Ricky Church reviews the ninth episode of Hannibal season 3…
Hannibal’s latest episode, ‘And The Woman Clothed With The Sun’, did not waste any time as it opened right up with Will going to Hannibal for information. From there, the rest of the story moved quickly without sacrificing character development or significant plot points.
It was very satisfying to finally see Will and Hannibal’s traditional relationship play out on the show. Their new relationship dynamic was on full display as Will refused to get too comfortable with Hannibal, referring to him as Dr. Lecter throughout their conversations. Hannibal, on the other hand, kept prodding and taunting Will for information on his personal life to get under his skin. While he’s still clearly bitter towards Will, it seems like he was genuine when he told him to stay away from the Tooth Fairy case.
On that note, we discovered Jack knew about Hannibal’s letter and forwarded it to Will anyway, using it as a ploy to get Will back in the game. This is a pretty cold move by Jack, especially after the guilt he harboured for doing this same thing in the previous seasons. Jack’s hatred for Hannibal and need to save lives is blinding him to the potential damage he’ll be doing to Will in the long run. If this storyline plays out the same way as the Red Dragon novel, Jack may end up regretting his choice.
Elsewhere, audiences caught up more with some of the other supporting characters, particularly tabloid journalist Freddie Lounds. Once again, she had some of the best lines of the episode as she referred to Will and Hannibal as ‘murder husbands’, placed a ‘big’ black box over Will’s crotch and called Will a manhunter, a nice nod to the very first Hannibal film with William Peterson. The interplay between her and Will was quite amusing to watch since her sarcastic charm was sorely missed in the first half of the season.
Though she appeared last week, Alana Bloom got a fair bit of focus too as we discovered she was still together with Margot Verger and even carried their baby. Viewers also saw firsthand not only how cold she was to Hannibal, but just how much pleasure she took in tormenting her old mentor. Alana’s darker characteristics certainly have not gone away, especially as she’s now taken over the rival role Dr. Chilton had in the original source material.
Francis Dolarhyde was also shown to be a rather sympathetic figure, yearning for some kind of connection after suffering family trauma. Rutina Wesley of True Blood fame made her introduction as Reba, the person Francis is able to connect with after he discovers her kind heart and can connect with her own blindness. Richard Armitage continued to excel at this tortured character, perfectly showcasing how unstable this man really is. With only four episodes of Hannibal to go, the show’s adaptation of Red Dragon continues to impress.
Ricky Church
https://youtu.be/8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 3, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
