#buffet froid

After your death or mine? Buffet froid, Mizumono, The Wrath of the Lamb

Hannibal and Will confronting each other in Season 1

S2 | S3

1) anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis: inflammation of the brain due to antibodies attacking the NMDA receptors

i was just talking to my friend today about my love for MSG, with glutamate being the primary excitatory neurotransmitter of the CNS and all that. For this kind of encephalitis, it seems like a certain kind of antibodies competes with glutamate at the receptor site (antagonism), leading to neuronal damage. Another mechanism is the decreased density of the NMDA receptors (not sure if this has anything to do with cellular sensitization mechanisms; i cant be bothered to do more research i just thought this was cool)

statistically speaking will graham is female

conclusion: will graham should eat more MSG

2) Hannibal is genuinely concerned about Will's encephalitis, which is really funny given that he's objectively making it worse

i am still trying to understand what Hannibal's scheme is achieving. i have the advantage of knowing what Hannibal ultimately wants out of Will (because this is a rewatch), but i am not sure where Hannibal's head is at currently. i think the rest of S1 will make this clear for me.

i think he is still grappling with his feelings of friendship for Will and what this means for him -- is Will a tool or is he a friend? is he both? i guess at this point of the story, he is already using Will himself as a tool for Will's Becoming (i.e., taking advantage of the encephalitis), but the encephalitis is impacting him more than it should :( he's sad and concerned (his conversation with Bedelia at the end of Rôti makes this clear)

Hannibal and Bedelia's conversation is not in the original script for Rôti, it's in Relevés (ep 12). Maybe ep 11 had more time to fill?

3) Will gets closest to the crime (contaminating the scene) when the killer, Georgia, is emphatically a personification of loneliness

Will talks to Georgia as though he is talking to himself. When he discovers Georgia under his bed, he says "I see you Georgia. Think of who you are. [...] Your name is Georgia Madchen. You are not alone. We're here together."

The show has a smart way of using killers to reflect Will's inner conflict. It uses the monster-of-the-week format not only to propel the plot but also to develop the MCs, particularly Will. He has a professional and personal stake doing the work he does. It gives the viewers the opportunity to prod at the killers and at Will.

During Rôti: Gideon's character is used to prod at Will's shattered identity, in the same way Georgia was for his aching loneliness. Moreover, their conversation before Will shoots Gideon is very very telling, probably one of my favorites this season. This scene is so delicious:

4) mirror neurons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am no better than Sutcliffe i will take advantage of Will and use his brain as a case study. I want to poke at his mirror neurons and see what makes them different...is it the density? morphology? what is the genetic basis for his empathy disorder?

5) speaking of Sutcliffe, on my way to group therapy a while ago I was wondering why Hannibal killed Sutcliffe. I have thought of 2 reasons:

a) Sutcliffe knows Will has encephalitis. Even with Hannibal's manipulation (poking at Sutcliffe's careerism, tempting him with publications), it is too dangerous to let him live; no loose ends for Dr Lecter

b) Hannibal is already building "Killer"!Will's portfolio. Will was #tweaking, and especially so during Buffet Froid (first time to have contaminated the crime scene, got too close). Hannibal uses the opportunity to further destabilize Will's sense of self, making Georgia's presence at the crime scene all the more convenient

the psychology/neurology contradiction between Hannibal and Sutcliffe was also interesting. Scheming Hannibal wants Will in his domain (psychology) -- in his eyes, Will's primary pathology truly is an internal madness and not a physiological disease. He thinks that Will's primary contradiction is the darkness bursting inside him, and he wants to carve a space for that darkness to breathe (i agree with Hannibal and the narrative does too). Sutcliffe had to die for plot and thematic reasons...

6) Will and Jack are actully more attentive to each other's tells than what is often credited among fans

Will noticed Jack's grief (during the Bella cancer subplot)

Jack notices Will's dark reactions to what Georgia's mother is saying about Georgia's pathological violence

7) 32:06 is my favorite Will Graham expression so far. Hugh Dancy you enrapture me

8) "It’s hard to shake off something that's already under your skin," says Will when Jack tells him to let go of the killers in his head. Oh boy this is very telling !

9) For now I only have raw notes for the water motif:

during nightmares: ice berg, totem at the beach

during hallucinations: water leaking from the metal cabinets (whatever they're called)

during Rôti: rain washing over the windshield when they're about to catch Gideon; i thought the rain was legit until Jack stepped out and there was no visible downpour

10) What does the stag represent? Obviously Hannibal (to me at least)

though at this point of the story, we're made to think of it more ambiguously. It's meant to be in tandem with Will's suspicion of A Secret Third Thing that is pulling the strings

coincides with stag!Hannibal in later episodes

the stag leads Will to Gideon, similar to how the Chesapeake Ripper leads Jack to Gideon's "gift basket"

11) When Hannibal and Jack talk about Will's current mental state (see script excerpt below; I think the episode deviates a bit? I cannot be bothered to check :P), their conversation operates on two levels:

a) professional (text): they have a difference of professional opinion

b) moral (subtext): Jack sees the "goodness" (Will who "generally feels good" catching killers; quotation from when Will was spiraling in Hannibal's presence) whereas Hannibal sees the "darkness" in Will, what's underneath his "goodness"

thus, Jack and Hannibal are at different ends of this tug-of-war for Will's character