“Every creative act has a destructive consequence.”
Episode 11 kicks off with an intimate banquet between Dr Lecter and his presumed protégé Will Graham. On the menu tonight is flambéed ortolan, an endangered bird that is submersed in liquor, plucked, cooked and then demolished in one bite, ‘bones and all’. As the blood-curdling symphony of bones crunching fills the silence between the two mysterious men, we can’t help but wonder whose bones the dark doctor intends to crunch on next.
The iconic flaming wheelchair made famous by the original novel ‘Red Dragon’ and the subsequent feature film in 2002 is brought to life, ironically so, by the show’s creative team. This is a scene that truly encompasses everything that the show stands for- masterfully combining the disturbing with the delectable to create a heightened reality in which the narrative thrives.
Michael Pitt returns as Mason Verger (with perhaps the most disturbingly sadistic laugh in the history of television), fulfilling his promise to exchange twisted metaphors and worrying words of wisdom with the therapist. The full capabilities of Mason and the extremes he’s willing to go to in order to ensure he remains the only male heir to his father’s riches are damning, for both us as the audience and his desperate sister Margot.
After months of being blinded to the havoc wreaked by Hannibal, Dr Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) finally has her eyes opened to the monster that she believed she knew so well. In a poignant moment full of emotional anguish, Alana professes to Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) that she has no confidence that she knows Hannibal Lecter anymore.
As we fast approach the season finale, we can only hope that Will Graham finally gets the reckoning he longs for.
Words by Sophie Mace.