Dr. Bedelia DuMaurier: Still Mysterious

[MisterGlass]

Since she is now serving as a cannibal's traveling companion, perhaps Bedelia deserves her own thread.

 

She was the first person to see the person suit, but did not appear to know the full extent of what was being masked.  After the second season, her early interactions with Hannibal seem to be much more about him studying and manipulating her than any real exchange of thought.  How much does she know now?

[Yeldarbe]

I believe that she should definitely follow her own advice about if you think you've got him figured out you don't. Unless she's been in on it from the very beginning (I didn't watch season 1) I would assume she is definitely in Survival mode and it probably won't be long before Hannibal gets murderous/hungry and kills her.

[MisterGlass]

Allow me to highly recommend watching Season 1.  The character interactions give history to what is being seen now.  Bedelia and Hannibal in particular appeared to have a different balance of power.

[yuliana]

Can't wait to see what they have for her next season. I hope GA will be available for more Hannibal now that Crisis is canceled.

[Fen]

I do like her, but I'm slightly nervous about seeing more of her.  I love GA  - but I find the character's manner odd, and thought she worked best in small doses.

[IndependentMind]

Bryan Fuller said that GA will be a regular in season 3 although he mentioned that she is a busy lady.

[Nanrad]

Independent, don't play with my emotions like that--I started watching for GA!!!

 

I love GA's interpretation of Bedelia because it's both calculating and mysterious, yet; uncertain. I think she's with him for survival purposes only. Because if that is the case, their therapy sessions don't make any sense as well as her going to see Will. Then after that, she dipped out of town before Hannibal attempted to kill her. All of that was not for show. Hannibal makes sure that there aren't any witnesses and, if there is, he wants there to be. She's admitted that Hannibal has manipulated her as well as others and even said in their first session that he wouldn't let her retire. She's stated that (which she underestimated) he was dangerous.

 

On the plane, she doesn't look happy or content to be with Hannibal. There's a quiet fear/panic about her. She's playing her part and biding her time until she can really escape from him.

[GreyBunny]

I don't think she's a prisoner.  After the Red Dinner and whatever (whoever) the police found in Hannibal's basement they're going to be eager to catch him.  News of the slaughter would have reached her before she boarded that plane; if not, she would have at least figured out he must have done something if he wanted to skip the country so quickly.  If she didn't want to go with him all she had to do was place a quick 911 call and tell the police where to find him, where he was going, and/or what plane he was going to be on so they could confront him at the airport.

 

I think she's observing him off his leash in a different habitat for an extended time for her own professional curiosity.  Like Hannibal and Chilton she's also an unconventional psychiatrist so it's plausible to me that she wouldn't pass up this opportunity to watch him to see how he handles being on the run.  He's a juicy subject for study and, hey, nice trip to Europe!

 

I want to think that once she is done making her observations, she'll be instrumental in capturing Hannibal by being the deep inside source to quietly pass information to the FBI/Interpol in exchange for continued immunity.  I'm imagining a strange bedfellows alliance between Will, the Vergers, Freddie, Chilton, and Bedelia to bring Hannibal down.

Edited September 1, 2014 by GreyBunny

[Nanrad]

Grey, keep in mind, I believe she said that not even the FBI could protect her--Hannibal is always several steps ahead. I believe h could find her if he wanted to, which is why she rather give herself over and stay alive rather than be captured and possibly killed. And Hannibal could be a bit unstable because he believe he killed Will or tried to. Her life may be safe as of now.

[GreyBunny]

Good point, but after the Red Dinner and presumably the discovery of body parts in the basement, the FBI now has something concrete to arrest him for and chuck him into a high-security cell.  He may normally be several steps ahead but not if Bedelia quietly calls and gives tips like, "Tomorrow morning he'll be on Air France flight 8529 leaving from Baltimore at 11:30 am bound for Paris.  Leaving at Gate D29..." 

 

Bedelia has her own resources, she could have skipped the state or the country on her own until Hannibal was caught if she feared for her life.  She could have had a backup passport under a fake name that she could have used to hop a plane to New Zealand if she wanted.  Also, when she got the immunity deal she could have asked to carry a tracking device on her person that she could activate in case Hannibal tried to kidnap her.

 

She's in danger - anyone around Hannibal would be - but I don't think she's a hostage.

[Happytobehere]

Good news for all fans of Dr. Scully:

http://tvline.com/2014/09/11/gillian-anderson-hannibal-series-regular-season-3/

[rollerblade]

What an unfortunate opening sentence - Gillian Anderson will be devouring a bigger piece of Hannibal...

 

Or is it? Is that supposed to be a hint that Hannibal is up for consumption?

[Finis Terre]

She is eating him for breakfast as we speak. :)

[jeansheridan]

For anyone who thought Scully was a Clarice clone, season 3 looks delightful. It is such a pleasure to GA working with good people. And she is age appropriate!

I always secretly dug the end of Hannibal the book. The idea of lonely Hannibal finding companionship was oddly romantic and creepy. But I hated that Clarice was gutted. It looks like I might get my romance without the ugliness of destroying a great character.

Plus Mads being courtly....sigh.

[supposebly]

I was a little worried that she had some sort of Stockholm syndrome or some advanced version of abused wife syndrome but it's a lot more interesting and complex. There was certainly an odd fascination involved aside from a hefty dose of denial and fear.

 

In addition, it seems she is leaving bread crumbs for Will. Whether that is independently from Hannibal or not, I can't tell. Yet.

 

I always loved what Gillian Anderson does on screen, so I'm very happy to watch her do what she does so well in more scenes.

[MisterGlass]

I agree that 'fascination' was part of why she went along.  And Gillian is doing a lot with every look and inflection.

 

The previews certainly played up the idea of a romance, but this feels more like their previous psychological gambits brought out into the open, while still maintaining the outward veneer of a couple.

 

I agree jeansheridan that it is interesting to have an opportunity of exploring the ending of the book Hannibal without sacrificing a character like Clarice.  In some ways Belinda is better equipped to handle Hannibal's manipulations, if she can get ahead of him.  I don't think she's managed to adapt to the way Hannibal behaves now.

[jeansheridan]

I liked the looser Bedelia this week. GA does that slightly annoyed "and yet here you are telling me ALL about it". Basically she gift wrapped Hannibal by sitting in front of those cameras and thus far no idiot has managed to pick him up. And I lost my metaphor there.

I think Bedelia might be bored! Plus I noticed her shirt was wrinkled a bit. Might have been the fabric but she did not feel as crisp as usual. Such a minor detail but clothes matter on this show. Or maybe she is just more comfortable.

[Crossbow]

If the wrinkled shirt was intentional, it was probably to show her being stressed out and harried, not comfortable. I didn't notice, though.

 

The weird thing is she's dropping all these clues for the FBI to find him, but she's had ample chances to kill him or turn him in herself. I wonder if she originally went with him out of curiosity and only now realized how deep she's in.

[MisterGlass]

It looks like Bedelia has managed to stay alive and come out of her collaboration with the monster with no blame.  That's quite a plot.  She really does seem to have had a psychiatric as well as personal interest in Hannibal.  I wonder if she'll write a book.

[AimingforYoko]

I like how committed she was to her role as a confused victim, even though the crooked cop didn't give a shit. Once he threatened her, the fog seemed to lift.

[jeansheridan]

Bedelia's entire arc has been good, proving Fuller can write at least one female character well.  And I like Margot too, but I think that is the actress's charm.  Same with Freddie. 

 

I'm so happy Anderson came back this season.  This makes up for Season 2 of The Fall.  That show fails her and she's producing it!   But she shines with everyone on Hannibal.  Mads, Hugh, Lawrence, and Zachary.  She looks like a very satisfied cat in all her scenes. 

[Captanne]

I'm not as pleased with Anderson -- and I agree that The Fall is just drab and awful.  I don't like the fella who plays the serial killer in that, either.  What a bore.

 

I don't know who in this last episode told her to

 

Talk.  

 

Like.  

 

This.

 

But it is ANNOYING as hell.

 

ETA:  In both roles, Anderson has elected to play women who are so tightly clenched they look like they are trying to hold a corn cob in their asses.  Sorry for the image, but that's what I keep envisioning.  Ouch, and why?

 

EETA:  I wasn't pleased with the Bedelia Du Maurier character as she played out through Florence until this last episode when she revealed her true depravity.  She is just as sick and corrupt as Hannibal but is a sad, pathetic coward who doesn't act out her kinks.  Once she does (and it's only once until she meets Hannibal), she hides and cowers and runs behind her tightly strung, coiffed, tailored-to-within-an-inch-of-her-life existence.  She's tragic.  And, around Hannibal, dangerous.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Captanne

[Finis Terre]

I'm not as pleased with Anderson.

 

Yeah, you never are, it seems, but your obvious disdain for the actress shouldn't prevent you from paying attention to the show that you criticize. There are good reasons why Anderson's characters in both The Fall and Hannibal are guarded and why Bedelia talks slowly. They are all in the scripts, so repeating that you hate the slowness in every single post is annoying as (mouth of) hell.   

 

You also wrote that Bedelia is "a sad, pathetic coward who doesn't act out her kinks", which, to me at least, suggests a fundamental lack of understanding of the character. Bedelia did act out her kinks - she crushed the bird, after all (although the way the scene with Neal is shot allows for various interpretations, because it seems that Bedelia's first impulse was to help the patient), but she is too rational and not depraved enough (like the happily amoral Hannibal) to want to relive that experience. Bedelia is essentially a survivor. Like other characters in the show, however, she has a serious problem with self-perception, but she's far from being delusional, merely good at acting delusional. Based on the 3.10 conversations it's Will (at least in his season 3 version) who seems to be a coward. For once, her advice to him makes perfect sense: maybe he'll use it when dealing with Dollarhyde and, ultimately, Hannibal?    

 

All in all, the Italian adventure was a great research opportunity for Bedelia. However, I suspect Hannibal may have not quite lived up to her expectations. ;)    

[jeansheridan]

We're all super interested in the show or else we wouldn't nitpick so much.  I don't go so far as to read the scripts, so I don't know why Anderson chose to speak so carefully, but it works for me.  It gives her authority, just like touching Will first gave her authority (he tried to blindside her and she rolled with it.  And then told him to make an appointment to talk to her like a total boss). 

 

I did love her callback to Hannibal's "technically" line.  Hee.  And I do think she first meant to help Neal and then something switched in her.  I think it was interesting that while it was her choice to kill him, it is set up a bit as an crime of opportunity.  She would have never just attacked him.  She went after someone in distress. 

 

It makes her choice to help Hannibal after he was beaten and nearly unconscious is interesting.  Had she wanted to "crush" the wounded bird, that was the time to do it.  But then her alibi might not have worked so well.  If she had the presence of mind to kill him when he was weak, how to explain being out of it during the other murders?  Maybe killing Hannibal in that moment was too off-plan for her.  Not sure she's much of an improvisor. 

[Captanne]

I'm not a fan of Anderson's two roles mentioned -- here in Hannibal and in The Fall.  I have seen her in other work that I do like.  It is not personal.

 

I mentioned Bedelia acted out her kink once (on Quinto's character) but not again until she was around Hannibal.  And, I do think the character is a sad coward -- her dialogue with Will makes me believe that.  I heard a sense of "making excuses" in her tone when she said, (I paraphrase), some want to help others want to crush" and she added "[wanting to crush] is a normal response."  It was almost a defense of her actions.

 

I don't find Will cowardly as much as I find him an abuse "victim".  In other words, he keeps getting the shit kicked out of him and returns for more knowing that it won't be any different this time than it was the last.

 

I could be wrong, but as far as being a research opportunity for Bedelia, I saw Italy more as an opportunity to find within herself how far she is willing to go.  That may be a research opportunity but I'm not sure I'd consider it great -- considering the distance of how far she'd go means "how far will I go to kill a human being in cold blood and eat him.  And what are my limits when the man I'm living with is doing just that in my presence."

Edited August 9, 2015 by Captanne

[BookWoman56]

To me, Anderson's interpretation of Bedelia is a refreshing change from the "over-emoting = good acting" school. I have known people who act and speak in much the same way as Bedelia; hell, I often act and speak like that myself in professional settings (maybe not always as slowly as Bedelia but definitely as guarded. Sometimes when people have been through very traumatic experiences, they respond by mentally editing their words before actually speaking. Let's just say that for me, and I suspect for Bedelia as well, doing a word association test is an exercise in futility because I'm never not going to edit my thoughts/words before responding, and will consider "If I say word X, what connotations does that have, and so maybe word A, B, C or D might be a better choice, but just to throw off the test administrator, let's go with word J.") 

 

Not everybody is a warm, bubbly personality and I'd be very taken aback if a psychiatrist with the experiences Bedelia has had were some outgoing, spontaneous, touchy-feely personality. In Bedelia's profession, and the same goes with Anderson's character in The Fall, many women deliberately choose to project a non-emotional persona because it's all too easy for people to interpret any emotional response by a woman as evidence that she's not "tough enough" or objective enough to do the job. And I am so, so tired of the trope that a woman who is "cold" is automatically evil. Being cold is not an indication of moral inferiority or superiority; it just means that the person is possibly reserved and not overly emotional. Nothing that Bedelia has done on this show makes me think she's evil or even a sociopath the way Hannibal is. She understands her instinct to crush but AFAIK, she's acted on that impulse only once, in a situation where Hannibal obviously set her up. I agree that she's a survivor and frankly to me her method of surviving seems healthier than Will's does, who apparently got obsessed and passionate about Hannibal despite having known already what he was. Going to Italy with Hannibal was a wonderful research opportunity for someone who wanted to better understand how he functions and what his vulnerabilities were. Her decision to go with him reminds me of the old saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

[MisterGlass]

I can understand her professional choice to be cautious in her word use and to weigh their implications.  In part I think she is recording every word she uses so that she can keeps stories straight when the time comes to retell them or spin them.  Bedelia only takes risks when she feels that she has an accurate assessment of the situation and has back-up plans.  Killing her patient seemed spontaneous, and may be the only in-the-moment decision she has made to date.  In other situations, I think she has a series of decisions already outlined for whatever scenario presents itself.

[greenbean]

I don't like her expansion on the show and think it's a big reason why there's been a drop in quality. The show lost all its urgency from the season two finale partly because it shifted focus to her. She is not a character who moves the plot along, and what can be done with her is very limited. It feels like Bryan has fallen in love with his own creation, and is forcing it into the narrative.

[Crossbow]

I think she's there to explain Will to us, which isn't necessary. I still like her though.

[Bruinsfan]

Nothing that Bedelia has done on this show makes me think she's evil or even a sociopath the way Hannibal is. She understands her instinct to crush but AFAIK, she's acted on that impulse only once, in a situation where Hannibal obviously set her up.

Killing a distressed patient in your care only once is plenty to make me think someone is evil. One needn't adopt Hannibal's "people are like potato chips--who can eat just one?" philosophy to qualify.

 

Bedelia's analysis of Will's relationship with Hannibal is interesting to me in that most of her insight must have been gleaned from Hannibal talking about it, rather than her limited interaction with Will. But as a psychiatrist she should be aware that there are two sides of every story, and Hannibal was himself too close to Will for his interpretation to be taken as gospel.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Bruinsfan

[Crossbow]

I  don't understand that whole bit with Bedelia killing her patient. I don't see how Hannibal influenced her to do it. I don't even see why Hannibal sent the guy to her. And he didn't actually attack, her, and it looks like she killed him on accident trying to clear his throat.

[Fen]

I don't like her expansion on the show and think it's a big reason why there's been a drop in quality. The show lost all its urgency from the season two finale partly because it shifted focus to her. She is not a character who moves the plot along, and what can be done with her is very limited. It feels like Bryan has fallen in love with his own creation, and is forcing it into the narrative.

 

I have to admit, I could have done with less of her in the first half of the season - although, to be fair, I think the first half of the season became rather heavy going anyway, she was just a part of that.

 

I like the character, but she feels so stylised that she's best in small doses - for me, anyway. 

[Finis Terre]

I could be wrong, but as far as being a research opportunity for Bedelia, I saw Italy more as an opportunity to find within herself how far she is willing to go.

 

I think you're wrong, because Bedelia already knows how far she can go. It's just that she's not interested in repeating the Neal experience. She's not a coward, either. She simply learned to be in control and it pays off handsomely for her. For now.  ;)

[Nanrad]

Killing a distressed patient in your care only once is plenty to make me think someone is evil. One needn't adopt Hannibal's "people are like potato chips--who can eat just one?" philosophy to qualify.

 

Bedelia's analysis of Will's relationship with Hannibal is interesting to me in that most of her insight must have been gleaned from Hannibal talking about it, rather than her limited interaction with Will. But as a psychiatrist she should be aware that there are two sides of every story, and Hannibal was himself too close to Will for his interpretation to be taken as gospel.

I don't think that is why some don't believe Bedelia is evil. In the first season, she explained that Hannibal sets people up that he believes that they are acting on their own violation. We saw this play out with Will to an extent. 

 

Honestly, I think Bedelia's opinion is based on her limited interaction with Will and the things she's heard about him.

 

I  don't understand that whole bit with Bedelia killing her patient. I don't see how Hannibal influenced her to do it. I don't even see why Hannibal sent the guy to her. And he didn't actually attack, her, and it looks like she killed him on accident trying to clear his throat.

Hannibal has the power of suggestion and other techniques to sway a person to act his wishes. I cannot say for a fact that this happened and Bedelia didn't act out on an urge, but we saw how he played Will, Alana, and Jack in the second season. It's about planting season and indirectly directing their behavior.

[Crossbow]

My money is still on "the writers couldn't figure out how to do it."