This week brought us Fannibals the grand finale of season 1. And though there was no final resolution to the issue of Graham and Hannibal, it did set up nicely for season 2. Fuller has done a fine job thus far of bringing us through the world of Doctor Lecter and the further along we go, the less likely we’ll come out of it with our sanity intact. At least not if the good doctor has anything to say about it.
The story starts with Graham having another crazy-time hallucination dream. Upon waking, he discovers that he has something stuck in his throat. That something happens to be a human ear. He calls in Hannibal to help him out with this little problem and, at the doctor’s advice, brings in Crawford. Off Graham goes to jail, now a major suspect in the murder of the missing Abigail.
First move to Hannibal. He’s successfully driven a wedge between Graham and his allies. He’s even managed to convince Graham somewhat that he may indeed be the killer. But he takes it a step too far when he plants even more evidence of Graham’s guilt in the form of some fishing lures made up of other victims’ bits and pieces. Graham, recognizing that he wasn’t having any crazy episodes back then, instantly realizes that he’s being set up by someone and that that someone is privy to the secrets of the investigations. Unfortunately for him, Crawford and the others are not so easily convinced.
When Graham has been officially arrested, he manages to break free of custody. Making his way to Hannibal’s place, he asks for some assistance in returning to the scene of Abigail’s murder so he can figure out what really happened. The war of the brains is on, with Hannibal trying to manipulate Graham into believing he is a killer and Graham’s perceptive abilities working overtime to decipher the clues. Eventually, he figures out that Hannibal has been pulling his strings since day one. A timely arrival by Crawford saves Hannibal from being on the bad end of a bullet and sends Graham back to prison, though at least they managed to figure out that his brain was messed up, so he’s no longer in danger of dying anytime soon.
As the story progresses, we get to see Hannibal visit his own psychiatrist once again. From there, we can see that Hannibal really is upset about everything that’s been happening. He has connections to both Graham and Abigail, seeing them both as kindred spirits and perhaps his only chance at being able to be close to someone. Abigail is his now-lost daughter and Graham the friend that he was forced to betray. While this does make Hannibal seem more human, I doubt that he’ll let it affect him for too long before he goes back to business as usual.
And in a final scene… the revelation that Hannibal’s psychiatrist knows all about his clandestine activities and strange eating habits. As Hannibal studies Graham and Abigail, so too does Dr. Du Maurier study Hannibal, her first-hand look into the mind of a serial killer at work. Man, is every psychiatrist in this show screwed up in the head?
The final tally - Hannibal 1, Graham 0. Though Graham is locked away in the crazy-palace, he knows the measure of who Hannibal is now. Or at least we can assume. There’s always the chance that he’ll continue to doubt himself based on the fact that he was seriously fevered the entire episode, but somehow I think he’s smarter than that. As their showdown continues in season 2, things will begin to really heat up. The question is, where will Crawford and his crew fall with regards to Graham’s innocence?
Some may be upset that the season ended on a note like this, but I think it’s a perfect set-up for season 2. Of course Hannibal is going to win the first round. Whether Graham rises to meet the challenge is the real question. If you want to check out a few potential spoilers as to where season 2 will be heading next year, head over to this site and read what Fuller has to say about his show.
Savoureux still courtesy of unrealitytv.com
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