Hannibal 2x12 & 2x13 Thoughts
Jun. 21st, 2014 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI watched the final two episodes of Hannibal season two. Not entirely sure why now; I've been listening to the AfterBuzz podcast reviews of season two and just found myself going 'why not'. I figured I could try and watch/see if I could handle the violence/gore/potential embarresment squick which is what kept me from watching from the beginning even though I wanted to.
The thing that stuck out most was how the show was shot/directed. It's very - stationary? I mean, at least in the two episodes I watched, we mostly get 'two people talking in a room' cut to 'two people talking in a room, one of them moves slightly!' cut to 'three people talking' etc etc. It's not a very active show, there's not a lot of movement. The most that I saw was in the finale's final 15 minutes or so. Lots of movement in that sequence but everything else is very contained. I found that very interesting. Definitely very different from anything else I've watched.
• It's a very pretty show. Some scenes were beautifully shot. Lots of very purposeful and interesting visuals. I really liked the Alana drowning in darkness scene and her being pushed out the window. Hannibal in the rain was gorgeous.
• On the other hand, I'm not entirely sold on the music. It was just a little too obvious and in your face at points. I prefer something more subtle. Or subtle at all really. Hannibal music at times is rather like a blinking neon arrow.
• I knew I'd ship Hannibal/Will, I already do, it's a relationship type I love, but I loved actually seeing them together. The actors have a great chemistry. I was a bit taken aback during the podcast when Joe kept bring up how Hannibal/Will was like a romance but holy god it so is. Hannibal is so in love with Will, and Will is so helplessly drawn to Hannibal. It so blatant I don't know how anyone can't see it. I loved that when Mason had Hannibal strung up Hannibal didn't take his eyes off of Will for a second after he appeared. Patrocles/Achilles, really?
- "I let you know me. See me. I gave you a rare gift but you didn't want it." Oh, poor Hannibal, lol. Will totally broke his heart. He was so angry and so hurt - and reacts by throwing a tantrum. Gutting Will and them murdering their proto-daughter in front of Will, taking away his 'surprise' and punishing Will for hurting him the most painful way he can. He's such an asshole, wow.
• My guess on the Live/Die scorecard:
- Abigail is dead. Hannibal slit her throat and she lost far too much blood. Will tried to stem it but she bled a lot before and then of course he couldn't keep pressure on it. She definitely bleed out.
- Will is alive. He's the main character and this is what happened to him in the book (gutted) and he survived that. There's no way he'd die.
- Alana... alive. Of the three she's the one who lost the least amount of blood and she was very obviously still breathing when Hannibal left her. I do think she will have to deal with some consequences - paralysed, coma, or something similar.
- Jack... alive/dead, I have no idea to be honest. He's definitely the most up in the air for me. He was the first injured, he was stabbed in the neck and while he did manage to wrap his tie around the wound he bled out a fricking lot so... no clue. I lean towards alive but in a coma.
• I loved the entire ending sequence in the finale.
- "We couldn't leave without you." And his expression!
- I LOVED Hannibal touching/cupping Will's face, and the way he held Will's head when he stabbed him and then how he held Will tight against him in a hug and gently petted his hair afterwards.
- "A place was made for all of us. Together." So... basically Hannibal wanted Happy Murder Family?
- "I forgive you Will." First, I have to say it - really, Hannibal, you forgive Will? How exceedingly generous of you! Second, that said, I loved this especially as it ties into the earlier Hannibal/Bella scene. It's not Hannibal choosing to forgive because forgiveness isn't something you can choose but rather something that just happens. I feel confident saying though that Will forgiving Hannibal will really, really, really not be happening.
- I loved the first little Alana/Hannibal scene. Her coming upon him wildly attacking the pantry door (viciously, unrestrained (so different from how he usually is), violently), and then just freezing when she shows up and you can see him getting control of himself again. Pulling that wildness/inner monster back inside and then his response to her questioning were Jack was - a whispered "in the pantry". It was said so perfectly. It was hilarious. I could almost hear the 'duh, Alana'.
- The Hannibal/Jack fight remains as awesome and brutal and weirdly hot as the first time I watched it.
• Jack definitely made the dumbest move of the episode. Him going into Hannibal's kitchen with his gun still in the holster was so unbelievably stupid. Things could have gone very different if he'd gone in with his gun pulled.
• Alana's choices on the other hand didn't bother me at all. In fact I think she did a couple of really smart things. She called the police before entering the house - smart. She ran upstairs instead of out the front door - smart. Now usually that would be the dumb choice, that's the horror movie dumb person move. But in this case I think it was the right one. If she'd run outside Hannibal would have killed her. He is faster than her for one thing, and it's raining which would have slowed her down/increased the odds of her falling, plus he had the knife which we've seen he's good at throwing. Meanwhile she knows she has a full clip in her purse and she knows the layout of his house. So she runs upstairs to a room where she can lock the door and this gives herself the necessary seconds she needs to re-load. If she hadn't be surprised by Abigail she could have very likely been fine.
The only real issue was the fact that she didn't check her gun before she entered the house but honestly I'm willing to excuse that. She's not really a person who's used to guns, she was freaked out/upset and, finally, she loaded the gun herself so why wouldn't there be bullets? I also really liked how brave she was. She didn't have to go to Hannibal's house but she did to save Jack. She could have taken Hannibal's offer and walked away (and maybe he would have let her) but she chose to shoot him, in order to save Jack.
• "I wanted to surprise you." You know, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Hannibal had revealed Abigail earlier. The night before when he asked Will to runaway with him right then - if he had revealed Abigail then what would Will have done? At that point he know Will has betrayed him already by not killing Freddie so if he truly wants Will why not put all his cards/manipulation towards that?
• It's really sad that Will and Abigail never had the chance for - anything really. No hug, no real talking.
• With the finale all I find myself doing is thinking of ways that things could have gone different.
- Will accepts Hannibal's first offer to just leave without telling anyone. That would never happen. Will would have to be a lot darker or more lost/broken then he actually is. But what if?
- When Will calls Hannibal and tells him "they know" he doesn't just leave it at that. He tells Hannibal he needs to leave right then. He tells Hannibal to come pick him up, that he's on the run from the police. Hannibal picks Will up, and Will's original plan is to kill him, except Abigail is sitting in the back. Surprise!
- Will gets to Hannibal's house before Jack. Then what? He enters gun drawn or not? He finds Hannibal in the kitchen - does he convince Hannibal to leave, or offer to leave with him? When does Hannibal reveal the Abigail surprise?
- Hannibal cups Will's face, holding the knife... and Will says "we need to leave" or "let's go now". He knows Hannibal will kill him and Abigail and he's desperate to save her this time. Hannibal - hesitates. He's angry/hurt about Will's betrayal but this is Will offering to leave with him and even if it's for the wrong reason it's a start. So he accepts, perhaps kissing Will, takes Will's gun and the three of them leave.
The thing that stuck out most was how the show was shot/directed. It's very - stationary? I mean, at least in the two episodes I watched, we mostly get 'two people talking in a room' cut to 'two people talking in a room, one of them moves slightly!' cut to 'three people talking' etc etc. It's not a very active show, there's not a lot of movement. The most that I saw was in the finale's final 15 minutes or so. Lots of movement in that sequence but everything else is very contained. I found that very interesting. Definitely very different from anything else I've watched.
• It's a very pretty show. Some scenes were beautifully shot. Lots of very purposeful and interesting visuals. I really liked the Alana drowning in darkness scene and her being pushed out the window. Hannibal in the rain was gorgeous.
• On the other hand, I'm not entirely sold on the music. It was just a little too obvious and in your face at points. I prefer something more subtle. Or subtle at all really. Hannibal music at times is rather like a blinking neon arrow.
• I knew I'd ship Hannibal/Will, I already do, it's a relationship type I love, but I loved actually seeing them together. The actors have a great chemistry. I was a bit taken aback during the podcast when Joe kept bring up how Hannibal/Will was like a romance but holy god it so is. Hannibal is so in love with Will, and Will is so helplessly drawn to Hannibal. It so blatant I don't know how anyone can't see it. I loved that when Mason had Hannibal strung up Hannibal didn't take his eyes off of Will for a second after he appeared. Patrocles/Achilles, really?
- "I let you know me. See me. I gave you a rare gift but you didn't want it." Oh, poor Hannibal, lol. Will totally broke his heart. He was so angry and so hurt - and reacts by throwing a tantrum. Gutting Will and them murdering their proto-daughter in front of Will, taking away his 'surprise' and punishing Will for hurting him the most painful way he can. He's such an asshole, wow.
• My guess on the Live/Die scorecard:
- Abigail is dead. Hannibal slit her throat and she lost far too much blood. Will tried to stem it but she bled a lot before and then of course he couldn't keep pressure on it. She definitely bleed out.
- Will is alive. He's the main character and this is what happened to him in the book (gutted) and he survived that. There's no way he'd die.
- Alana... alive. Of the three she's the one who lost the least amount of blood and she was very obviously still breathing when Hannibal left her. I do think she will have to deal with some consequences - paralysed, coma, or something similar.
- Jack... alive/dead, I have no idea to be honest. He's definitely the most up in the air for me. He was the first injured, he was stabbed in the neck and while he did manage to wrap his tie around the wound he bled out a fricking lot so... no clue. I lean towards alive but in a coma.
• I loved the entire ending sequence in the finale.
- "We couldn't leave without you." And his expression!
- I LOVED Hannibal touching/cupping Will's face, and the way he held Will's head when he stabbed him and then how he held Will tight against him in a hug and gently petted his hair afterwards.
- "A place was made for all of us. Together." So... basically Hannibal wanted Happy Murder Family?
- "I forgive you Will." First, I have to say it - really, Hannibal, you forgive Will? How exceedingly generous of you! Second, that said, I loved this especially as it ties into the earlier Hannibal/Bella scene. It's not Hannibal choosing to forgive because forgiveness isn't something you can choose but rather something that just happens. I feel confident saying though that Will forgiving Hannibal will really, really, really not be happening.
- I loved the first little Alana/Hannibal scene. Her coming upon him wildly attacking the pantry door (viciously, unrestrained (so different from how he usually is), violently), and then just freezing when she shows up and you can see him getting control of himself again. Pulling that wildness/inner monster back inside and then his response to her questioning were Jack was - a whispered "in the pantry". It was said so perfectly. It was hilarious. I could almost hear the 'duh, Alana'.
- The Hannibal/Jack fight remains as awesome and brutal and weirdly hot as the first time I watched it.
• Jack definitely made the dumbest move of the episode. Him going into Hannibal's kitchen with his gun still in the holster was so unbelievably stupid. Things could have gone very different if he'd gone in with his gun pulled.
• Alana's choices on the other hand didn't bother me at all. In fact I think she did a couple of really smart things. She called the police before entering the house - smart. She ran upstairs instead of out the front door - smart. Now usually that would be the dumb choice, that's the horror movie dumb person move. But in this case I think it was the right one. If she'd run outside Hannibal would have killed her. He is faster than her for one thing, and it's raining which would have slowed her down/increased the odds of her falling, plus he had the knife which we've seen he's good at throwing. Meanwhile she knows she has a full clip in her purse and she knows the layout of his house. So she runs upstairs to a room where she can lock the door and this gives herself the necessary seconds she needs to re-load. If she hadn't be surprised by Abigail she could have very likely been fine.
The only real issue was the fact that she didn't check her gun before she entered the house but honestly I'm willing to excuse that. She's not really a person who's used to guns, she was freaked out/upset and, finally, she loaded the gun herself so why wouldn't there be bullets? I also really liked how brave she was. She didn't have to go to Hannibal's house but she did to save Jack. She could have taken Hannibal's offer and walked away (and maybe he would have let her) but she chose to shoot him, in order to save Jack.
• "I wanted to surprise you." You know, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Hannibal had revealed Abigail earlier. The night before when he asked Will to runaway with him right then - if he had revealed Abigail then what would Will have done? At that point he know Will has betrayed him already by not killing Freddie so if he truly wants Will why not put all his cards/manipulation towards that?
• It's really sad that Will and Abigail never had the chance for - anything really. No hug, no real talking.
• With the finale all I find myself doing is thinking of ways that things could have gone different.
- Will accepts Hannibal's first offer to just leave without telling anyone. That would never happen. Will would have to be a lot darker or more lost/broken then he actually is. But what if?
- When Will calls Hannibal and tells him "they know" he doesn't just leave it at that. He tells Hannibal he needs to leave right then. He tells Hannibal to come pick him up, that he's on the run from the police. Hannibal picks Will up, and Will's original plan is to kill him, except Abigail is sitting in the back. Surprise!
- Will gets to Hannibal's house before Jack. Then what? He enters gun drawn or not? He finds Hannibal in the kitchen - does he convince Hannibal to leave, or offer to leave with him? When does Hannibal reveal the Abigail surprise?
- Hannibal cups Will's face, holding the knife... and Will says "we need to leave" or "let's go now". He knows Hannibal will kill him and Abigail and he's desperate to save her this time. Hannibal - hesitates. He's angry/hurt about Will's betrayal but this is Will offering to leave with him and even if it's for the wrong reason it's a start. So he accepts, perhaps kissing Will, takes Will's gun and the three of them leave.
