.
Following her death, she appears as an apparition in one of
Graham’s dreams - creepily implemented through the use of shakey-cam technology
and the return of her zombified aesthete. She encourages Graham to “see”, so he
does, and rather clearly at that. The following day he asserts Madchen’s death
was not suicide but murder, committed by the same person who murdered Dr.
Sutcliffe and who is in fact the Garrett Jacob Hobbs copycat killer. Leaps and
bounds a-hoy, this theory heightens Jack Crawford’s suspicions over Graham’s
involvement with Abigail Hobbs. He knows Hobbs was her father’s accomplice and
also believes her to be the copycat killer, and with the aforementioned
revelation, he now believes Graham is protecting her. Naturally Crawford’s
curiosity progresses – is Lecter protecting Graham too? With that, he hot foots
to Dr. de Maurier’s abode to question her on Lecter and his relationship with
Graham. De Maurier has a more vital role to play this episode, in which her
proceeding conversations with Crawford and Lecter hint toward her past and
possible knowledge over the true nature of Lecter himself. 
After a brilliant piece of discourse between Graham and
Hobbs in which both reveal the pleasures felt in killing someone, they team up
and journey to the Hobbs hunting cabin in Minnesota. Whilst there, Graham hopes
to empathise with the copycat killer and thus get a lead on his theory. However
realisation soon hits that Hobbs was the lure in her father’s crimes, causing
Graham to delve into an erratic state of disorient. In a delightfully, well crafted
and agonising sequence, the audience are subjected to the utmost confusion
envisaged through Graham. It escalates from a heated conversation, to her
murder and a sudden jump cut to Graham sat on a plane alone. For a while the
audience are left guessing – did all of that just happen? Did Graham just
murder Hobbs? The depleting state of Graham’s mentality has been a long running
narrative trope, yet it was here that Bryan Fuller and co used it most
effectively – at the worst possible time.
Meanwhile, with increasing evidence, Crawford goes to arrest
Hobbs only to find she disappeared with Graham. With that, he ploughs into
Lecter’s office requesting information regarding Graham’s actions and
well-being. In his ever manipulating ways, Lecter convinces Crawford that
Graham felt he was becoming Garrett Jacob Hobbs, as a result of his disassociative personality state, a symptom of the
secret encephalitis now used as a convenient scapegoat. Believing this to be the case,
Crawford soon realises that Hobb’s life is in danger and both assumingly then
fly to Minnesota.
In the episode’s final and most intense sequence Hobbs and
Lecter unite in her family home and we soon realise she left Graham behind,
frightened for her safety. She asks Lecter, “Did he kill Marissa?” (who was one of the
copycat’s victims), to which Lecter replies, “They will believe he did” and
with that, pieces fall in to place - Hobbs soon realises the true nature of
Lecter. He confesses calling her father before he died and his intrigue toward whether she would follow in his footsteps and murder
someone herself - he explains, "I was curious what would happen... I was curious what would happen when I killed Marissa... I was curious what you would do...". Lecter’s motivations have always been ambiguous but it appears
psychological intrigue was the catalyst for his extremely well orchestrated
plan. In this case, curiosity didn't kill the cat but it did however kill Hobbs
whose inevitable death, although not displayed, is one of true horror, constructed
through Lecter’s slow caressing of her face, before cutting to black.
This is a smart and well-thought out episode this week, with a
particularly engaging and enigmatic quality. Previous focus on the
serial-killer-of-the-week typology and theatricality of crime scenes have
been replaced with intricate and intense narrative development. As ever, strong
performances reigned throughout, although Kacey Rohl’s transgression from
comfort to sheer terror in the final sequence was a particular stand out. It is
also worth noting that despite the fact audiences know Lecter is the man
responsible for the murders, it nevertheless remained a gripping moment when Hobbs discovered
the truth – the first character on screen to do so.
So there we have it, the
table is set for our final course of this season one feast. With Graham increasingly encroaching
on Lecter’s tale, can he convince others of his theory? Or, thanks to the
manipulation of Lecter, will everyone believe him to be a killer? A likely outcome, as the death of Hobbs will undoubtedly make him a prime suspect.
What were your thoughts on this week's episode? Post a comment!
Next week...
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