S03.E12: The Number Of The Beast Is 666

[ElectricBoogaloo]

PENULTIMATE EPISODE!

 

Will Graham and the FBI enlist the expertise of Dr. Fredrick Chilton in the hopes of luring Francis Dolarhyde into an ambush, using Freddie Lounds as their mouthpiece. As Will's empathy for Dolarhyde begins to affect his fragile psyche, Bedelia Du Maurier warns that the killer Will should be most concerned about at the moment is himself. Meanwhile, Dolarhyde senses that the FBI is closing in and launches a horrifying endgame.

Edited August 16, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[DeadlyEuphoric]

Oh wow... All I can do right now is random thoughts...

 

I honestly don't know how Will is going to come back from this. Feels like he has never been this dark, and Hannibal comes of as having calculated all the steps, somewhat. Will is the lamb who is becoming a lion and his wrath upon all those who used and wronged him will be horrible.... Hannibal totally expects Will to snap at some point and go after Jack. So do I. I'd be very worried if I were you Jack.

 

Hannibal: If I am the Devil, then you are God.

Jack: Yes I am.

Me: Oh shut up, Jack! (I say that a lot lately...)

 

Poor Chilton. Don't know if he would be better off dead at this point...

 

Alana. I am glad you were clever enough to not risk yourself but you totally had a part in what happened to Chilton, I agree with Hannibal. Though there is no denying that it is mostly on Will, what happened. He totally and seems like deep down knowingly marked Chilton for Red Dragon to target.

 

 

Will: Is Hannibal in love with me?

Me: Please Will, do you really need to ask?

Bedelia: He totally is. But the important question is, are you in love with him?

Me: Please Bedelia, do you really need to ask?

 

 

Will: Hannibal has agency in the world.

Me: You mean like you?

Bedelia (come the and of the episode, to Will): Yes, Hannibal has agency in the world. He has you.

Me: Thanks for confirming Bedelia.

 

 

Wonder if Bedelia is starting to rethink her position that Will is not a killer?

 

 

Hannibal was having so much fun this episode, and I almost felt happy for him, what is this show doing to me?

And OMG, when they showed that "slurp" moment where he apparently ate one of Chilton's lips before Alana could do anything about it, he looked like a naughty cat, and I actually laughed out loud. Seriously show, what are you doing to me?!?!?!?!

[kechara]

Is it sad that I could hear and understand what Chilton was saying better than some of Hannibal's dialogue? Especially hard at the beginning of the episode.

I found Dolarhyde to be less gentle with Reba in this version I wonder if it will play out the same. Certainly it would be kind of weird for the dragon to return to Will's place, but that would be a return to canon

[greenbean]

Good lord, those scenes with the Dragon, all that posing in front of the mirror. It's too hammy for me. Once or twice was okay, but every week are we to be subjected to this!

 

It really does seem like Bryan doesn't care anymore, he's outright putting Will and Hannibal together. I found it more subtextual in the first two seasons, but it's now canon that Hannibal is in love with Will.

 

Could Hannibal and Will end up together by the end? The show seems to be hinting at something, and this is the last season. Others have speculated that Bryan was done with the show anyway, and the cancellation wasn't a surprise. Just maybe that's right and he's created a Hannibal/Will ending.

Edited August 21, 2015 by greenbean

[Tippi Blevins]

Will can't really be surprised that Hannibal is in love with him. He had that whole fantasy/dream about killing Hannibal with the stag, where Hannibal was all "beloved this," and "beloved that." So somewhere inside he understood that Hannibal felt this way. Or maybe he thought he was projecting that onto Hannibal, since it was his own dream.

 

Either way: Good Lord.

 

Hannibal slurping up the lip reminded me of the time my Cairn terrier slurped up a raw chicken tender that fell onto the floor. She looked about as pleased with herself, too.

[kmm49]

The previews for the finale sucked! Thanks Canada!

 

I wasn't thrilled as some with this episode. I can't see how this finale could top the season two finale mainly because I just don't care about Reba. I'll assume she gets rescued for now and Francis gets killed. I still feel Armitage's full potential wasn't reached thanks to the hasty end of this season.

 

I miss the Hannibal/Will scenes! I hope we don't go through the whole finale without one scene!

 

I'm confused. Did Will set up Chilton? Why?

 

I don't have to know that Hannibal and Will are in love with each other. I don't need it thrown in my face. Most of their scenes show their great chemistry! So what's the deal with Bedelia's out there question to Will? Afterall, Will's a very happily married man.

Edited August 21, 2015 by kmm49

[Captanne]

Personally:  I have never felt the bromance between Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen.  Point of fact, I didn't feel it between Tim Oliphant and Walton Goggins in Justfied, either.  As much as they kept protesting in interviews that they were clearly in bro-love, I never felt it.  

 

I have no problem with Hannibal's love for Will being voiced because the show (and the whole franchise) has made Hannibal's obsession with Will obvious.  Even in Manhunter -- the excuse there for the obsession was because Will captured him.  Here it's because Will can read him.  Which, actually, is pretty accurate and true to the Manhunter rationale on Hannibal's part.  Will caught him because of his unique empathy.

 

But sexual chemistry?  Nah.  I've never felt it from these two actors.

 

I know -- it's just me.  I don't get it.  (OTH, I felt it between Gareth David Lloyd's Ianto Jones and John Barrowman's Jack Harkness Off The Charts.  WOWZA.  So, I am not immune to the charms of a good bromance.  I just don't feel it here.

[patty1h]

I cackled at the panty liner pad over Chilton's eyes.  Kudos to the genius writer or director who thought of that.

 

I'm so conflicted about the expression of 'love' between Will and Hannibal.   I read slash all the time, so I like the idea of M/M action, but there is no atom in my body that imagines W&H in a sexual situation or has any desire to see fanart or fanfic of them.  What I see onscreen is titillating, but my imagination stops there.  However, I wouldn't balk at a tender kiss.  So confused!

Edited August 21, 2015 by patty1h

[Tippi Blevins]

 I read slash all the time, so I like the idea of M/M action, but there is no atom in my body that imagines W&H in a sexual situation or has any desire to see fanart or fanfic of them. 

 

I have to think sex with a cannibal -- especially one who has in the past shown an appetite for eating at least one of your body parts raw -- would raise all sorts of trust issues.

[Helena Dax]

I haven't been commenting on the last episodes although I thought they were great. But know, wow! First, Bedelia's and Will's conversation. "Is Hannibal in love with me". Omg, Will, haven't you been watching your own show?  Then, poor Chilton. And when we saw Hannibal eating Chilton's lip, like a naughty kid eating a candy. This show...

 

What happened to Chilton was awful and I think Will and Jack are as guilty as Francis and Hannibal.  And if Will isn't destroyed by that knowledge, he'll become what Hannibal wanted him to become. Will can't win.

 

I cackled at the panty liner pad over Chilton's eyes.  Kudos to the genius writer or director who thought of that.

 

I'm so conflicted about the expression of 'love' between Will and Hannibal.   I read slash all the time, so I like the idea of M/M action, but there is no atom in my body that imagines W&H in a sexual situation or has any desire to see fanart or fanfic of them.  What I see onscreen is titillating, but my imagination stops there.  However, I wouldn't balk at a tender kiss.  So confused!

 

I feel the same. As much as I ship  them, I think that there's a part of me who can't see them having sex. Unless it's you know, some sort of dom/sub scenario where Hannibal's playing with Will's  reactions. But I don't think Hannibal needs sex and I doubt he'd want to express his love for Will  that way. 

 

If  they kiss I'll  die, though.

[penguinnj]

Sp glad others noted the panty liner- I thought I must have been mistaken.

Will- GET A NEW THERAPIST- really need to work on your boundaries.

When I realized Jack and Will were at the hospital my reaction was literally "On no way in hell is Chilton still alive."  and I stand by that.

Alana is a very bad girl- her arc is probably the most dramatic of any of the characters.  Only now do I see where Hannibal's "having dinner with an old friend" line will really work, and despite the anvils it's GOT to be Alana and not Bedelia.

[redfish]

Chilton. He may be a dirtbag with as shady past as the others (he did create a serial killer) but at least everyone and even himself know that he's shady. I did feel sorry for him that he was used and tortured that way. That scene with Hannibal where he says that came up with those bogus theories in court/book was to save Hannibal from the death penalty with an insanity defense, I think he did all that is the reason why he at jumped at the first chance to work with Crawford/Graham on the Dragon case. He wants to be relevant. He wanted to be the one to take credit for saving Hannibal from the death penalty. He wants his peers to defer to his opinion. Even in the beginning of season 3 everyone even Mason rejected his input to catch Hannibal because they didn't think much of his abilities. When Hannibal implied that Chilton is searching to be "special" (relevant) even though in Hannibal's opinion he is not was enough for Chilton to join the case even though he was manipulated by everyone (Hannibal/Crawford/Graham/Bloom). Maybe that scene in the hospital when he provided some hints to Graham might actually prove how vital he was after all.

 

It's interesting that Reba seems to try to project goodness onto Dolerhyde since she cannot see him or his facial reaction or body language.

 

Hannibal slurping up the lip reminded me of the time my Cairn terrier slurped up a raw chicken tender that fell onto the floor. She looked about as pleased with herself, too.

 

Oh absolutely. He could have just ate it without the dramatics, but he wanted to grind it in to Bloom and Crawford how much he's enjoying his "game". I also think he added that final slurp in front of Bloom just to get back at her for taking away his personal luxuries in his cell.

 

The lamb vs. the dragon. No matter what Hannibal wins. Either Dolerhyde kills Graham and continues killing families or Will becomes a wrath killer.

Edited August 21, 2015 by redfish

[kmm49]

I found Dolarhyde to be less gentle with Reba in this version I wonder if it will play out the same.

He went from a confused, gentle lover to an abusive asshole. This is why I could never buy them as a couple. Who couldn't see this coming after all? I couldn't see him with a lover. He's a crazy ass serial killer. I know it was in the books but I just don't think it was done well on the show. I didn't buy it from the start.

 

Could Hannibal and Will end up together by the end?

I don't see that happening. I would be disappointed if it did. I'm just satisfied when they have scenes together. I think the last great scene they had together was in the museum. I'd be happy if we have one great scene like that between the two of them that'll end the show on a high note for me.

 

Poor Chilton. Don't know if he would be better off dead at this point..

How the Hell did he su​rvive that? It's hard to believe. He'd definitely be better off dead. But Chilton's one of the secondary characters I actually like.

Edited August 22, 2015 by kmm49

[greenbean]

I cackled at the panty liner pad over Chilton's eyes.  Kudos to the genius writer or director who thought of that.

 

I'm so conflicted about the expression of 'love' between Will and Hannibal.

 

Is it an expression between the characters? Hannibal feels his version of love for Will, but I don't know what Will feels in return.

 

I think there's tons of tense chemistry there, but I also don't see sexual attraction. There's a funny interview with Hugh where he says it's difficult to imagine what Hannibal/Will would look like.

[Ashura77]

Rewatching it right now, did anyone else notice the "lady tissue", uhm, the "other thing to the tampon" or what you call it in English Francis put over Chilton's eyes? It just hit me as "funky and funny", no duct tape or anything, he uses women's hygiene articles, hello amusing little wink.

[greenbean]

I noticed that! It was amusing.

[Ashura77]

Exactly...
A guy like Francis would use duct tape or something equal - in my imagination at least, not that those "pads" wouldn't be or come in handy, hey, I am girl, thank you show for that silly idea on how to use them lol. The fact the "Red Dragon" uses something a guy like him would never have at home, or would never think about, it seems to be one of those little - stupid? - signs we get...
Thank you for something absolutely silly and trivial to become a main thought when watching Hannibal, not sure l like myself right now :)


And, nothing to do with the prior, what would have happened if Reba would have gotten up and bowed before the Dragon, telling him she was in love with Francis and would love him too?
LIke an: Wow, the "killer" is like majorly in love with me and I dig that :)

A complete different ending and honestly, right now, one I really like. The "Murder Husbands" and "Reba and her Dragon", and hello, I hate relationships in series, they seem fake 87,98% of the time :)

Edited August 22, 2015 by Ashura77

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The previews for the finale sucked! Thanks Canada!

Seriously. This is the promo for the finale and that's it?

 

Not that this was ever in question, but this episode left no doubt that Dolarhyde is completely off his rocker. Ha, but the panty liner over Chilton's eyes was hilarious. Also loved Hannibal slurping up that treat like a little kid sneaking a cookie right in front of his parents.

[Tippi Blevins]

What was Francis using for Frederick's gag? At first I thought it was one of those old-fashioned sanitary pads, the kind that used to be belted to the underwear or a strap around the waist, but I don't know. Does he just have a random collection of feminine hygiene products? Did he pick them up at the store when he was buying cocktail mixers?

[Ashura77]

Maybe they were leftovers from the grand-ma :)

 

Have to say I can't get around the picture of them sipping their martinis, they are so not martini people, maybe Reba but Francis, it gives him some kind of "even hotter" vibe somehow

[Captanne]

Maybe he went to the drugstore and bought some?  I'm just sayin'.  Not that hard to do.  If I bought a male hygiene product, I'm sure CVS wouldn't bat an eye.

[hannibaljones1]

The 'you owe me awe' scene was breathtaking. I got a Tom Noonan vibe when Armitage was on the couch. What I'm a sucker for is continuity and in the video of Chilton being mauled, it doesn't show him leap over the table, merely walk over. If you're going to make a scene so brilliant, why do the rest half arsed? Still the best show on TV but I couldn't not be pedantic.

[Captanne]

That's okay, hannibaljones1 -- If Bedelia doesn't stop. talking. like. this. I will have to simply mute her voice every time she's on screen.  (Only one more episode, so that doesn't present too much of a hardship.)

 

Did anyone else find the unintentional humour in poor Chilton sitting there while Dolarhyde and Reba have a soap opera moment?  If I were Chilton I would have been SO tempted to say, "Come ON, Dragon, really?  You've got me glued to a chair and I have to listen to your high school break up trauma?"

 

The rest of the episode -- aside from being so very very very underlit* and opaque* -- was just fantastic.  Thought it really rocked the house.

 

However, I have noticed that they have really gotten away from the arty-farty film-school drawing-out of moments -- I wish they could have found some sort of balance because I sort of miss it.  For the record, I never said I didn't like it.  I only complained that it was too much and at the expense of the narrative.  I enjoyed it and now that we're back on the other side of the pendulum, I miss it.

 

Also, hannibaljones1, if it's any consolation in the continuity department -- that was the same fountain from Graham/Crawford's review of the setup to Chilton's flaming ride downhill.  If it wasn't really in Washington, DC, it was a nice mock up of our fountains.  

 

*Earlier, I called it "dark" which it most certainly is.  But I realized that "dark" has several meanings and this show accurately hits on both.  LOL  I use underlit and opaque for clarity.

Edited August 22, 2015 by Captanne

[Desperately Random]

Did anyone else find the unintentional humour in poor Chilton sitting there while Dolarhyde and Reba have a soap opera moment?  If I were Chilton I would have been SO tempted to say, "Come ON, Dragon, really?  You've got me glued to a chair and I have to listen to your high school break up trauma?"

Me! I had to pause it so I could stop laughing. I enjoyed watching Chilton's face as he witnesses this vicious serial killer's schmoopy relationship angst with his girlfriend while in the middle of his kidnapping ordeal. As if being held captive by the Dragon wasn't bad enough already.

[Corvino]

     Aaaaaaaaargh! Where is Hannibal? Listed as being on right now, but even here in the center of the universe (New York City), there is a pre-season football game instead. What happened? Will NBC show it to us or do I have to watch it in the unspeakable, glitch-filled playback of the network website?

[DeadlyEuphoric]

When Chilton rolled that magazine article and dropped it into Hannibal's cell, I was sure that Hannibal would somehow use it to escape. Says a lot about how high an opinion I have of Hannibal and his ability to make anything work in his favor I guess...

 

 

Will can't really be surprised that Hannibal is in love with him. He had that whole fantasy/dream about killing Hannibal with the stag, where Hannibal was all "beloved this," and "beloved that." So somewhere inside he understood that Hannibal felt this way. Or maybe he thought he was projecting that onto Hannibal, since it was his own dream.

 

Either way: Good Lord.

 

Hannibal slurping up the lip reminded me of the time my Cairn terrier slurped up a raw chicken tender that fell onto the floor. She looked about as pleased with herself, too.

 

I think that scene is supposed to prove how much in denial Will tends to be when it comes to things about himself that he doesn't want to admit to because, seriously, he knows. How can he not know? The man even left him a heart shaped calling card to lure him to Europe after himself. In a way, it is no different than when Chiyoh called him out on releasing the prisoner on purpose for him to attack her and her to kill, or when Bedelia called him out on setting Chilton on purpose. His initial response in each case is to deny the accusation and be defensive and say he had other intentions, but seems to accept the "darker" motive when the person he is talking to doesn't buy into his claims of innocence. Which in turn reminds me of Hannibal's smirky line to Alana on how she has Will in moral dignity pants and nothing is ever his fault. Alana seems to be the only one who believes Will's claims of innocence in his actions, no matter what..

 

Sometimes I wonder, if up to the end of first half of this season was Hannibal coming to terms with being in love with Will (and no longer wanting to kill him as a result,  similar to his advice to Francis on how he can love Reba and can still be Dragon), is this half supposed to Will finally coming to terms with it?

 

 

The previews for the finale sucked! Thanks Canada!

 

I'm confused. Did Will set up Chilton? Why?

 

I don't have to know that Hannibal and Will are in love with each other. I don't need it thrown in my face. Most of their scenes show their great chemistry! So what's the deal with Bedelia's out there question to Will? Afterall, Will's a very happily married man.

 

The previews did suck, but come to think about it, but now I am left with the impression that it is going to be so spectacular they didn't want to/were told not to spoil ANY scenes from it. And I am totally fine with that, even though I am a huge spoiler whore...

 

He admittedly did, and even if he hadn't admitted to it, it would still be the feeling I got too...  Will asking Chilton to be included in the picture alone screamed set up for me, because no way Will would want to be in the same picture with Chilton without an ulterior motive. And then that awkward hand on Chilton's shoulder thing, again, so so not like Will.. The why is the reason why I am so worried for Will now. There is absolutely no "good" reason, no "greater good" in doing this to Chilton. When Will killed Randall Tier or ate him, it was self defense and all part of catching Hannibal so could be explained away. This? Willingly marking Chilton to be targeted by Red Dragon all the while pretty much going on about it as if you are %1000 sure Dragon will come after you and having FBI focus on your safety? Will had the SWAT team and poor Chilton apparently had 2 "even more incompetent than your usual incompetent FBI agent" agents to protect him? Were they even real agents or just some bodyguards? That means Will marking Chilton to be attacked by the Dragon had nothing to do with catching the Dragon. It was done out of curiosity, and I guess because like Hannibal and Dragon, he just finds Chilton offensive too so part of him just wanted him dead. (I have also seen some note that this happened after Will's "Is Hannibal in love with me?" talk with Bedelia and is rather like S2 where Hannibal and Will would be "flirting" with one another through murders and body totems they left behind... It is an interesting way to look at it...)

 

The thing is, I saw "knowingly" but I don't think Will fully realizes what he does until people call him out on stuff. He is like Jekyll and Hyde in that regard. It is like there is this evil persona in him that takes over and does things for kicks/morbid curiosity (like Hannibal), and then he goes back to being "Will the puppy". And Hannibal just wants Hyde to come out to play and remain the main/permanent persona.

 

 

I think Bedelia shares Hannibal's point of view that Will doesn't have happy marriage at all, as he keeps secrets and is not being honest about his relationship with Hannibal, not even to himself. And it really is about time Will figured out how he feels about Hannibal.

 

 

I cackled at the panty liner pad over Chilton's eyes.  Kudos to the genius writer or director who thought of that.

 

When I saw the panty liner, I thought I must have seen it wrong. It was rather brilliant.

 

Chilton. He may be a dirtbag with as shady past as the others (he did create a serial killer) but at least everyone and even himself know that he's shady. I did feel sorry for him that he was used and tortured that way. That scene with Hannibal where he says that came up with those bogus theories in court/book was to save Hannibal from the death penalty with an insanity defense, I think he did all that is the reason why he at jumped at the first chance to work with Crawford/Graham on the Dragon case. He wants to be relevant. He wanted to be the one to take credit for saving Hannibal from the death penalty. He wants his peers to defer to his opinion. Even in the beginning of season 3 everyone even Mason rejected his input to catch Hannibal because they didn't think much of his abilities. When Hannibal implied that Chilton is searching to be "special" (relevant) even though in Hannibal's opinion he is not was enough for Chilton to join the case even though he was manipulated by everyone (Hannibal/Crawford/Graham/Bloom). Maybe that scene in the hospital when he provided some hints to Graham might actually prove how vital he was after all.

Chilton is one of the few people in this show who hasn't killed anyone and lacks the potential to kill. His worst action may just be brainwashing Gideon into thinking he was the Chesapeake Ripper, but he didn't turn Gideon into a serial killer, Gideon had already murdered his wife and her family before that, which was the reason he was locked up. Frederick is petty, sleazy, willing to do just about anything for fame etc. but just the fact that he doesn't have it in him to murder anyone makes him more innocent than others in this show where even Alana and Margot are murderers, at the end of the day... He certainly didn't deserve this at all. And really, he was only trying to help the FBI catch a serial killer. And after everything, his lips bitten and torn out, his entire body burned, pretty much at death's door, knowing full well it Will who set him up & FBI once against screwed up in protecting him, they just go into his room asking for information on Red Dragon and he gives it to them... He is still trying to help. I would probably be ordering the whole lot of them out of my room and not waste any energy to talk to them. That hospital scene made me sad, as I kept thinking back on Chilton's visit to Will, Alana etc and how he was at least nice enough to bring flowers... and seriously, as annoying as Chilton can get, he is not that wrong in his observations and warnings. He is not "the idiot" they would like to print him as... The way they keep treating him makes them come off like high school mean girls - he is just not cool enough to hang out with the popular guys and should know his place or will be made to pay, apparently... And really, of all the people to blame on what happened to Chilton, I'd say Hannibal comes last. Jack and Will came up with the "anger the Dragon to make him strike" plan. Alana suggested they include Chilton in it. Will put the target on his back. And even the "burning" thing, I'd say it was poor Chilton's own "I hope I am not burned" cries that gave the Dragon the idea to burn him. And the "wheelchair" part was him drawing inspiration from Will's earlier work. No where in this does Hannibal really come into play. Stop hiding behind Hannibal and own up to your own screw-ups, people!

 

 

 

Did anyone else find the unintentional humour in poor Chilton sitting there while Dolarhyde and Reba have a soap opera moment?  If I were Chilton I would have been SO tempted to say, "Come ON, Dragon, really?  You've got me glued to a chair and I have to listen to your high school break up trauma?"

 

 

I am pretty sure if Frederick wasn't so scared of the Dragon he would be rolling his eyes so hard that Reba could hear them...

     Aaaaaaaaargh! Where is Hannibal? Listed as being on right now, but even here in the center of the universe (New York City), there is a pre-season football game instead. What happened? Will NBC show it to us or do I have to watch it in the unspeakable, glitch-filled playback of the network website?

 

Just when I thought NBC couldn't go lower in how it is treating this show and its viewers... Ugh.

[AimingforYoko]

A lot of people guessed that Chilton would fulfill Freddie's role in the Red Dragon story. Fuller's pretty gory, but somewhat reluctant to show women being hurt. He's not afraid to kill them, but doesn't really like to show it.

Will doesn't have the best taste in therapists, does he?

Quote of the ep: "That could have been your lips I tasted. Again."

[Primetimer]

The 'good guys' try to draw out Dolarhyde. A whole heap of fear-and-loathing side-eye is the result.

Read the story

[MisterGlass]

Twists and twisted.  Processing...5%

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Chilton rolled that magazine article and dropped it into Hannibal's cell, I was sure that Hannibal would somehow use it to escape. Says a lot about how high an opinion I have of Hannibal and his ability to make anything work in his favor I guess...

Me too! I thought he was going to fashion it into sone kind of tool to kill Alana or an orderly or to create a key to get out.

Ha, I loved Chilton's WTF face as he waa forced to listen to Dolarhyde's high school post breakup conversation with Reba.

[Damaris56]

As one of those viewers who live in New York and had Hannibal pre-empted due to a pre-season football game running late, I'm livid.  I'm pretty sure NBC will not show it at another time and I will be forced to watch this on their website.  I have no doubt I and anyone else in the NY area will have the same problem next week because there is again another pre-season game on that will probably run over and pre-empt the series finale.  I have already sent a hostile e-mail to NBC but after Hannibal is over, I will never watch NBC again, ever!  The DVD for Season 3 of Hannibal cannot come out soon enough.  Amazon.com.uk has it coming out on December 31st of this year.  Hopefully, the U.S. will get it sooner.

[The Wild Sow]

 

How the Hell did he survive that? It's hard to believe. He'd definitely be better off dead. But Chilton's one of the secondary characters I actually like.

Presumably when he hit the fountain (the one outside Will's window, in the photo) the wheelchair tipped into it and the water extinguished the flames.

 

But since he would have landed face-down, with the chair on top of him -- why didn't he drown?

[Tippi Blevins]

Bedelia seems so icy and even robotic on the surface, but I think she's actually a cauldron of bubbling emotion that she has to work very hard at keeping under a simmer. In her first scene with Will, there are tears brimming in her eyes. She loves Hannibal. Hannibal loves Will.

 

I wondered if Reba was aware that Francis wasn't alone in the house when she came to visit. I mean, Frederick probably peed himself at the least, and he was sweating pretty hard. Plus that glue probably stank. I don't know.

 

How was Frederick even conscious in the hospital? Or alive? They probably would have had him in a medically induced coma, wouldn't they? But then we couldn't have him confronting Will about Will's true intentions. Jack saying "he's trashed" was a tiny bit of an understatement. I don't think Francis packed nearly enough ice for that. 

[MisterGlass]

Will is going downhill and picking up speed.  If he can't isolate himself from the murderer's crimes, and is even picturing them on potential victims, there isn't much to arrest the slide.  Bedelia is already at the bottom of the hill, and can't help him if she chose to.  And curiosity as a motive for setting up Chilton?  That's a Hannibal answer, and the worst evidence yet.  Will may yet have a

Clarice-at-the-end-of-Hannibal

ending.  He's got someone to watch the dogs in his absence.  Perhaps Hannibal wouldn't mind having Bedelia die at the hands of a proxy if that proxy is Will.  And Will could always leave Jack to the Dragon.

 

That hospital scene made me sad, as I kept thinking back on Chilton's visit to Will, Alana etc and how he was at least nice enough to bring flowers...

 

DeadlyEuphoric, you give a good summary of Chilton.  The thought of the flowers hadn't occurred to me, and it is terribly sad.  Alana, Will, and Jack put him there.  I still can't believe I care about Chilton.  Credit to Raul Esparza.  He doesn't seem to be in a clean room, and even if he were, the extent of the damage should prove lethal.  Frederick would know this, and perhaps he wanted to have his last words with Will.

 

I would like Freddie to have a moment in the sun before the end.  In spite of all her gossip and intrusion, she's more innocent than most of the remaining characters, and has in her own way helped.  I would like to see Price and Zeller again too.  They seem to be the only good guys anymore.

[patty1h]

Two quick things that made me say 'huh':  Francis holding up a thermos and showing it to Chilton.  He indicates that it contains ice, "for your trip home".  I don't get why they had him say this.   Later, when Francis is carrying Reba up to the bedroom, the camera makes a point of her hearing the ticking clock and smelling the fresh flowers.  Wonder why.   She's already been in Francis' home, so how are those 'landmarks' going to help her.

 

For fellow NYCers who got pre-empted by the football game, check for the COZI channel on your cable guide. Just by luck, I was channel surfing earlier and saw that COZI was running Aquarius and Hannibal at their regular times.  Apparently, COZI is an NBC owned 'antenna' channel.   If football is on sched next week during Hannibal, see if your cable provider has COZI.

Edited August 23, 2015 by patty1h

[Captanne]

I noticed as Dolarhyde carried the trussed up Reba through the house, we passed a clock (ticking, presumably) and prominently placed fresh flowers.  Safe bet Reba at least knows she's in his house.  She would recognize the sound of the clock and the aroma of the flowers.  (I'll have to watch again -- I'm not sure why she was trussed up...I'm confusing it with her arrival with soup.)

 

ETA:  Patty1h -- we are thinking on the same wavelength!  Thanks for paying closer attention than I did to the movement through the house and why.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Captanne

[The Wild Sow]

I'm still wondering what someone named Fred did to Thomas Harris!

 

Freddie Lounds (of either gender), Frederick Chilton, and Fredericka Bimmel from Silence of the Lambs?  Three characters with the same first name is not a coincidence.  That's deliberate.

[Madding crowd]

I've been trying to get a few friends to watch this, but they all say it's too gory; hope they weren't tuning in tonight. I might be the only one but I find the whole idea of Hannibal and Will actually being in love and having a romantic relationship just silly. Will is a straight man and Hannibal has physically hurt him, set the Dragon after his family, killed Abigail and much more. You really would have to be incredibly sick to be in love with someone who personally hurts you and your family. And the Will we have known has more of a fascination with Hannibal than any kind of silly love affair.

 

I really can't stand any of the Bedelia scenes. There is no reason in the world she would be treating Will in any way, the way she talks is so theatrical and robotic, and in every scene with her and Will, both of them look like they are crying. Way over the top.

 

I also think all of the characters really took a lot from Will's hand on Chilton's shoulder. I see pictures all of the time with people with their arms around each other or with a hand on the shoulder. To create long involved psychological reasonings behind a simple gesture is over the top to me. 

 

I kind of liked Chilton, coward that he is and of course he could not be alive. If he were alive, he would be either in a coma or some kind of treatment  bed and his skin would be treated. He also would not be able to talk. Really gory stuff.

 

And for whatever reason, in this version of the Red Dragon, the romance between Francis and Reba doesn't seem real. He seems way too creepy and we don't see much of the other side of him. I'm still enjoying both Hannibal and Will but if they end with them as lovers I will scream my head off. 

[thuganomics85]

Despite not being all that up on the Red Dragon story, as soon as Will asked Chilton if he wanted to pose with him, I knew that Chilton was going to be the one that Francis targets instead.  What did surprise me is that, once again, Chilton somehow fucking survived.  Sure, he has no lips anymore and has been cooked beyond well-done (Hannibal would totally send him back and complain to the manager), but he's alive.  This is like the third time he's survived something horrible, but he's really not lucky to say the least.  It's certainly good for his sake that this show is done, because I'd hate to see what Bryan Fuller would have done to him in a potential fourth season.

 

What also surprised me is the idea that deep down, Will knew this might happened and wanted it to happen.  Yikes, Will!  I get Chilton was horrible to you and everything, but that's taking revenge to the extreme.  Your murder boyfriend really has gotten to you.  Speaking of which, Will really is a bit slow on the uptake if he was that surprised over Hannibal possibly loving him.  Come on, Will.  Even if you don't think of him that way (I certainly hope so, but you never know with him..), you have to see that Hannibal clearly is obsessed with you.  All those dinner parties, smelling you, leering at you, feeding the dogs, stabbing you, almost cutting your brains out, etc. Totally signs that he wants to take the relationship to the next level!

 

Hannibal delight over Chilton's fate and all the other craziness, was highly amusing.  He's such an evil bastard, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I have to think he's somehow going to get the upper hand come finale time.  I still think Alana needs to watch her ass over the well-deserved smugness she's thrown at him, but I think Jack might have her beat, after sarcastically, but smugly referring to himself as God to Hannibal's devil.  A line like that is just asking to have someone knock him down several pegs.

 

Not sure what to make of Bedelia's stuff.  She certainly was high and mighty in a lot of that, but I kind of got the sense that deep down, she is a bit afraid of Hannibal somehow getting out, and going after her.

 

Always great to see Freddie Lounds.  The entire scene with her, Will, Chilton, and Jack was the best.  I would have totally watched an episode of just Freddie and Chilton acting like obnoxious trolls to everyone around them.

 

After his work with Chilton, Francis has now kidnapped Reba and let her know that, duh, he's "The Great. RED.  DRAGON!!!!"  Wished I cared more, but this relationship really ended up not working out too well.  Just not enough time, and as intimating as Richard Armitage has been, in the process, it makes it look like Reba was a fool for not seeing (for a lack of a better word), how far off his rocker he's been.  I can buy Hannibal snowing everyone thanks to Mads Mikkelsen's subtle approach, but anyone; deaf, blind or both; could tell that Francis was crazier then a, well, GREAT.  RED.  DRAGON!!!!!

[Chaos Theory]

As one of those viewers who live in New York and had Hannibal pre-empted due to a pre-season football game running late, I'm livid. I'm pretty sure NBC will not show it at another time and I will be forced to watch this on their website. I have no doubt I and anyone else in the NY area will have the same problem next week because there is again another pre-season game on that will probably run over and pre-empt the series finale. I have already sent a hostile e-mail to NBC but after Hannibal is over, I will never watch NBC again, ever! The DVD for Season 3 of Hannibal cannot come out soon enough. Amazon.com.uk has it coming out on December 31st of this year. Hopefully, the U.S. will get it sooner.

I thought i was the only one. It pisses me off that not only does NBC move Hannibal to Saturdays it preempts ONE OF THE LAST TWO SHOWS EVER in New York for football. I usually don't believe in downloading torrents but i have no pity for NBC and this makes me more then ever want to not watch anything of theirs at all this fall. NBC Sucks.

I've been trying to get a few friends to watch this, but they all say it's too gory; hope they weren't tuning in tonight. I might be the only one but I find the whole idea of Hannibal and Will actually being in love and having a romantic relationship just silly.

The relationship has never been sexual between them, but more emotional. They fill an emotional need in each other. I have known heterosexual men who have deep emotional friendships with each other. And this one may not be beneficial (especially to Will) but it has always felt real.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Actionmage]

I just have to echo Mister Glass. Truly.

When Chilton rolled that magazine article and dropped it into Hannibal's cell, I was sure that Hannibal would somehow use it to escape. Says a lot about how high an opinion I have of Hannibal and his ability to make anything work in his favor I guess...

Me too! I thought he was going to fashion it into sone kind of tool to kill Alana or an orderly or to create a key to get out.

 

...or a teradactyl or a brooch... ;D

 

Deadly Euphoric is on point about Our Frederick. Dr. Chilton is a scuzzbag, but he's our scuzzbag, and that... atonement did not come from any sort of a loving god. ITA, Raul Esparza needs a shiny Emmy on his mantle this time next year. That after all that's gone on, the truly horrendous things Chilton did do? We still, generally, don't believe that this retribution was the right magnitude for his crimes. It's an Aesop on the dangers of chasing something instead of allowing it to happen.  If Frederick wanted to be the biggest star on Broadway, say, then that drive would be obnoxious, but not potentially actionable or lethal.  As the head of psychiatry at a state institution, special consultant for the FBI? He was good, but not as good as he needed to be with this group. 

 

Right now, I just hope Reba, Alana and Jack make it out. If Will is more concerned about Hannibal's romantic feelings? Hannibal can have him. The attack on Molly and Walter are super recent, so of course it is on his mind, along with the guilt and recriminations that he couldn't think right in order to save them from that situation. But if people (Bedelia) would just get over the supposed binary of only Will/ Hannibal as murder husbands or adversaries then Will might have a better shot at a version of normal that Will can live with and be at peace. Of course, that is predicated on how much he wants "normal", as opposed to Blacbeard's favorite wife/pet. ( Because they spelled out that Will is Hannibal's attack lamb.)  Maybe that Blackbeard's last wife shout-out is a red herring. Then again, I'd like to think I'm an optimist. *g*

 

Also, in my area of the lower 48, we still did not rate even a crappy promo for the series finale. That stinks. Unless as the poster upthread noted, that it's so bonkers, that anything would be spoilery. 

[sluggish neko]

It's nice that Will and Bedelia have their own little Hannibal support group, but I really hope Will's not using Bedelia as a psychiatrist. She looks about as traumatized as Will in their sessions. When Will said that what happened to Chilton was not unexpected after all that emphasis about his hand on Chilton's shoulder, I liked that Bedelia echoed Hannibal's response to her after she stood by and watched as Hannibal murdered that poor guy who recognized him as fake Dr. Fell. Not observation but participation.

 

Well, the Wile E. Coyote title now officially goes to Chilton, because holy shit, how the hell did he survive that? Will only got gutted, thrown off a train, shot, and barely brain-sawed, but Chilton got his kidneys cut out, face shot off, lips and tongue chewed out, and then set on fire. I know he's slimey and pompous, but in an endearing way. I really, really hated seeing him tortured like this. (Though Esparza really acted the crap out of the terror Chilton felt.) Poor guy. He really needs a vacation.

 

Armitage is a wonderful actor, but they need to give him more to do than yoga exercises, beating himself, and making him repeat the line "GREAT. RED. DRAGON." again and again. Normally, I love this show's visuals, but the cgi dragon and dragon wings must be stretching their budget. They look a little borrowed from Syfy.

[islandgal140]

Good lord, those scenes with the Dragon, all that posing in front of the mirror. It's too hammy for me. Once or twice was okay, but every week are we to be subjected to this!

 

This right here is what is pissing me off about the 2nd half of the season. Why is it that a 13 year old 2 hour movie gave me a better picture and understanding of the character of Dolarhyde than a show that had 6 or so one hour (less commercials of course) episodes? Honestly, if it weren't for me watching that movie many moons ago I don't think I would have pieced together from this show that Dolarhyde had serious mommy issues. You know, instead of having him posturing and contorting strangely in front of a mirror and doing pull-ups in the attic, why not give us a peek into his past? I have also been a bit disappointed in the lack of police work. I am not expecting a procedural drama but it just felt like everyone was standing around in a circle jerk (with their words) which sorta contributed to a lack of a feeling of urgency to catch the psycho. I thought we would hear more about the bite marks, done with the dentures. That would have been a chance for the show to link the dentures to Dolarhyde's relative and show us a glimpse of what contributed to his becoming. Instead we get nada and Dolarhyde and Hannibal uttering the word becoming over and over again. It would have been a little bit nicer to get more show and less tell. I feel like the show really dropped the ball on what could have been an interesting character and story arc.

 

The 1st most disturbing part of the Bedelia/ Will therapy session is that he went to her in the first place. Homey, I am sure your insurance has many other competent psychiatrist in your network. No need to go to Satan's secretary. The 2nd most disturbing part is that it was established that Hannibal didn't just love Will (duh) but that he was 'in love' with him. So is it now safe to say that Hannibal wanted to run away with Will and be gay uncles to Abigail?

 

I am so ready for Hannibal to eat Bedelia that I am ready to be his sous chef. I just can't with her slow stilted way of speaking anymore. 

 

Damn. I thought Will was this show's torture porn victim. Poor Chilton. Death would have been far more merciful.

 

I am also in the NYC area and thankfully, while thumbing through my future recordings Saturday afternoon, I noticed that Hannibal was only set to record from 1030-1100. I checked my guide and saw that there was some type of game. Luckily, while doing a show search I noticed that it appeared that the whole show was showing on the COZI network so I recorded it on that channel. Crisis Averted!

 

I miss Freddy's super curly curls. 

[Snookums]

When I realized Jack and Will were at the hospital my reaction was literally "On no way in hell is Chilton still alive."  and I stand by that.

 

 

I stand with you. On the incredibly slim chance Frederick would be alive, let alone able to talk, he'd be in the burn unit, not a rando bathtub while Jack and Will wander in ungowned, unmasked, to drain the last of his misspent energy with questions about hey, that Dragon's pretty fucked up, did you see anybody else there? You know, the kind we might care about rescuing? Not like you? No hospital-containing-a-horribly-burned -victim scene's pissed me off that much since The Dark Knight.

 

Poor Frederick. You know when Will decided to set him up? When they're doing that hilarious tag team interview and Chilton says "This is a child of nightmare." And he's right, and you can see Will realize it. He can forgive Frederick Chilton a lot of things, but not being right. That's HIS thing. 

Edited August 23, 2015 by Snookums

[Snookums]

Speaking of which, Will really is a bit slow on the uptake if he was that surprised over Hannibal possibly loving him.  Come on, Will.  Even if you don't think of him that way (I certainly hope so, but you never know with him..), you have to see that Hannibal clearly is obsessed with you.  All those dinner parties, smelling you, leering at you, feeding the dogs, stabbing you, almost cutting your brains out, etc. Totally signs that he wants to take the relationship to the next level!

 

 

Will's never doubted Hannibal's weird twisted version of love as long as he could classify it as pathology. As long as he was the lamb that Hannibal wanted to besmirch there was enough distance between them that he felt superior in that fucked up duality in that context, no matter how helpless he was in every other way. But if Hannibal's in love with him, that's a relationship. One that he bears a responsibility for leading on, flirting with, maintaining, however unconsciously. 

 

The scenes between Bedelia the Jealous and Will the Exhausted read like a discarded act of No Exit. Bedelia longing for what Will desperately wants to shed, each flaunting the thing they hate in the other's face. I wonder how Bedelia will feel being the only uneaten victim of Lector. 

[jeansheridan]

It is getting harder to imagine a heroic ending for Will. If they are in the Inferno, is Purgatory next?

I do like that part of Will planned on being the bait and he knew the Dragon aims for the head. But yeah, putting his hand on Frederick was such an unnatural choice for him, it had to be deliberate. A set up. They were all complicit but Will the most. They didn't need Frederick. The Red Dragon knew it was a trap. In retrospect, this is one of the saddest eps, as bad as Beverley dying. While I was relieved it wasn't Freddie, Chilton didn't deserve any of it.

I love Bedelia' s commentary on Will. She is the only one who seems to see him clearly. Her participation line was perfect and true.

I am unfamiliar with Bluebeard. Does the last wife survive?

[Bruinsfan]

Man, Chilton was giving me flashbacks to Torchwood: Miracle Day and that guy who was still alive after ending up as a burnt-to-a-crisp decapitated head. No way in hell is someone who went through that lucid enough to give the FBI clues. I was floating away on clouds with the painkillers they gave me for wisdom tooth extraction; for Chilton's injuries they'd either have him in a medically induced coma or hopped up on so much morphine he'd have been having conversations with the Cheshire Cat instead of Will and Jack.

 

Good lord, those scenes with the Dragon, all that posing in front of the mirror. It's too hammy for me. Once or twice was okay, but every week are we to be subjected to this!

At least his big reveal to Chilton by projector light felt real and suitably terrifying. In Red Dragon Fiennes' Jersey Shore-esque posedown complete with looking over his shoulder for Lounds' reaction was so comical it completely dispelled any sense of menace from the scene. Armitage's Dolarhyde regards Chilton as something so beneath him that he needn't bother worrying about how he reacts.

 

I know -- it's just me.  I don't get it.  (OTH, I felt it between Gareth David Lloyd's Ianto Jones and John Barrowman's Jack Harkness Off The Charts.  WOWZA.  So, I am not immune to the charms of a good bromance.  I just don't feel it here.

That really wasn't bromance though, it was flat-out romance with the characters banging each other at every opportunity. There's at least some question as to whether there's a sexual component of what Hannibal and Will share.

 

Presumably when he hit the fountain (the one outside Will's window, in the photo) the wheelchair tipped into it and the water extinguished the flames.

 

But since he would have landed face-down, with the chair on top of him -- why didn't he drown?

The wheelchair rebounded away from the fountain when Chilton splashed into it - either Dolarhyde removed the glue before lighting him or it burned away.

[mertensia]

Well plenty of guilt to go around after this episode: arrogance, too.

Oh Chilton. I understand your ego wouldn't let you do otherwise but shouldn't you have made a run for Canada instead when they wanted to lure Dolarhyde out using you?

My fanwank is Chilton is dying and he wanted to talk more than he wants treatment so they are letting him. Which is why he isn't in a burn unit.

Is Hannibal using Dolarhyde as a distraction so he can escape, then kill off everyone but Will and escape with him?

[Jeffurry]

I'm in New York and I watched the episode On Demand on Time Warner Cable. As with most episodes, though, I had to come to this website and others to find out what I missed, which, as usual, was everything in the episode other than Bedelia's slow talking. (Seriously, I even missed Hannibal eating the lip. I think my mind is blocking me from seeing anything on this show.)

[attica]

Stupid pointy-ball game.  Even my I-Demand-it-NOW service didn't have the ep up this morning. So: thanks, internet, for giving me my Smarmy Chilton fix!

 

The part of me that sputters 'b-b-but canon!' is upset that Chilton's liver is already too cooked to be served with beans and wine a serial killer or two down the road, but in this Hanniverse, it was kind of appropriate to have him glued, bitten, and cooked.

 

I wonder how long it took Armitage to get that 'climb over the table/sofa' thing to look so smooth and to not knock over, like, everything. I guess the yoga pays off.

 

Anybody besides me wonder how bad a fear-soaked Chilton would smell, and why wouldn't Reba detect it? Of course she would have. RW played that bit with just the right amount of 'um, wait, wtf?, kthnxbai!' And hey! I have that same (soup) container! On sale from Target!

 

It was a cheap joke, but the cut from Alana's "I'm not a fool" to Chilton was still funny.