Well, that was one of Hannibal‘s more innovatively gruesome tableaus, wasn’t it? “Mukozuke” opens with Freddie Lounds going to the observatory (on an anonymous tip, we learn later) – the same observatory where the severed arm of Miriam Lass was found. Now it’s become a tomb for another one of Jack Crawford’s team: Beverly Katz, who underestimated the devil.
There’s a lot of religious imagery in “Mukozuke,” the most notable of which is the shot of Hannibal sitting at his dinner table, horns framing his head like he’s Satan himself. And when Chilton lets Hannibal interview Abel Gideon (an excellent returning Eddie Izzard), the bargain feels downright Faustian. Director Michael Rymer (a veteran of The Killing and Battlestar Galactica) shoots Hannibal simply and without judgment, showing him to be no less than the monster he is. It’s truly sickening to watch him grind up Beverly’s kidneys to make mincemeat pie.
Meanwhile, Will is in full Red Dragon mode. He strikes a deal with Freddie Lounds to flush out his “admirer,” who turns out to be an orderly at the hospital named Matthew Brown (played amazingly by Jonathan Tucker, late of Parenthood). Will sics Brown on Hannibal, and Brown complies. It’s remarkable to see Hannibal Lecter caught off guard – and tellingly, this happens while Hannibal is swimming laps at a pool. This is telling because water has been such an important visual motif for Will this season; for lack of a better phrase, it’s his “happy place.” But for Hannibal it’s the site of his near-undoing. The two are still different at their cores, but Will senses how close he is to turning into someone – something – like Hannibal (see: the dream he has of painfully growing stag’s antlers).
Brown strings up Hannibal in a Christ pose, and the latter bleeds like a sacrifice (more religious imagery). When Jack and Alana show up, Hannibal tells Jack that Brown has a gun, which he doesn’t, but Jack shoots Brown nonetheless. I think Hannibal did this so Brown wouldn’t reveal that Will Graham put him up to killing Hannibal. He can respect Will’s actions, because it’s exactly the way he would manipulate someone. Maybe those antlers will become a little more comfortable before long.
A Few Thoughts
– Of all the characters invented for Hannibal (that is, not taken from Thomas Harris’ books), my favorite is Eddie Izzard’s Abel Gideon. His performance tonight is better than his introduction in season one’s “Entree,” and his snakelike delivery is fun and creepy in a way that recalls Silence of the Lambs. He also introduced me to a great new phrase; when discussing Will’s need for revenge, he says, “Mr. Graham is in a biblical place right now”
– “Mukozuke” wasn’t your typical “grieving” episode. Grief was stitched into its lining, to be sure, but the characters moved forward, even if they didn’t necessarily move on
– And lastly, because I can’t help but point this crap out, Brown’s spiel to Freddie Lounds as he took her to see Will was word-for-word the same spiel that Will got when he visited Hannibal in Red Dragon
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