I’m so glad NBC renewed Hannibal for a third season, because Bryan Fuller is building to something big. “Ko No Mono” was an outstanding episode, indicative of one of the major themes Fuller explores: God. The episode begins with Will and Hannibal eating ortolan bunting, a dish so decadent and debauched that traditionally one covers their head with a shroud while eating it, so they may hide theirselves from God. “I don’t hide from God,” Hannibal says, and he and Will consume the tiny songbird.
Hannibal was heavy on the religious imagery in “Ko No Mono,” even more so than usual. Hannibal, Will, and Mason Verger all talked abou God, there was the aforementioned meal, and Freddie Lounds’ body was exhumed and posed like the Hindu deity Shiva.
Let’s talk about Freddie Lounds. Will admits to killing her, and goes as far as admitting that doing so made him feel “euphoric.” Will is completely off the deep end now; there’s no way he self-identifies as an employee of the FBI. So what is he? A murderer, we know that, but what of his relationship to Hannibal? The two men’s fates are inextricably linked, so what role does will play? Is he Hannibal’s partner or his protege? His victim or his killer? Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen walk a tightrope balanced between friendliness and scorn, and it’s a joy to watch.
The biggest twist of the episode comes at the end, when an increasingly paranoid Alana confronts Jack about where he stands. “I want to show you something,” he says, and leads her into an office containing…Freddie Lounds! She’s not dead. So how was it faked? My guess is that Will is working with Jack to bring down Hannibal – remember, we’re only a few weeks (or days) away from the brawl that started this season.
I thoroughly enjoy Michael Pitt as Mason Verger. It can’t be easy to step into the shoes of Gary Oldman, who played Mason in Ridley Scott’s 2001 film Hannibal, but Pitt acquits himself nicely. He nails the voice that Oldman used, and adds enough of his own mocking cruelty to make Mason a truly formidable character. He’s seemingly cruel for no reason; early in the episode he accosts a small child, tells the boy that he can’t live with his foster mom anymore, literally collects the boy’s tear, and sends him on his way. I have no idea why he keeps tears, but it’s a hell of a nice touch.
Mason takes another tear in “Ko No Mono,” this time from his sister, whom he accurately describes as “Poor, poor Margot.” When Mason learns of Margot’s plan to have a son (he’s turned on to this by Hannibal, naturally) he kidnaps her and sets her up for what looks like very invasive surgery. “The doctors are going to find something wrong with your lady parts,” he taunts her, and the childlike language is just a further indignity that Margot must suffer. At episode’s end, Mason is visited by Will, who doesn’t kill him, as Hannibal told him to. Rather, he tells Mason that Hannibal should be the pigs’ next meal, and in doing so, pushes the show into endgame.
A Few Thoughts
– Freddie Lounds being glued to a wheelchair and immolated? Straight out of Red Dragon, except Will wasn’t the perpetrator. I wonder if this means we won’t see Francis Dolarhyde
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