Shocker: Margaux and I loved this week’s Hannibal.
Trevor: I should warn you up front: Red Dragon is one of my favorite books ever, so I’m already in the tank for this storyline. I’m gonna try to be objective, but there’s only so much I can do to restrain my excitement at seeing Francis Dolarhyde on my TV.
Margaux: I’m right there with you, so I’m not sure how intelligible our reviews of Hannibal will be from here on out, but we’ve always been pretty upfront about our Fannibal proclivities so this shouldn’t be too far out of left field. That all being said, HOLY SHIT DID “THE GREAT RED DRAGON” DELIVER. The only fault I can find with this episode is the injustice of airing it on a fuckin’ Saturday night, the Siberia of TV nights. GAZE UPON THE RED DRAGON YOU FOOLS.
(I am so excited to talk about this).
Trevor: Yes, let us now praise The Hobbit’s Richard Armitage for his wonderful, creepy, terrifying and WORDLESS performance. Dolarhyde said nothing throughout this entire hour, save for the vocal exercises he performed, which made him sound even more monstrous. And it’s not as though Armitage has an easy task ahead of him; the other actors to play Francis Dolarhyde were Tom Noonan in Michael Mann’s overrated, cartoonish Manhunter, and then Ralph fucking Fiennes in Brett Ratner’s Red Dragon (still a weirdly good movie, considering the source). A character like Dolarhyde – cleft palate, childhood trauma, ripped body, huge back tattoo – could easily be overplayed; taken to the extreme, he could be seen as a parody of serial killers. But if Armitage’s presence – I think that word is more apt than “performance” – is any indication, he’s going to do an amazing job.
Margaux: I reference Mason Verger’s line from last season, specifically the scene in which he eats his own face, “I am excited and terrified” a lot because I feel like it’s almost the sub-thesis of the show. At least, it felt that way in that fan-fucking-tastic cold open where we meet Red Dragon before he starts makes headlines as ‘The Tooth Fairy”. It was like the serial killer version of the Rocky training montage, and the final reveal of his Red Dragon back-tat was Hannibal’s wordless homage to “would you fuck me? I’d fuck me.” Instead of cuing up “Goodbye Horses,” we cut to those creepy ass opening credits. Thanks again for the nightmare fuel, Bryan Fuller.
Trevor: Yeah, we’re right back in the shit. Florence was ethereal and dreamlike, but the colors here are much starker, the silences more foreboding. Florence was a great start to the season, but this show belongs in Baltimore. Where, apparently, you can bring glasses of white wine in to visit mental patients. At least you can if you’re a badass bitch like Alana Bloom.
Margaux: Yeah, for a city whose claim to fame is not being Detroit, thanks to The Wire, BPD certainly went a long way to make Hannibal feel as “at home” as possible, so much so that Hannibal’s POV is still firmly in office or his dining room, still making Chilton desserts with cow (OR IS IT) blood.
Trevor: What a great touch, the way Hannibal sees his imprisonment vs. the way everyone else sees it. He’s in his mind palace. And using this approach allows Hannibal to utilize the gorgeous scenery it loves so much without sacrificing the fact that Dr. Lecter is behind bars.
Margaux: Just like everything else this show does, it’s a very elegant way to fill in gaps visually that also compliment the story. Similarly, there a lot of shows that can’t pull off a successful time jump (COUGH – TRUE DETECTIVE – COUGH). I really enjoyed the montage of Hannibal being shuffled through jail and eventually, the psych ward. The rest of the episode did a wonderfully subtle job of filling us in on what everyone has been up in the last three years without being all: HEY LOOK WE’RE IN THE FUTURE! LOOK AT HOW MUCH THINGS CHANGE, BUT ALSO, STAY THE SAME.
PS: did you catch the stag in Alana’s office during her conversation with Chilton?
Trevor: There were a few; that was a nicely cynical scene. Chilton sounded like a TV executive. “He’s a four-quadrant killer.” What gag are you referring to?
Margaux: That very moment, when he’s talking to Alana about his next book, there’s a stag over Chilton’s shoulder. Just a fun, little “peek-a-boo”! Chilton’s an evil dick in his own way reminder. As if we could forget, you don’t get shot in the face cause you’re a good person.
Trevor: Oh, you said “stag”; I read “gag.” I’m very perceptive.
Margaux: Just…WOW.
But speaking of evil people that are just “like us,” do you think The Red Dragon wants to be the next Hannibal? He definitely doesn’t like being called The Tooth Fairy, as Hannibal accurately “guesses.” (I don’t think Hannibal guesses shit, but…you know what I’m after).
Trevor: Well, without getting into book spoilers – seriously, I’ve read Red Dragon like half a dozen times; I actually prefer it to Silence of the Lambs – there is definitely some professional respect at play. You can tell just by looking at Dolarhyde’s scrapbook. Or should that be scrapTOME? Seriously, that thing was huge. But he’s not as polished as Hannibal. “The Great Red Dragon” is a bloody episode of television. When Dolarhyde emerges from the scene of his latest massacre, he’s literally covered in blood, and when Will ventures inside the house we can see why.
Margaux: That was one of the more disturbing “this is my design” flashbacks, and that’s really fucking saying something, this show gave us a grave of humans incubating mushrooms – IN THE THIRD EPISODE OF THE FIRST SEASON. That being said, knowing what I know about Dolarhyde (that he murders entire families), I was sort of prepared for a blood bath, but it wouldn’t be Hannibal without some creepy twist (mirror ball eyes…that doesn’t stop being creepy one bit).
Trevor: It’s been a while since we’ve seen that pendulum effect, hasn’t it? Will entering Dolarhyde’s mind was creepy and riveting. Watching him murder the entire Leeds family – systematically, dispassionately – was almost as bad as watching Dolarhyde do it. (Almost.) For Dolarhyde, the killing is not important. What’s important is the transformation – his, and his victims’.
Margaux: And that’s also what makes it all greatly disturbing. But the return of Scott Thompson was very, very welcome, even if there was a sighing quality to the gang getting back together to solve MORE shitty, horrible murders. At least Hannibal’s were somewhat pretty to look at and not just plainly gruesome.
Trevor: Hannibal is, at times, the most gorgeous show on TV. But this isn’t going to be pretty. I’m excited and terrified.
I’d ask if you want to talk stars, but I don’t even want it to be a discussion; this is a five-star episode to me (which would make it Hannibal’s fourth in a row). There’s no more praise I can heap on “The Great Red Dragon” without being redundant. Brilliant, masterful storytelling.
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