Hannibal review – 1×10: ‘Buffet Froid’

It’s a Will (Hugh Dancy)-centric week as our protagonist spirals further down the rabbit hole. But is Will physically or mentally ill?

Let’s bitch it out…Those (one sided) conversations that we’ve been having about Will and Lecter’s (Mads Miekkelsen) friendship here on the blog? Yeah…they may have been a little premature. It appears that Hannibal’s definition of friendship is slightly different from ours, since I can’t think of a single friend that I would lie to about a dibilitating disease. Perhaps in the man-eat-man world of cannibals this is acceptable behaviour?

At this point, Will’s life is now in Hannibal’s hands. After experiencing his worst time jump yet (a dazzling temporal lapse from filleting a fish in his kitchen to throttling the murder victim at the crime scene), Will realizes it’s time to run some tests. Turns out he’s not crazy after all. Nope, he’s got your basic run of the mill encephalitis, which is a treatable disease. Unfortunately for Will, if Lecter has his way, he may never find out. In all likelihood this has more to do with Lecter’s interest in maintaining Will’s dependence on him – after all, the more Will spirals out of control, the more he’ll turn to Hannibal for help.

At least Will’s erratic behaviour is completely out of the bag and in the open now. The team – who always thought he was weird – sees him contaminate the crime scene, a move which later prompts a heart to heart with Jack (Laurence Fishburne). It’s good to hear Jack express concern about Will to Will for a change (though he does get some advice from Lecter first) – traditionally the relationship between Will and Jack has tended to be at arms length and a little…frosty, shall we say? This is another good opportunity to remind us about Jack’s own personal issues with regard to Will and Miriam Lass.

All in all, this is another strong showcase for Hugh Dancy and it once again ups the stakes for an end of season conflict between Will and Hannibal. It’s just a matter of time before Will figures out that Hannibal has had him misdiagnosed, so the question is: what happens when he finds out he’s been lied to?

Other Observations:

• The case of the week is much more pertinent than last week, though hardly revelatory. Obviously the theme of mental illness, its social misconception and its treatment are high on the agenda but it’s also a nice set-up for Will to do a bit of “self-help” by aiding Georgia (Ellen Muth). The final quiet scene as they stretch out their hands to reassure each other that they’re both alive is well done. This could have been far more sensational, with a shoot-out or a chase. Instead Hannibal makes the unconventional choice to keep this a quiet, hopeful moment for both Will and Georgia
• Obviously the big “reveal” is that Georgia didn’t kill Dr. Sutcliffe (John Benjamin Hickey) but rather came upon Hannibal prying open his jaw with a pair of scissors. Of course, her Cotard Syndrome prevents her from identifying him (cue nifty facial distortion special effects). Lecter’s words to Jack that he hopes she doesn’t remember anything sounds ominous, but since she can’t recall Lecter’s face, I’m sure she’ll be safe
• Several key players – Freddie, Abigail and even Alana – sit this round out, which opens the door for Beverly (Hetienne Park) to step up and reestablish her connection with Will. I’ve been waiting to see what becomes of these two as they have a nice rapport, though we still really don’t know anything about her
• The opening scene features nearly every slasher film convention there is: a girl at home alone goes out to investigate a strange noise in the attic, only to be attacked and killed by an assailant who was hiding under her bed
• Finally, just in case you missed it: the news came out earlier yesterday that Hannibal has been picked up for a second season. Which means that there’s no excuse for your annoying friend who refuses to watch the first season of anything because they’re convinced it will be canceled now has no reason not to watch.  So tell them to suit up and get their marathon on before the season’s over!
  

Best Lines:

• Will (after Jack tells him he doesn’t reconstruct the scene with him as the killer): “I got lost in the reconstruction”
• Bev (admitting Will is at the center of a lot of speculation at the bureau): “Jack pushed you right up to the edge and now you’re pushing yourself over.”
• Will (at Dr. Sutcliffe’s death scene, after Bev declares him “clean”): “I don’t feel clean.”

What did you think of this ‘Buffet’: did you like the more low-key case? Are you surprised that Hannibal is lying to Will about his illness? Are you glad to see Jack treating Will more nicely? Did you miss Alana, Freddie or Abigail? Hit the comments below with your thoughts

Hannibal airs Thursdays at 10pm EST on NBC