Ricky Church reviews the tenth episode of Hannibal season 3…
‘And The Woman Clothed In The Sun’ was another great addition to Hannibal‘s final season and the continuing hunt for the Tooth Fairy. It stayed true to the original story in Red Dragon yet also found room to be inventive and take liberties with the source material, especially at the episode’s conclusion. Giving the amazing Gillian Anderson a sizeable role in the story, as well as shining a light on several different character pairings, also helped elevate this episode.
Continuing straight on from last week’s episode, viewers were treated to the rest of the conversation between Hannibal and Francis, incorporating lines from the book into their dialogue. The visuals stood out during this sequence as the scene morphed to imagine the killers talking in Hannibal’s old office. It certainly was much more engaging to see these two characters interact in this manner rather than simply through the phone and was very reminiscent of how Will and Hannibal imagined themselves at the crime scenes the previous episode. This is yet another example of how the show can tell a story that’s already been adapted to screen twice before differently.
Francis’ conversation with Hannibal was in stark contrast to his growing relationship with Reba. Richard Armitage and Rutina Wesley showed a lot of great chemistry with each other during their scenes, showcasing how these two physically broken people can connect on a very personal level. These scenes also served to humanize Francis, displaying a different side to the crazed killer that viewers had not yet seen. He was very caring and compassionate to Reba, but the question remains whether this new relationship will be enough to turn him from his murderous ways. Despite the strong scenes with Reba, they were overshadowed by Francis’ conversation with his idol.
Hannibal and Francis weren’t the only pair to standout, however. Hugh Dancy’s scenes with Gillian Anderson were great as the two characters did not mince words with each other. Bedellia seems to have done quite well for herself as well in the years after Hannibal’s capture. Much like Chilton, she’s got a bestselling book and even a lecture tour about her ‘captivity’. Anderson did a great job showcasing a changed Bedellia, one who seemed to be in a much more comfortable place and somewhat regretted her choice to run away with Hannibal. The change in her character was especially more pronounced considering her flashbacks.
Guest star Zachary Quinto’s (who was last seen as a corpse all the way back in the season premiere) scenes with Anderson revealed what truly happened between Bedellia and her crazy patient. Quinto has already had experience playing some mentally unstable characters, but it was shown he was much more the victim of Hannibal’s manipulations than outright crazy or even violent. It’s too bad Bedellia didn’t take his concerns over Hannibal’s unorthodox (not to mentioned unethical) practices seriously as it could have saved her a lot of trouble. Though it would have been a bit better if it had been clearer exactly how Quinto’s character managed to choke on his tongue. Previous indications said it happened during a struggle between himself and Bedellia, but here he just started choking randomly, presumably due to some mental trigger Hannibal implanted. Hopefully this will be further elaborated later on.
While there wasn’t much movement plotwise, ‘And The Woman Clothed In Sun’ was an excellent character study that did really well pairing characters who haven’t had much screentime with each other together. The writing during these conversations was quite strong, highlighting one of Hannibal‘s main strengths yet again. The surprising confrontation between Will and Francis certainly upped the ante for the next episode, especially as this brief interaction never happened in the book. This change wasn’t a bad one though as Bryan Fuller and the rest of the creative team are just spreading their wings in an effort to create something fresh. One can only wonder just how much more Fuller and company will divert from the source material, but regardless of the changes it will be very exciting, and bittersweet, as Hannibal ends forever in a few short weeks.
Ricky Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 10, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
