Episode 2 is surprisingly normal in comparison to the previous episode and season 1, considering the fact that Will’s conducting his investigations from a cage as he prepares to stand trial for a murder spree. The search for the Human Mural Maker continues and wraps up rather quickly. Jack and Beverly feel ambivalent about Will even as they continue to rely on him for help and Hannibal’s need to both kill and stay close to the FBI brings him closer and closer to getting caught. Fun fact, all the episode titles from this season are named after Japanese dishes, possibly as a nod to Hannibal’s Japanese aunt. However, the main question we are left with from this episode is have we seen the last of Bedelia? If we have I will be a little disappointed as Anderson’s performance is flawless and she will be a great loss to the show as she plays a vital role in this episode.
In the last episode, we were introduced to the Human Mural Maker who is collecting materials for his masterpiece and his latest victim is taken after we see the F.B.I. find his discards. The victim we met last episode is a recovering heroin addict, so the dose Human Mural Maker typically uses to subdue him doesn’t work. He rips himself free in a rather gruesome fashion that had me, a horror movie buff, covering my eyes. After a high-suspense chase through a cornfield, the man opts to jump off a cliff into the river rather than go back to the mural, however, he hits his head on the way down and died. This is where the FBI finds him. Hannibal, in his capacity as the New Will Graham, uses his superb sense of smell to figure out the mural’s location, sends the FBI on a temporary wild goose chase, and goes on his merry way.
Hannibal’s interactions so far with other killers and psychopaths constitutes mostly of the few glimpses we get into what lies beneath what Bedelia astutely calls “the person-suit you wear.” Looking down appreciatively through the top of the grain silo, Hannibal recognizes a work of art when he sees it: the mural is an eye, staring unseeing into the face of God. He understands his peer so well, that the unnamed mural maker doesn’t object when Hannibal decides to finish his masterpiece by making the artist into the final brushstroke. This scene is surprisingly tender as Hannibal explains what the Mural Maker himself doesn’t understand and meekly subjects himself to the pain of becoming a part of his masterpiece. Meanwhile, Beverly has been consulting with Will on the same case, which leads to them finding the mural and learning the killer is part of the mural. However, Beverly writes off the differences between Will and Hannibal’s interpretations of the Mural as the fact Hannibal isn’t as good as Will, although we do see Hannibal uses the same methods as well, but he lacks Will’s empathetic nature.
Hannibal seems less religious than his words imply and seemingly wants to become a god himself, which both Will and Bedelia pick up on. Will uses his gift to see himself being stitched into the mural by Hannibal and he muses: “Killing must feel good to God, too. He does it all the time. And are we not created in His image?” Bedelia, meanwhile, breaks off her doctor-patient relationship with Hannibal. The Will Graham situation has wised her up to what’s really going on, apparently beyond abstract statements that Jack Crawford doesn’t know what Hannibal’s capable of or that Hannibal is “dangerous.” After Hannibal puts her into a position where she has to lie for him or implicate herself in the death of a patient she backs away from him when she meets him at his office, and Anderson manages to broadcast fear even through Dr. Du Maurier’s icy facade. Her last words when she visits Will at the hospital are that she believes him, although she also recognizes that in Hannibal’s twisted mind, imprisoning Will rather than killing him is the right and dignified thing to do.
The rest of the cast seems a bit subpar compared to Will, Hannibal, and Bedelia but are no less entertained. Through his psych eval, Jack reveals that he’s feeling crushing guilt that’s understandable, but rather flat in the face of Will and Bedelia’s psychological nuances. Beverly, on the other hand, has agreed to wipe her mental slate clean and investigate the evidence for and against Will impartially. This is good, but she’s not smart enough to realize that dropping hints about her efforts in front of Dr. Lecter might not be the best idea.
However it is Will who goes through the most important development in this episode, as he is done with reeling and moping, he’s finally prepared to fight back. He’s re-entered therapy with Hannibal, but as we know from the cold natures of their talks we learn these conversations are a deliberate attempt on Will’s part to earn Hannibal’s trust and get inside his head. Hannibal’s Achilles heel is his fascination with Will, can’t help but take the bait. This is turning out to be a battle of the minds between Hannibal and Will, and from the opening, I think Will might just come out on top but whether Hannibal will kill him, later on, remains to be seen.
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