Hannibal, S1 Ep 3/4

Hannibal, S1 Ep 3/4

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, here is the second article of #TwoWeeksOfHannibal, with the third and fourth episode of the first season, Potage and Oeuf. Let's start right now, shall we ?

Potage

"Giving a lecture on Hobbs' copycat ?"

     Pretty ironic, I might say, if you knew that Hannibal himself was the copycat. In this episode, the characters, especially Graham, are discovering more and more informations about "the man who wanted to act like the Minnesota shrike." Hannibal, however, keeps going as calm as ever, as he doesn't want to get caught. As he stands by his position, he avoids being discovered, even he has to use menaces to remain "innocent" in the public eye.

"Abigail Hobbs is not a killer."

     The character that sees the most development in this episode is Abigail, Hobbs' daughter. As a person recovering from abuse and being forced to hunt animals *the opening scene being the hunt of a deer, anyone notices ?* and even humans to be killed and eaten, she obviously suffers from severe anxiety and PTSD. And yet, she's left with Lecter, that feeds his guests humans in the disguise of animal meat. *little side-note : I thought about this IMMEDIATELY after the "pork dinner" with Crawford, anyone else ?*

"I'll keep your secret. [talking about the murder of a teenage boy]

- And I'll keep yours." [about him hitting Alana Bloom in the face]

     As I had forseen in the previous episodes, Lecter uses manipulation to achieve his goals of protecting himself from everybody who discovered his true nature and is tempted to tell the truth to the authorities. He even manipulates Abigail into not telling anyone what happened to Alana Bloom to stay safe as the doesn't remember anything. And he even invites her in his office and proposes her to "come more often"... in a way.

Overall impression : it was a great episode, and the tension is really well-built. As always, it left me asking for more...

Oeuf

"Like... you were becoming him. [talking about Hobbs]

- I know who I am. I'm not Gareth Jacob Hobbs, Dr. Lecter."

     Another thing I had noticed is that the more Graham is confronted to crime scenes, the more he is exposed to criminal minds and the more likely he will behave like them, because of a now confused identity. It's just a matter of time, for me, before he does something really bad that would be out of his control. And yet, he keeps harming himself by going to more crime scenes and investigating on more cases.

"Tell me about your mother."

     This episode is centered about family as not only Abigail has lost hers but that the main cases treated in this episode are about family murders. It makes Graham think about his own family (the stray dogs he keeps in his house) and his will to protect Abigail after he killed her father and because he feels guilty for not saving the other girls. *shows the same trait to the stray dogs in former episoded where he wouldn't give up until they follow him.*

"I see family."

     As Hannibal goes closer to Abigail, he manipulates her even more by giving her hallucinogenic mushrooms in her tea, thus shutting her down. After the little incident with Freddie, the journalist gossiping about scoops from crime scenes, he now uses the teenage girl as a "good day, good deed" by offering her to stay "in my home" to quote his words. But now that Abigail is under Hannibal's influence, how will she step out of it ?

Overall impression : another great episode as a great lesson is taught about family and "family values". Can't wait to see more !