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Hannibal S3 |OT| Man Destroys God. Hannibal Eats Man. Hannibal Inherits The Earth.

Moff

Member
I drew this really quickly last night aaaahh

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Gibbles17

Member
I drew this really quickly last night aaaahh

[Rad spoiler art]

Damn dude that's fantastic. Very nicely done :).

Real bummed that there hasn't been any news on the show being picked up elsewhere (unless I've missed something). Love the ending and how it can easily be picked up again or left self-contained, one of the best finales since Breaking Bad I reckon.
Need more tho pls.

Edit: Ack, removed pic from quote, forgot about spoiler tagged pics on mobile sorry!
 
Interesting final. I'm somewhat divided.

(spoilers)

On the one hand I think it works well, but on the other hand I feel like the love Will and Hannibal felt for each other should have been left entirely as subtext and the line "this is all I ever wanted for you" was enough and the embrace was unnecessary, and it gave off a somewhat 'fan fiction' vibe. On the one hand, I really like that the joint murder of the Red Dragon is when Will and Hannibal final became 'murder husbands', but on the other hand I really think Dolarhyde got the shaft in the story and his character's development was unfairly rushed and lessened. On the one hand I find it cathartic, but on the other I wished they had simply gone with the ending of Red Dragon as it was originally (of course this was always problematic simply because of how it had been rushed). All of the good elements had aspects evoked some hesitance or second guessing, but overall I found it to be a cathartic, and fitting finale (I say finale purposely, if there was any more to follow it, it's not remotely the direction I wanted Fuller to head as I think the relationship between Will and Hannibal has anchored the show and prevented it moving on, but as a final to the show? It's fine). Overall, I still think it's the weakest season. I don't think the first half of the season and the second season complimented each other well, and I think both needed longer than they had.

EDIT: I guess I just really don't know what I feel about it at the moment. I liked it for what it was, I guess.

I can see there's some division about the final. While Will and Hannibal falling off of the cliff together does work on a literal level, particularly as a final, I don't think it's necessarily what was intended. I think that was meant to be much more metaphorical, it wasn't a fake death, it wasn't a literal death, it was the erosion of their bluffing to one another, their simultaneous descent into the abyss, and a joint baptism in darkness to wash away the blood of the slaughtered lamb.

In regards to Bedalia, while it works both as Hannibal and Will having prepared that way, and her having prepared it herself, my reading of the scene is very similar to that of Mariolee, that Bedalia prepared her leg herself for both Will and Hannibal, gift-wrapping it to them, knowing that they are coming for her. A few have noted that there is a third table setting there, and have used this to suggest that they're already there, but I don't think this is necessarily the case; Will told Bedalia his plan, Bedalia has made it clear that she understands that he is 'Bluebeard's last wife' and that she's going to be eaten as soon as he's free, Bedalia knows the mutual feelings that they have for one another, and Will explicitly told her that she's back on the menu. She knows full-well that Hannibal and Will are going to end up with one another, and the only reason Hannibal will be feasting on Bedalia is if Will is right there doing the exact same. Does it matter whether Hannibal and Will did it, or whether Bedalia herself did it for them? Not really, as it's clear that that is where they will be going regardless, identifying the inevitability, and it's only a matter of time before they show up. Frankly, I think she did it herself, and is waiting, because she's literally gift-wrapped, but I don't think it matters hugely (and I think while obviously designed to be evocative of Gideon, the 'cut' was much cruder, note the bone still sticking out of the meat, it's much more notably a leg than Gideon's chunk was, which was prepared in an entirely different manner).

If the jump is taken literally, the Bedalia scene takes on an entirely different, darkly comedic element, and only one reading is really possible, that Hannibal and Will died and Bedalia did it herself, and the dramatic irony is that it was pointless as they're never coming for her, and she's just there, waiting, missing a leg.
 

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
The scene between Hannibal and Alana though

Hannibal: "I might escape in earnest and come to kill you"
Alana: "first chance you get I assume"
Hannibal: "you died in my kitchen, Alana, when you chose to be brave. Every moment since is borrowed. Your wife. Your child. They belong to me. You made a bargain for Will's life and then I spun you gold."

destroyed.
 
I think the embrace works because of the juxtaposition of empathy with cruelty that has been established. Where a lot of times the 'romantic' thing following something grim can seem really trite, like it's just a way to sensationalize the audience, and while I wouldn't claim that that wasn't the purpose here, largely due to the characters involved I thought it created a very strange effect and was pulled off well.
 

Saty

Member
Didn't get that at all.
What did exactly happen? Surely that's not how the fake escape was meant to go. Am i to deduce that Will told the Dragon everything\ embrace the dark so he was willing to sacrifice the cops and have a real escape to ensure the last showdown?
And what about Francis preempting Will's attack? What made him wary that Will will 'betray' him? And why would Will want to interfere at all if we stick with the interpretation he still wants both dead?
 
Didn't get that at all.
What did exactly happen? Surely that's not how the fake escape was meant to go. Am i to deduce that Will told the Dragon everything\ embrace the dark so he was willing to sacrifice the cops and have a real escape to ensure the last showdown?
And what about Francis preempting Will's attack? What made him wary that Will will 'betray' him? And why would Will want to interfere at all if we stick with the interpretation he still wants both dead?

A fake escape was meant to be staged, but Dolarhyde intervened himself before it could happen, and killed the police, allowing both Hannibal and Will to actually escape so that he could 'change' them himself (as he needed more privacy than the middle of the road would allow). I don't think it was meant to imply that Will told Dolarhyde everything (but if he did it would be entirely fitting, I just don't think another scene with Dolarhyde was necessary to imply this with a basis in the show), but I do think he definitely expected Dolarhyde to intervene (note Will's conversation with Hannibal where Hannibal calls him out on it being too easy, note how Dolarhyde has a history of brazen actions, and note how Will clearly knows that Dolarhyde is 'intrigued' by the thought of killing Lecter and having access to him). He certainly was willing to sacrifice the police though, he never intended to go through with the entire plan, that was a ploy to trick Jack and Alana into accepting it; Will was, as Bedalia stated, pathologically lying throughout the entirety of the episode to release Hannibal (including when he told Hannibal that it was 'bad' to see him again, when Alana would have been listening). Had Dolarhyde not intervened? They would have escaped together through another means.

Will didn't necessarily want both dead, Will never really wanted Hannibal 'dead' per se, he wanted to 'one-up' him to put it crudely (of course, in this relationship that regularly consisted of proving that he's able to outsmart, snare, and kill Hannibal). If Will ever truly wanted Hannibal dead, he was able to do it very easily in the kitchen after being released when he had Hannibal at gun point, but he didn't, because he wanted to see how it would play out and to prove that he was smarter. He wanted to prove his superiority, just as Hannibal wished to prove his (but more often succeeding). Will had, in many ways, moved on from Hannibal and this desire to prove superiority, but in coming back, his 'current' life was made unsustainable, and as Bedalia stated, he couldn't live with Hannibal (who was in prison, trapped away from him with Alana as a barrier), nor could he live without him (with Molly because of all that happened). Will finally embraced his ability to manipulate events through cold and cruel means, so that he could kill with Hannibal (note when Hannibal asks if he was surprised with Dolarhyde contacting him and indicating his survival, he says 'yes and no'. His motive for Dolarhyde dying only rested in the ability to secure his family's survival, but he himself noted that there was no future there for himself (it was an act of righteous violence, killing Dolarhyde cruelly to give Molly and her son peace of mind, while completing his transformation). Will, himself, may not have known whether he would allow Hannibal to live or not in the moment, but his conversations with Bedalia certainly indicate it was his intention to let him live from the beginning and to escape with him.

Dolarhyde attacking Will? It could be down to Dolarhyde hearing voices warning him of Will,, Dolarhyde having very sensitive hearing (fitting in with him being of such peak capabilities), or it could just be unexplainable and a contrivance to allow the scene to happen.

EDIT: I should probably edit the section about Will's interest in Hannibal. It should be clarified that it was, in the past, has never 'just' been about wanting Hannibal dead.
 
A fake escape was meant to be staged, but Dolarhyde intervened himself before it could happen, and killed the police, allowing both Hannibal and Will to actually escape so that he could 'change' them himself (as he needed more privacy than the middle of the road would allow). I don't think it was meant to imply that Will told Dolarhyde everything (but if he did it would be entirely fitting, I just don't think another scene with Dolarhyde was necessary to imply this with a basis in the show), but I do think he definitely expected Dolarhyde to intervene (note Will's conversation with Hannibal where Hannibal calls him out on it being too easy, note how Dolarhyde has a history of brazen actions, and note how Will clearly knows that Dolarhyde is 'intrigued' by the thought of killing Lecter and having access to him). He certainly was willing to sacrifice the police though, he never intended to go through with the entire plan, that was a ploy to trick Jack and Alana into accepting it; Will was, as Bedalia stated, pathologically lying throughout the entirety of the episode to release Hannibal (including when he told Hannibal that it was 'bad' to see him again, when Alana would have been listening). Had Dolarhyde not intervened? They would have escaped together through another means.

Will didn't necessarily want both dead, Will never really wanted Hannibal 'dead' per se, he wanted to 'one-up' him to put it crudely (of course, in this relationship that regularly consisted of proving that he's able to outsmart, snare, and kill Hannibal). If Will ever truly wanted Hannibal dead, he was able to do it very easily in the kitchen after being released when he had Hannibal at gun point, but he didn't, because he wanted to see how it would play out and to prove that he was smarter. He wanted to prove his superiority, just as Hannibal wished to prove his (but more often succeeding). Will had, in many ways, moved on from Hannibal and this desire to prove superiority, but in coming back, his 'current' life was made unsustainable, and as Bedalia stated, he couldn't live with Hannibal (who was in prison, trapped away from him with Alana as a barrier), nor could he live without him (with Molly because of all that happened). Will finally embraced his ability to manipulate events through cold and cruel means, so that he could kill with Hannibal (note when Hannibal asks if he was surprised with Dolarhyde contacting him and indicating his survival, he says 'yes and no'. His motive for Dolarhyde dying only rested in the ability to secure his family's survival, but he himself noted that there was no future there for himself (it was an act of righteous violence, killing Dolarhyde cruelly to give Molly and her son peace of mind, while completing his transformation). Will, himself, may not have known whether he would allow Hannibal to live or not in the moment, but his conversations with Bedalia certainly indicate it was his intention to let him live from the beginning and to escape with him.

Dolarhyde attacking Will? It could be down to Dolarhyde hearing voices warning him of Will,, Dolarhyde having very sensitive hearing (fitting in with him being of such peak capabilities), or it could just be unexplainable and a contrivance to allow the scene to happen.

EDIT: I should probably edit the section about Will's interest in Hannibal. It should be clarified that it was, in the past, has never 'just' been about wanting Hannibal dead.

I always love your write-ups. Gonna do a more in-depth one than the two above?

To be honest, I didn't see
Will's actions as being oneupmanship. He's still just a guy torn between wanting to kill Hannibal and run away with him, not prove his superiority. At the end, he finally comes to terms with what Hannibal wanted, to pretty much be equals, murder husbands, but he still chooses to drag Hannibal off the cliff with him, and this time Hannibal doesn't resist Will's agency. Like you said, Will's pathology only lets him kill when in a righteously violent mood. I think him taking Hannibal with him is the only way for him to get everything that he wants. Save innocent people, get away with Hannibal, and kill him at the same time, and Hannibal finally lets him have it.
 
If they return a few years from now, they MUST have
Buffalo Chill and Miriam Lass. I wouldn't mind if these two became the protagonists for a season, bring Jack back and have him just be a total burn out after he "lost" Will again. Chilton can either be a villain, having finally snapped, or go into more of an anti-hero lead role.

I really wanna see Miriam and Chilton interact more.
 

KarmaCow

Member
My main gripe with Dolarhyde in the show was that the whole internal struggle between The Dragon and his affection for Reba was kind of thrown out, which made the sudden change from 'Hey Reba, I'm going to kill you now' to 'Oh, I can't watch you burn' in the opening scene of this episode really odd.

That whole thing with Reba this episode was because he loved her. She had already come back to his house last episode so he decided to scared her off for good. He orchestrated everything so she could escape by making her walk to the door from the bedroom, made sure she didn't touch his face so she didn't know it was another person, associated the key with the body, and faked the suicide so she'd think he was not only dangerous but dead. It ended up being the opposite of what it seemed as he did gain control over The Dragon rather than being consumed by it.
 
Hey, can we get some sort of lifetime achievement Emmy award for Michael Rymer?

The man's directed the large majority of both Hannibal and Battlestar Galactica's best hours. That's gotta be worth something. You end up being in charge of some of the best examples of the best television ever made? You should get a statue of some sort, right?
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member

jerry113

Banned
Considering the circumstances, this was a decent wrap-up for what was intended as a season finale instead of a series finale. It was obviously designed ahead of time for either cancellation or renewal.

I still think the way season 2 ended would've been the best series finale, though.

Am I crazy in thinking that? Season 2 having the best series finale? I think I liked it because all of the main character's confronted Hannibal - Alana, Jack, Will -- all at the very end.

In this one, Jack and Alana were bystanders to the showdown and the presence of Dolarhyde distracted from the show's main villain: Hannibal himself.

Because of these reasons, I prefer season 2 finale > season 3 finale.
 
Just watched it. I feel like this episode wasn't as crazy as the season 2 finale, but was much more fulfilling. Until this episode, the whole season felt much more gorey and aggressive than the first two; the moment
Hannibal dumps the body out of the cop car and picks Will up I had a moment of excitement as I realized their relationship as detectives/murderers was what I missed from this season of the show.
Those last 10 minutes are amazing.
 

Mariolee

Member
Interesting final. I'm somewhat divided.

(spoilers)

On the one hand I think it works well, but on the other hand I feel like the love Will and Hannibal felt for each other should have been left entirely as subtext and the line "this is all I ever wanted for you" was enough and the embrace was unnecessary, and it gave off a somewhat 'fan fiction' vibe. On the one hand, I really like that the joint murder of the Red Dragon is when Will and Hannibal final became 'murder husbands', but on the other hand I really think Dolarhyde got the shaft in the story and his character's development was unfairly rushed and lessened. On the one hand I find it cathartic, but on the other I wished they had simply gone with the ending of Red Dragon as it was originally (of course this was always problematic simply because of how it had been rushed). All of the good elements had aspects evoked some hesitance or second guessing, but overall I found it to be a cathartic, and fitting finale (I say finale purposely, if there was any more to follow it, it's not remotely the direction I wanted Fuller to head as I think the relationship between Will and Hannibal has anchored the show and prevented it moving on, but as a final to the show? It's fine). Overall, I still think it's the weakest season. I don't think the first half of the season and the second season complimented each other well, and I think both needed longer than they had.

EDIT: I guess I just really don't know what I feel about it at the moment. I liked it for what it was, I guess.

I actually am OK with
Will hugging Hannibal because it can also be read as Will faking his love for Hannibal in order to kill him and send him off the cliff just like when he supposedly rekindled his love for Hannibal in the middle of the season but is revealed to want to kill him before Chiyoh takes him out or even his deceit in the season 2 finale. Perhaps Hannibal knew this, but didn't care and let Will take him anyway.
 

Blader

Member
Great finale. I'd still give the nod to S2's and maybe even the midway finale from this year too, but this was a really strong episode. The whole
final confrontation between Will/Hannibal and Dolarhyde, with the slow-motion slashes and Love Crime and the final embrace and plunge over the cliff
was all kind of perfectly cheesy. Like, over the top and maybe a bit too on the nose, but at the same time, so satisfying.

Only thing I didn't care for was
the Bedelia tag, partly because I didn't really understand what the scene was supposed to mean -- didn't know that hunk of her meat was supposed to be a leg, and couldn't see that she was missing one -- but also partly because Gillian Anderson's acting this season has been terrible and I've no idea what feelings she was trying to express (seemingly all of them all at once).

That aside, I really dug the finale. I'm satisfied with this as the ending of Hannibal.
 

Window

Member
Great finale. I'd still give the nod to S2's and maybe even the midway finale from this year too, but this was a really strong episode. The whole
final confrontation between Will/Hannibal and Dolarhyde, with the slow-motion slashes and Love Crime and the final embrace and plunge over the cliff
was all kind of perfectly cheesy. Like, over the top and maybe a bit too on the nose, but at the same time, so satisfying.

That aside, I really dug the finale. I'm satisfied with this as the ending of Hannibal.

How I felt put into words perfectly.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
When it was cancelled and moved to Saturday's, there was speculation that NBC wouldn't even bother to release the season. :( So I've had it on my mind since then.

Speculation, rumors, etc. if they're baseless, I'd disregard them. This is coming from someone who's spent years learning to ignore the false rumors surrounding Half-Life 3, so unless Fuller/NBC say no Blu-ray, I will 100% assume there will be a Blu-ray.

Not releasing it would be throwing away virtually free money.
 

SCHUEY F1

Unconfirmed Member
I love the shot of
Francis standing in front of the burning book and painting with the wisps of darkness streaming out.
 

Leeness

Member
Speculation, rumors, etc. if they're baseless, I'd disregard them. This is coming from someone who's spent years learning to ignore the false rumors surrounding Half-Life 3, so unless Fuller/NBC say no Blu-ray, I will 100% assume there will be a Blu-ray.

Not releasing it would be throwing away virtually free money.

I hope sooooo, I'd be choked if I couldn't own season 3 :(
 
I might be alone in this, but I really didn't like the ending. But then again, I have always been annoyed by how Fuller handled Will Graham's character and the focus on some sort of romantic connection between Hannibal and Will, so the ending of the show revolving around that was extremely disappointing for me.
.


What I loved about the ending was how unpredictable Will Graham has become. His motivations are very sly and you see a lot of Hannibal's influence come out.
 

Guesong

Member
What I loved about the ending was how unpredictable Will Graham has become. His motivations are very sly and you see a lot of Hannibal's influence come out.

Season Spoilers :

I do not understand Will's arc at all this season. Goes from JACK I WANTED TO RUN WITH HANNIBAL to being a Chiyoh away of Knifing Hannibal to rejecting him to starting a family life to being horrified of what he inadverdently (?) caused to Chillton...to finally being back being Hannibals murder husband.

Somehow, somewhere, it skipped a beat, I feel. THE GUY WAS ABOUT TO SAW YOUR HEAD FFS. HE KILLED YOUR ADOPTIVE DAUGHTER. Feel like the midseason finale left him at where he should be.

Unless its some kind of metaphorical thing where Dollarhyde gets rid of his Dragon and dies while Will suddendly embraces it and live...eh. Idk. As I said something doesnt feel right to me here
 
I didn't understand
the escape
it obviously didn't work as intended, the red dragon killed police
but what was supposed to happen? and why did they just carry on?
even before the escape I expected the whole thing to be a ploy by hannibal and red dragon to actually help hannibal escape, so I thought that happened. now I am just confused

anyway, beautiful ending. it needs to continue. not right now, but sometime.

I'm going to say it took Chilton to reveal Will. Will realized that family life isn't what he wants in the end. All of that was a distraction for his real calling - which is to be by Hannibal's side. The look on Crawford's face says it all. Will set him up the same way Chilton was. He's become as pathlogical as Hannibal. Will knew exactly how this was going to go down and sacrificed those cops for "authenticity" to his plan. The escape was his design.
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
Well, that was some shit. Overall i actually felt the last half of the season was a little lacking but the final episode certainly did a good job. So many ways to take that ending. Hopefully we get some input from Fuller, he likes to blab about this shit.
 

Dysun

Member
Very happy with the ending. Felt very much in line with what I would have wanted out of a series finale for the show and main characters.
 

KingKong

Member
Boy I really wish they kissed at the end, though maybe the scene could not be any sexier

wtf at the post credits scene though, feels like they were just throwing shit at the wall with Bedelia this entire season
 

jerry113

Banned
Boy I really wish they kissed at the end, though maybe the scene could not be any sexier

wtf at the post credits scene though, feels like they were just throwing shit at the wall with Bedelia this entire season

The Bedelia scene provides the hint that Will and/or Hannibal are still alive.
 
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