With “Secondo” Hannibal tips its hand to even further blur the lines between Hannibal and Will. It seems true that you can’t control who you fall in love with, and now our two protagonists must dance with one another tangled in a web of betrayal. For anyone who previously doubted this show was about two men who find solace in one another, don’t. It’s more blatant than ever before that these men are in love.
Will is determined to conquer his personal demons, but he walks backward. He’s trekking back into the blood of his past and steps in his own reflection. His journey to Lithuania and to Hannibal’s home should send shivers down anyone’s spine. Because for such a complex villain, we shouldn’t want to learn anything else about Hannibal’s past. He’s a monster without origin, and whatever Will finds could make the horrible cannibal more tragic than villainous. When Will arrives we’re treated to the overgrown remains of the Hannibal’s home. And we get a glimpse of a rather important gravestone. A lingering reminder of Hannibal’s complex past.
The spaces of Hannibal’s mind that are devoted to his early years are different. This home from his past holds great snakes resting in the dark. The deeper Will treks into Hannibal’s mind, he should be confronted with rooms he can’t bring himself to go into. But, Will somehow pushes forward without any reservations. Once deep inside Hannibal’s past, he meets Chiyoh. Through a beautiful sequence of macro shots, we’re reminded of the intimacy of death – the plucking feathers and hacking a human arm give us the best match cut ever. Hannibal is meticulous as he makes the meal delectable in appearance and preparation. He is a master of everything he tackles.
A beautiful dinner party is interrupted by a screwdriver in the temple. “That may have been impulsive.” Bedelia is shown to have mercy and with every episode she feels more like a victim. But we see that Hannibal has a sense of humor with his… “technically you killed him.” He’s now acting impulsively and drawing all the men who hunted him in the past back to him.
JACK IS ALIVE but not with Will. That feels weird at firs but it’s nice to see him working so well with Pazzi. It’s staggering to think that he sustained little to no damage from the Season 2 finale, but it almost doesn’t matter because… he believes Will may be with Hannibal. But as the man who got him into this mess, he needs to save him.
This man Chiyoh guards in the basement is allegedly the one that killed Han’s sister. But, everything that applies to this man, applies to Hannibal. He is a monster, he is trapped, and he is desperate. This man knows Hannibal intimately – perhaps they were once very close friends. And, we’re constantly reminded how Hannibal treats his friends – he serves them for dinner. Bedelia hates him for this. She’s pained to watch them eat in the dinner scene. The match cuts make us feel her pain. But, just when we’re feeling sorry for her, Bedelia shows that she knows Hannibal’s secret – “how did your sister taste?”
Will frees the man “responsible.” And he makes what seems like a total mess. But NO. Will and Hannibal are becoming one in the same. Chiyoh helps Will make his own tableau. He calls out Hannibal with the Moth. And finally, Hannibal’s feelings for Will are revealed to be far more intimate than ever before with the chilling final line:
“I have to eat him”