Embrace.

We get one of those moments where Hannibal is making a cannibal joke, as he does, during a dinner. It’s nothing new. But when he looks right at us as an audience we really feel that we’re in on the joke. Cause the thing is that we always have been! We know from the very first time we see Hannibal in the show, alone in his dining room, eating, who he is.

And it’s not just the show recognizing the audience, the intimacy between the character and the viewer adds to the horror!! We’re having our gaze directed back at us by the most dangerous and charming character in the show! By breaking the fourth wall we’re being invited to feel that we exist in some way with the world that’s been created, one with disturbing and dynamic qualities. Up until that point we were simply passive.

The first time I saw that moment where Hannibal looks right at the audience to share a joke, one with twisted implications, it was one of the few moments in the show where my face dropped. It’s a brillant and horrifying but brief interaction between the world of Hannibal and its audience.