By: Brandon Wolfe
The battle of wills between Will and Hannibal is creating one of the more unique character dynamics presently on television. Here are two adversaries constantly circling each other, yet with each too fascinated by the other to strike. Hannibal’s preoccupation with Will has been a linchpin of the series from the start, and it’s not surprising that he continues to view his patient as a chemistry set in human form, a test subject to study the volatility of in reaction to whichever elements he chooses to introduce. But Will’s reaction to Hannibal is truly intriguing. He loathes the man, wants him dead, yet can’t stop himself from showing up at the doctor’s office for regular appointments where he can prod the man for any insight he can glean about his actions. The need each man possesses to understand what drives the other is not like any other TV relationship I can think of. It’s like if Batman took to hanging out with the Joker all the time to try to wrap his head around just what the guy’s deal is.
Fittingly, “Shiizakana” opens with Will dreaming about murdering Hannibal via a noose tied to a very obedient horse. Equally fitting, Hannibal is having Jack over for what has to be their fiftieth dinner thus far in the series (and you would think that, even with his suspicions put to rest on Hannibal’s guilt, Jack would have at least picked up a negative mental association toward these weird dishes by now). Jack mentions that he wishes to forget certain recent developments concerning Will while Hannibal notes that he can no longer allow Will to be a topic of dinner conversation due to their renewed doctor-patient relationship. Meanwhile, an unlucky trucker investigates a stowaway on the roof of his rig and is yanked up and mauled animalistically, in the most ‘X-Files’-esque moment ever on a show that isn’t ‘X-Files’-esque infrequently.
In Hannibal’s office, Will admits regret for his actions at the end of the previous episode, where he neglected to shoot Clark Ingram dead when he had the chance. Will notes that he has discovered that the power he feels over the prospect of killing evil men is a feeling he would like to chase, a revelation that clearly entices Hannibal. On his way out, Will runs into Margot Verger, the patient Hannibal encouraged last week to murder her abusive brother. She attempts to learn Will’s thoughts on Hannibal as a psychiatrist, but he does not engage her. In her session with Hannibal, while she admits to appreciating his condoning of her desire to do harm to her brother, she is also alarmed by his stark appraisal of the situation.
When the team investigates the trucker’s body, the theory bandied about is that a killer has trained an animal to maul victims, due to the remains being left at the scene similar to recent livestock attacks that also saw no carcasses or organs eaten or dragged away. But, in a subsequent attack on a couple who make the unwise decision of canoodling in the woods in the dead of night, we see that the man and the animal are one and the same. The assailant wears some sort of exoskeleton animal costume with the fossilized skull of a cave bear mounted on his head, the jaws of which he uses to viciously tear into his victims. And even for a show as weird and insane as ‘Hannibal’, this is pretty out there. The attack sequences are shot well because they are intense and terrifying without ever giving us a full glimpse of what this guy looks like in action, which was a smart decision because it would almost certainly look off-the-charts silly (in the one good close-up we get, he looks like someone put a dinosaur skull on top of a Shredder mask).
Hannibal, who is still involved as an advisor in these investigations even though that seems strange now, mentions to Jack that he once treated a boy years ago who claimed to be an animal born into a human’s body, and would very much fit the profile of this killer. The boy, now a man, is named Randall Tier, and is paid a visit by Hannibal, who informs him that the FBI will be showing up soon. We also learn that Randall’s killer instinct was something that Hannibal didn’t treat, but actually nurtured. However, when Jack and Will pay Randall a visit, he claims that he worked past his issues and is all better now.
Margot comes by Will’s house unexpectedly and the two compare notes on Hannibal. They find they have a lot in common, as both have had their worst impulses stoked by the man whom they each trusted to help them work through their issues. And Hannibal continues to steer his patients down a dark path when he later brings the suited-up Randall to Will’s house and sets him loose. After wounding one of Will’s dogs, Randall bursts into the house, only to find Will ready for him with a shotgun in hand. When Hannibal walks in and finds Will standing over Randall’s dead body, Will points out that now they both have sent killers after each other and declares them to be “Even Steven.”
The most intriguing notion in “Shiizakana” is that Hannibal is making a habit of cultivating serial killers as a sort of hobby. It seemed until recently that Will was unique, a pet project, but now we see that Margot is being similarly groomed to become a murderer, and that Randall was something Hannibal was working on years before he even met Will. And the revelation of Hannibal’s involvement with Randall comes as a bit of a relief because the notion of so many avant-garde killers operating within the same area at the same time has always been one of the show’s hardest-to-swallow traits. Hannibal being the root cause of the bulk of the show’s madness helps it all go down a bit smoother.
“Shiizakana” leaves us with much to ponder regarding its two primary characters. Did Hannibal send Randall after Will to end the game prematurely or did he know that his favorite guinea pig would emerge victorious? Was the whole thing just an elaborate ploy to give Will that longed-for opportunity to pull the trigger on a scoundrel and give in to his darker nature? And now that Will has satiated his growing bloodlust, will that make him more inclined to try and make his horse dream a reality? That ‘Hannibal’ can’t stop throwing so many tantalizing questions at us is what makes it one of the best things currently on TV.
Discuss this review with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJFilms, and follow author Brandon Wolfe on Twitter at @ChiusanoWolfe.
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