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108, Fromage

Will

This is the first time Will is experiencing outright hallucinations in the series (but for the first time ever? I couldn’t say for sure), it differs from his usual night terrors, which is why he cannot differentiate between them and what is really happening at first. All three times, it’s the same auditory hallucination, a sound which speaks to his emphatic mind the most - an animal, in distress and possibly wounded. It is interesting that in all three instances, he hears the sounds in a moment of confident work; fixing a boat motor, tying his fishing lures, interviewing a potential murder suspect.

The hallucinations establish Will as the unreliable narrator that he is in this episode; when we see the happenings from his point of view, we have to assume that not everything we see/hear is real. The capturing of this establishment is done quite subtly and very skilled: the first time, Will hears a sound and goes to investigate, and the viewers are as curious as he is as to what the source of the sound was. Not finding anything, we are equally disappointed and puzzled as Will. Nothing in this makes us doubt what is happening; Will lives in the middle of nowhere and such a noise seems quite likely.

The second time Will hears a noise in his chimney; again, it is possible that his assumption of a racoon caught in there is correct, even though destroying his wall above the mantelpiece is a little radical of a solution but still, it is believable, However, what made me double back is that his dogs were completely calm - one would expect them to catch the sound before Will did, and make a ruckus about it, especially with them being so many. When Will does not find anything, it confirms the doubt in the viewer’s mind, there was no sound at all. Alana acts as a confirmation here, she also knows that there was nothing in Will’s chimney, and upon seeing the havoc he caused in his living room, mirrors the concern we feel for him.

The third time, Will must be aware that he might be possible hallucinating, but goes after the sound anyway. Ultimately, him leaving the Chordophone might have saved his life, but his distress is clearly shown to the viewers now; trembling, breathing heavily, taking his meds.

Will taking his medication occurs one more time in the episode, when he is left alone with the dead displayed trombonist. He defiantly swallows is pills in front of Jack Crawford, to prove a point; it’s not easy but he can handle this. When the team leaves, Will is in control. He said the looking is not getting easier, but he manages to get a much clearer picture of the murderer than with for example the Angel Maker or the Mushroom Farmer. Is it because this murderer had a less complex mind to figure out? I disagree and put forward this theory: it is indeed getting easier for Will to look, hence the quicker made profile of this killer, but it is getting harder for Will to come back. In the morgue, while examining the victim’s corpse, Will relapsed into the mind of his killer (“Had to open you up to get a decent sound out of you.”), creeping out not only his colleagues, but also himself.

Furthermore, this theory is supported by Will’s confession in Hannibal’s office later. To Hannibal’s question what he sees behind closed eyes, Will answers “Myself,” but actually refers to him seeing Garret Jacob Hobbs, so does that mean that Will is feeling himself slipping into the darkness? To Will, Hobbs first started to appear as an image, but this time he is actively participating in Will’s mind, while he is recreating the crime scene. Will sees Hobbs in the audience, watching him do ‘his thing’ and Hobbs approves of… what? That Will has it figured out? The way in which Hobbs is imagined seems more mocking than genuinely impressed, which makes me think Hobbs is there representing Will’s fear of becoming one of them. He is already seeing things, looking is easier, understanding has always been easy, but coming back to himself is getting harder every time, and all of this scares Will so much because becoming one of them is the one thing he has been trying to avoid his whole life.

Hannibal

Last week, we gained an insight in the less-gentlemanly and more homicidal tendencies of the good doctor, and this insight continues in this episode, even though more subtle.

Hannibal is a curious person. He likes to prod and poke certain scenarios into existence, just for the sake of seeing what will happen, which makes him a dangerous psychiatrist to have, as Franklyn unfortunately (for him) got to experience. Their scenes together provide for a comical element in the show, with Hannibal being so obviously done with Franklyn that we can even feel sorry for the doctor while laughing at the faces he makes (subtly, of course). But Hannibal’s patient unknowingly takes up a messenger-type role in this episode, with Tobias Budge using him to provide Hannibal with hints about his person. But one thing struck me as especially fascinating; Franklyn mentions that Tobias had been making ‘weird comments’ lately, which he found so creepy he looked up articles about psychopaths on Google and asked Hannibal for his opinion. If we assume that Tobias knows exactly how much his friend tells his psychiatrist, this has been a deliberate choice of his. That, in turn, must mean that in the short time Hannibal had the chance to talk to Franklyn and Tobias at the Hunger Relief Concert, Tobias recognized him for what he was, which is incredibly and unbelievably perceptive.

When they finally meet, both aware of the other in Tobias’ shop, they keep up the charade in which ‘composition’ becomes a lovely euphemism for homicide, their politeness toward each other almost sickeningly oversaturated. But being the curious cat he is, Hannibal wants to see Tobias, get to know him, which is why they eat dinner together at Hannibal’s home. They both, as it turns out, yearn for a companion (in whichever way the word can be taken, one who understand them completely), but rejects Tobias’ offer for friendship when he realizes how unworthy of it he really is. In other words, Hannibal hates his guts (pun intended).

Still, when Will interrupts his dinner and Tobias leaves, Hannibal looks forward to seeing what Tobias does next, especially in concern to the investigation he actively sends on Tobias’ path. He is curious if Tobias will be able to get rid of them, and looks forward to killing him in case he does.

What baffles me, however, is his reaction to Will in this episode. Last week clearly established his way of thinking and choosing his victims; he eats the rude. But let’s take a look at Will here; he barges into Hannibal’s home without invitation and at a late hour, even let’s himself in without waiting for Hannibal’s invitation, discards his jacket carelessly in the hallway, and continues to invade Hannibal’s space ahead of the doctor. And all that with “I kissed Alana Bloom” as both greeting and explanation. What does Hannibal do? He stands there, unhelpful and stiff, and only manages a “Well, come in” against the onstorm of Will Graham in his space. He doesn’t even chasticize Will for his behavior, but grants him an ear to rant to, followed by consideration and advice. Even in their sessions, Will is not confined to the typical patient - therapist position in their respective chairs; Hannibal let’s him invade his space, and Will is in turn comfortable enough to drive an hour in the snow to the doctor’s house only to tell him about his failed attempt at romance. Hannibal then goes on and talks to Bedelia about his opportunity for friendship, making it clear that despite their different world views and moralities, Will is a more compatible companion that Tobias could ever be.

Still, at the end of their conversation, Hannibal practically sends Will into the arms of a murderer, with little to no hesitation.

Then however, when Tobias barges into his session with Franklyn and confesses killing two men who came to investigate him, there is a flicker of emotion on Hannibal’s face - is it the thought that Will might have been among the two, is he disappointed, or is it something else?

I think the answer to that might be his face when Will walks into his office, after Hannibal killed Tobias Budge; for a fracture of a moment, there is a smile, almost too quick to notice, as if he is positively surprised that Will is alive (and can we talk about the glossy eyes when he looks at Will and says “I was worried you were dead” please?). Not to mention their dialogue afterwards, which is just too precious for us as viewers, because Will feels so responsible for Hannibal, since it was Will who ‘dragged him into his world’ when we know that it is quite the other way around.

(fun fact: in the original script, Will takes a gauze and dabs some blood off Hannibal’s forehead as they speak, and i think that’s very important. in case you doubt it, source)