‘Hannibal’ season 3, episode 9 review: A Red Dragon’s dream; Hannibal’s new partnership
Saturday night’s “Hannibal” episode was strange … very strange. We almost wish we could take about ten minutes of the time-jumps out of the picture, mostly so that we were left with a more consistent product.
We only have six episodes to tell the story of Francis Dolarhyde, and what all has really transpired through the first two episodes? We’ve got Hannibal now working more or less with Will Graham to understand the killer, and we also had our first real conversation between the Tooth Fairy and Hannibal where we learned what exactly the former wants to become: The Great Red Dragon. He is clearly a disturbed man, but there is still a longing and a need to be understood with him. That explains his connection with Reba McClane (Rutina Wesley), a blind woman who he can project a very specific image of himself towards. There is no more perception based off of sight. The scenes between Wesley and Richard Armitage were a highlight of the hour, since it informed us more of who this guy really is apart from the killing.
Will Graham is trying to keep his inner demons at bay, but as you would expect with this character, that is no easy task given his nightmares and his tendency to almost transform into the very thing that he is chasing. There was mass creepiness throughout this episode; heck, calling it “creepiness” may even be some sort of an understatement.
It was nice to see the return again of Freddie Lounds tonight to learn more about how Will could be using the press to his advantage, but also how he chose not to. As for other personal developments, the Verger baby is real! Also, seeing Alana Bloom act like she’s got a ton of money now is fun.
The episode itself still left a little something to be desired when it comes to consistency; it was a little all over the place, and perhaps there were too many characters throughout. While we do still adore the show and the performances, this one may go down as one of our least favorite of the season. Grade: B-.
Jesse Simpson
August 2, 2015 @ 7:04 pm
I thought that the theme of family, Will’s new one, Will’s old one with Hannibal, Alana’s new family, the family Will and Hannibal could have had with Abigail, the perfect families that The Tooth Fairy kills all played very well off of each other and helped build the current state of our characters and what they have to gain or lose related to family. It portends well.
Jack Nause
August 2, 2015 @ 3:31 pm
When it strayed from the Red Dragon story line, it lost it’s momentum. Don’t care about Abigail, or Bloom……just tell the dang story. They have to rush thru the most compelling parts……like Will’s time at the Jacobi house…..or Dohlarhydes time with Reba……..to go back to Abigail? Uhg.