Will Graham: He's Getting Too Close to This One

[Lisin]

Will Graham is so strange and boring and also compelling and I just don't know. I don't like the way they're writing him but I also think that perhaps if he were being played by someone else it would be better. Also why is he always so sweaty? Stop with the sweat production team! It's gross. 

[heyerchick]

Hugh Dancy is so amazing in this role. I've been really impressed with how much complex, layered emotion he's able to convey with those big eyes and that beautiful face. And his body language. Sane but broken Will is a much more enjoyable a character, especially when he's in conniving righteous wrath mode. He almost, almost got away with his biblical act of revenge in murdering Hannibal by proxy.

[caseylane]

I'm not sure how I feel about Will asking for Hannibal to be murdered. It would save a lot of lives but I also think it would have done irreparable damage to Will. Agree though about Dancy's acting. He's been superb.

[heyerchick]

I sense that for Will, it was a sacrifice the circumstances demanded of him. It would have been, at the very least, the spiritual death of him, but that it was a price he was willing to pay. He is the mongoose in the scenario after all. Sometimes, the cobra slithering by the house...is food ;)

[MacGuffin]

Back on the EHG podcast (#23 I believe), Dave said he found Will boring and not a good enough protagonist to go up against Hannibal. That if Will wasn't such a goody two-shoes and was willing to go beyond the rules that would make him more compelling.

Well, that's exactly where Will is now! He seems much more formidable and dangerous. I can only imagine what he will do when he gets out.

[lulee]

I'm not sure how I feel about Will asking for Hannibal to be murdered. It would save a lot of lives but I also think it would have done irreparable damage to Will. Agree though about Dancy's acting. He's been superb.

Didn't Gideon have a line to Will when they were talking in their cells that he had warned about Hannibal being in danger in order to save Will from himself? Even Gideon didn't want Will to go too dark.

[atomationage]

I only watch this because Hugh Dancy is in it. If someone else was playing the role, there's no way I would watch it. I wasn't even going to watch the second season, but he drew me back in.  I agree that the character of WIll started off boring, but that left plenty of room for growth..

[heyerchick]

So much of Will was shut down and hidden within those mental forts of his. He didn't want anyone close to him and engaged with those he had to in very specific ways. I don't think 'boring' is the right word so much as 99% of Will Graham actively withheld from those around him.

[heyerchick]

I really, really hope to see Will catch some sort of break before too much longer. Every time I see him, I want to feed him a proper meal, give him a cuddle and tuck him up safe in bed with the dogs. It's hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt and about the only source of comfort he has is Hannibal himself. 

[greenbean]

I don't think Will has been boring at all. And I don't agree with the opinion that a character not willing to break the rules is boring. It's a complaint I'm hearing a lot lately, and I'm tired of the anti-hero/dark-hero trope being presented as better, and its proliferation throughout the media in the past decade. Calling Will "goody two-shoes" is juvenile, not everyone needs to be Batman. I find a lot of characters who adhere to that trope deeply unlikeable, self-absorbed and one dimensional. The recent incarnation of Batman included.

 

I think Will has always been interesting because he's been in constant conflict with himself. Struggling with his darker urges and trying to channel them into something good. We now see him allow those parts to come through, so he can catch Hannibal. All the while, the question of who he'll become hangs over him.

 

I don't know what Will was supposed to be doing in S1. If we had not seen him in such inner turmoil, and seen his desire to be good, despite his huge potential to be otherwise, the significance of his shift in behaviour would be lost, and I don't think the dynamic between Will and Hannibal would be as intense or interesting.

Edited April 29, 2014 by greenbean

[caseylane]

 

I think Will has always been interesting because he's been in constant conflict with himself. Struggling with his darker urges and trying to channel them into something good.

Totally agree with this. I think that's what makes Will so interesting, not that he's some revenging anti-hero but that he's aware of how easy it would be to cross the line and his struggle to straddle that line to save lives.

[heyerchick]

TV Guide Hannibal Postmortem:Is Will's Transformation Into a Killer Complete?

 

In the interview linked above, Bryan Fuller seems to be confirming that Will killed Freddie Lounds, and that he and Hannibal were indeed eating her. I find myself hoping against hope that Will is still playing the long game, and that the

flaming wheelchair

we saw in the promo isn't exactly what it appears to be. Because, really, if Will had a choice between killing Hannibal and taking the consequences on himself, versus killing other people to lure in Hannibal in order to catch him, to have fallen so far and so hard he deserves to wind up in the cell next to Hannibal's...sorry, struggling to put this into words. It erodes my empathy for Will. And without that, I'm not sure what the point of Hannibal is. Will would literally have to get away murder in order to live anything like the life laid out for him in Red Dragon.

[GreyBunny]

I just started watching this show so it's still a shiny new toy for me.  Right away I love Will, he's another challenging character like Walter White, James Flint, or Dexter Morgan, who makes me wonder how far he can go and still make me root for him.

[Helena Dax]

Heyerchick, I agree that Fuller seems to be confirming Freddie's death, but if she were alive, he'd still have to say she's dead. I mean, he has no choice but saying she's dead. Besides, I just can't  believe Will killed an innocent person just to pretend he's a killer now.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Helena Dax

[jeansheridan]

My favorite part of Hugh Dancy's performance is his voice.  I love his American accent.  There's a slight stiffness to it that really works for the character.  Or perhaps I mean over-emphasis on some words.  I've never liked Dancy in anything before (although I did just see Ella Enchanted for the first time recently and he's not bad given the level of the whole movie).  But Will Graham is catnip to me.  I think it's because Hannibal seems to have all the cards so it's fun to see the underdog try to fight back.  And since I think the producers will follow the books somewhat, my hope is that Graham will triumph in some manner.  He'll be damaged but not broken.

[lilmissprefect]

I have to agree with you, jeansheridan. I've seen Hugh Dancy in other things and he'd never resonated with me (to the point that I was surprised he was in some of the films I'd seen - Ella Enchanted included), but as WIll Graham he is captivating. 

 

I still hold out hope for Freddie. 

The flaming wheelchair

could be anything. Or maybe I am just kidding myself. But if he did kill Freddie, then I think that it will break the character for me in a way that can't be redeemed. I want to root for Will, and I can't do that if he is willing to kill a relative innocent just to take down Hannibal Lecter. 

 

Would also like to add that I definitely spotted something plaid  hanging on Will's coatrack while he waited for Randall to come busting in his door. I refuse to believe that WIll has been lost to the dark side when he still has some plaid leanings. 

Edited May 4, 2014 by lilmissprefect

[heyerchick]

An article on Hannibal I read recently described Hugh as playing Will with a "sharp eccentricity" which I really like. His words have that sharpness, but also a reluctance,  a weight to them,like they've escaped him. For me, it's a brilliant way to evoke the difficulty Will has just moving through the world, and all the defensive walls he's behind when interacting with others.

 

I'm slowly catching up with Hugh's filmography. A couple of obvious mainstream clunkers aside, (Ella Enchanted and Confessions of a Shopaholic, in which he was good and appealing even though the movies were crappy) he's tended to go for smaller, quieter stories with a lot of focus on character and relationships. Looking the way he does, it's no surprise he's cast in a lot of romantic dramas. Bryan Fuller cast him because his lusciousness is so appealing, it's meant to hook us in as much as it hooks Hannibal :) But listening to him perform these various roles, as well as talking with fans and interviewers, I've fallen in love with his voice. English or American accent, Hugh has this life and energy and expressiveness in his voice. I could listen to him all day.

 

The most recent thing I watched him in was "Adam" in which he plays a young man with aspergers attempting to negotiate a romantic relationship. He was very affecting. It was ultimately a slight story, but Hugh's performance definitely elevated it.

 

I have faith in Bryan Fuller. I don't agree with his insistence on Will and Hannibal being 'heterosexual' - not because I have a raging desire to see a fun fanon 'murder husbands' relationship playing out on screen, I'm old school that way - but because Hannibal is not so easily boxed or labelled, and I find it impossible to accept that Will's sexuality would be literally the only boundary Hannibal respected, while otherwise dismantling his beloved down to the bone. And this notion of the heterosexual two of them needing to make love by proxy - er, if making love in any sense is creeping into the 'heterosexual' equation, you need to look at the labelling. But this one particular issue aside, Fuller has earned my respect and faith as a showrunner. I'm rolling with the punches, much like poor darling Will.

Edited May 4, 2014 by heyerchick

[atomationage]

Heyerchick, if you haven't seen it, I would recommend watching Dancy in season 2 of The Big C.  I think it was his best work previous to Hannibal.   I also liked him in The Jane Austen Book Club

[heyerchick]

Oh, I've seen The Jane Austen Book Club. If I was Jocelyn, I would have climbed Grigg like a tree much, much sooner. He was adorable. Hot and adorable :)

[Viqutorious]

I really like Hugh Dancy in this role, this show has me hooked. I watched the first season on Netflix and caught up a few weeks ago. I do wonder why Will is supposed to have Asperberger's syndrome, it isn't very evident as far as I can tell.

I am soo bummed he is either playing along with or being seduced by Hannibal.

After watching the 3rd show I turned to my husband and asked him if he thought Will would turn out to be Buffalo Bill. I don't think so but it kind of creeps me out. There is also the West Virginia connection with Clarice.

[heyerchick]

He doesn't have Asperger's syndrome but he mirrors some of the behaviours, such as avoiding eye contact, as a self-protective measure.

[Viqutorious]

I was mistaken you're right he doesn't have asperbergers! I read an interview Hugh Dancy did where he talked about his character having it. I thought he was talking about this role. I have watched a season and a half thinking he had it!

[heyerchick]

He played the title character in a film called "Adam" who had Asperger's. He brought that experience to his role as Will, emulating those behaviours to minimize destructive contact with other people. A lot of what people around him saw of Will was a deliberate, protective construct. Bless him. The fact that he was so alone was part of what made him so vulnerable to Hannibal

Edited May 10, 2014 by heyerchick

[greenbean]

I never knew this. So will was emulating Asperger's to distance himself from people?

[heyerchick]

IIRC, Hugh Dancy was talking about it in his SAG Foundation 'conversation' that you can find on YouTube. I've watched several Hugh interviews recently but I think this is the right one.

[Epeolatrix]

So will was emulating Asperger's to distance himself from people?

He was distancing himself from people in ways that other people associate with Asperger's, but I don't think it was deliberate mimicry. I think it's more that there are many popular conceptions (and misconceptions) about the autism spectrum, and people draw their own conclusions.

[Viqutorious]

My stepson (age20) falls in the spectrum, he is high functioning however he has not been dx with Asperger's. I believe his dx is PDD-NOS.

Since I was misinformed I was trying to find autistic traits in Will. His isolation & dog friends was all I saw.

I am not an expert, i just have my experience.

I think I forgot to tell my husband I was wrong about Will & Asperger's!

[Lisin]

I'm confused, I thought in the very first episode when Jack goes to get Will to assist he mentions him having Asperger's and says something about how Will uses his glasses to avoid eye contact. 

[heyerchick]

Will does avoid eye contact - he wants to limit his exposure to other people :)

 

Hugh Dancy stated in that SAG Foundation interview that Will isn't on the spectrum. It could simply be that he tells people he is so they'll accept all his avoidance behaviours more easily, or at least not exhaust him trying to change his behaviours. He goes out of his way to flatten expectations of his ability to engage when maybe he also means his willingness to engage. His empathy disorder must be so exhausting, and hanging on to his sense of self under constant attack. Easier to say "I can't" than "I won't" when it comes to human interaction.

Edited May 12, 2014 by heyerchick

[Epeolatrix]

JACK CRAWFORD   Where do you fall on the spectrum?
Will picks up the rhythm and syntax of Jack’s voice:
WILL GRAHAM   My horse is hitched to a post closer to Aspergers and Autistics than narcissists and sociopaths.

 

Which isn't really an affirmative answer, seeing as narcissism and sociopthy are personality disorders and not part of the autism spectrum. However, it's the sort of answer that can be accepted without more probing; it's a lie of omission.

[Lisin]

OK thanks @WertherEffekt I'm glad I wasn't imagining it! 

[jeansheridan]

What I want to see next season is Will recovering.  I want to meet his future wife & see her help him rebuild his core.  I have loved him this season but step away from the evil please.  

 

Dancy doesn't get enough credit for his subtlety.  He does mimic very well.  I would love to see him do Mason.  He matches the other actor & sometimes he is obvious like how he matches Margot' s bluntness at their second meeting.  I love that scene.  Other times I don't see it until you all point it out.

[caseylane]

Yes, I'm getting uncomfortable with how close Will is standing to the line. It's one thing to love Hannibal in spite of his evil nature, but when the villan is so powerful you need a hero that is strong. I don't want a Will that's only a little better than Hannibal.

[heyerchick]

We've had this discussion in the episode threads so I thought this interview with Hugh Dancy would be useful.

 

Esquire: HUGH DANCY ON THE EXPLOSIVE LAST HANNIBAL EPISODES (extract)

 

ESQ: Let’s talk a bit about your process of becoming Will Graham. In previous interviews you’ve mentioned that you thought he existed somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Is that correct?

 

HD: Well, actually to be clear about that, I don’t think I said that I believe Will is autistic, I really don’t, I think quite the opposite. There’s a bit of almost misdirection in the first episode of the first season when Jack Crawford comes to me in my lecture hall and asks me where I am on the spectrum. I guess maybe Will chooses not to disabuse him of that notion. In fact, if somebody on the autistic spectrum is somebody who has trouble reading other people and doesn’t glean the kind of information from others that most of us do, Will has exactly the opposite problem, right? He has a flood of information coming into him that he can’t really control at all. He doesn’t have the filter that stops us from receiving information. And he’s chosen to protect himself by adopting some of the behavioral qualities of the person on the spectrum.

 

ESQ: This is some in-depth stuff.

 

HD: I know. It sounds really overly complicated but basically it means he has chosen to shut himself down a bit. He has chosen not to make eye contact. He has chosen to be a bit of a loner so he appears to other people like he might be on the spectrum. I did play someone on the autistic spectrum a few years ago so I kind of understood. I was coming at it from that point of view. And I guess thinking about Will expanded my notion of what that spectrum might be, to include the idea that it might extend in the other direction. So rather than it be being “us” on one end and autistic people at the other, if you imagine you and me kind of somewhere in the middle and then an autistic person down on one side and then down on the other direction there are people who are far more open to sort of just receiving more information at all times. And maybe that pushes them toward what we call psychic. I don’t think Will is psychic but that was the overall understanding I came to.

 

[mledawn]

Seemingly out of nowhere, but I wanted to say it: I never completely bought into the Will-as-Abagail's-surrogate-father. I just didn't think there was enough screentime given to that relationship. I can understand Will being devastated at her death and shocked that she had still been alive (flip that around, timing-wise) but the whole daddy thing didn't totally work for me. I mean, I will believe the writers because I've bought what they have sold so far, but it doesn't resonate.

Edited May 27, 2014 by mledawn

[GreyBunny]

[Double post.  This is not my design.]

Edited May 28, 2014 by GreyBunny

[GreyBunny]

he has chosen to shut himself down a bit. He has chosen not to make eye contact.

 

Which is one of the things that make his stabbing scene with Hannibal so compelling.

 

When he turns around and sees Hannibal, Will looks him right in the eyes and doesn't look away, even after Hannibal gutted him he didn't break eye contact until Hannibal pulled him into his shoulder.  He regained eye contact when he was slumped against the wall and bleeding out.  

 

He knew Hannibal was a serial-killing cannibal, Hannibal had already assaulted and emotionally tortured him, he had to know Hannibal was going to hurt or kill him when he chose Jack, and he still looked Hannibal in the eyes.  Dang.

Edited May 27, 2014 by GreyBunny

[heyerchick]

Comment from Bryan Fuller on S3 in a TV Guide spoilers article:

 

That Hannibal finale gutted me. Who's going to die in the wake of that bloodbath? — Tyrone

While executive producer Bryan Fuller promises that there could be multiple victims, we can officially rule out Will Graham. However, both Will's physical and emotional scars will be evident in Season 3, which Fuller is approaching as a complete reboot. "Will Graham has to change because of this experience," Fuller says. "He has to be a different version of the man we've known. All the conversations I've had with Hugh Dancy have been about an entirely new Will Graham. Who is he now?"

 

[heyerchick]

I'm a little bit addicted to Hugh Dancy as Grigg Harris in "The Jane Austen Book Club." Grigg is sweet as pie, adorably awkward, nerdy and kind, both clueless and surprisingly perceptive, and refreshingly believes the way to a woman's heart, and hers to his, is through the books you can both love. I am 100% in favour of this philosophy. Jocelyn, the woman he falls for, is weird and wonderful in her own way. I love them both and just enjoy the heck out of their slow, skirmishing build. Can't seem to stop watching this one. Hugh's range really is impressive :)

[Demented Daisy]

21 Actors Offer Their Characters One Piece of Advice

 

#11

[jeansheridan]

Which is one of the things that make his stabbing scene with Hannibal so compelling.

 

When he turns around and sees Hannibal, Will looks him right in the eyes and doesn't look away, even after Hannibal gutted him he didn't break eye contact until Hannibal pulled him into his shoulder.  He regained eye contact when he was slumped against the wall and bleeding out.  

 

He knew Hannibal was a serial-killing cannibal, Hannibal had already assaulted and emotionally tortured him, he had to know Hannibal was going to hurt or kill him when he chose Jack, and he still looked Hannibal in the eyes.  Dang.

That's why this is one of the great romances on television. I am a bit bummed they won't be together as much this season. Fantasy sequences don't do it for me. Their chemistry is off the charts.

[greenbean]

Count me in as one of those who missed Will in the opening episode. I didn't even think I would, but he brings so much to the show. He's the character who's had the most evolution. I really want to see how he, Jack and gang have survived.

[Anela]

He's more forgiving than I am (now), but I wish I had that sort of forgiveness in me. I can see how it would be empowering, leaving the other person with no more control over you. 

[GreyBunny]

One of the things I like about Will is that he's not binary.  It's not "this or that" for him, it's often "and" and other things as well.  I believe he honestly forgives Hannibal, and that he wanted to clear the slate with him mentally so he could clear his own mind to better catch him, and he was trying to fuck with Hannibal's head too to both unsettle Hannibal and for his own amusement.  Lots of stuff going on in that one "I forgive you." 

[jeansheridan]

We got a real smile, a knit cap, dogs, a puffy vest, glasses, and the pendulum swinging in a slightly different pattern. Smells like season one Will. I was hoping for a bigger transformation. Buzzed hair or a full beard or a suntan...faux of course. Obviously there were practical considerations for his look but I was surprised at the lack of imagination for once.

[DeadlyEuphoric]

Found this on tumblr.

 

 

Will Graham: is an ex-cop who got stabbed while on duty
    Will Graham: emptied his clip into a guy and said it made him "feel powerful"
    Will Graham: broke his thumb to get out of handcuffs, attacked a security guard and jumped out of a moving vehicle
    Will Graham: beat a guy to death with his bare hands
    Will Graham: willingly and repeatedly puts himself in the path of a cannibalistic serial killer
    Fandom: ....
    Fandom: Precious puppy. Very tiny. Must be protected.

http://fannibal-crack.tumblr.com/post/110224780015/will-graham-is-an-ex-cop-who-got-stabbed-while-on

 

Well, it is rather true. And I am guilty of it too, at least from time to time... Heh! But seriously, Will is more capable and strong than he is sometimes given credit for. It probably doesn't help that Alana is always "must.protect.Will" and Jack was also supposed to be in a "protect Will" mission at the start of this season. And he does get hurt A LOT - physically and emotionally, so hard to not be worried about the guy and want to protect him...

[Captanne]

This cartoonish treatment (especially in the first half of series 3) is what I have been railing about.  There is no excuse for it when it is done on a major network by seasoned producers.  It's terrible and one of the many reasons the show was cancelled, I'm sure.  Fuller gets NO sympathy from me.

 

Thank God they are back on track now with these remaining episodes.

 

We can pretend everything Will has done (see list above) and has had done to him will be like a fever dream and merrily forgotten.

 

I have no problem with cartoonish "pushing it to the edge" art and narrative.  Thomas Harris is over-the-top.  He just is and his work plays into that treatment perfectly.

 

But to undermine such rich characters and stories so carelessly is insulting to the fans of the franchise and I count myself as one of them from the beginning.  There are sides of this series that are brilliant and I wouldn't have missed it for the world -- but to turn Will into Wile E. Coyote* was a travesty.

 

*The straw that broke my back was Will being pushed from the train by a nonsensical character.  Fucking comical and unnecessary.  Stupid.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Captanne

[Finis Terre]

This cartoonish treatment (especially in the first half of series 3) is what I have been railing about.  There is no excuse for it when it is done on a major network by seasoned producers.  It's terrible and one of the many reasons the show was cancelled, I'm sure. 

 

 

Various official and unofficial tidbits suggest the show was doomed long before season 3 premiered. 

[Captanne]

Sure.  That's why I said, "one of the many reasons...."

[Finis Terre]

Let me paraphrase: the scripting of the first episodes of season 3 was not a factor in the decision to not renew the show.