History Fridge / Hannibal

*** Freddie doesn't dispute the implication that journalists have an unusually high incidence of sociopathy, and her appearance at the fungal garden scene shows she's eager to be there, as opposed to everyone else. Despite being direct witness to one killing and a forced participant in torture, she emerges quickly from each seemingly unchanged. Her panicked states in both may just be due to her not wanting to die, uncaring of the others around her.

* Hannibal claims that Will is his friend, and yet he manipulates and deceives Will without remorse. [[spoiler: For example, he knows that Will's mental state is deteriorating due to [[http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/autoimmune-encephalitis-the-brain-disease-that-makes-people-seem-crazy anti-NDMA encephalitis]], but he withholds this information.]] Hannibal may be lying about being Will's friend, or, because Hannibal is a sociopath, it may be that he ''has no clue what friendship actually looks like.''

--->'''Alana''' I stopped drinking been when I found out what you were putting in mine.\\

** The latter is confirmed in [[Recap/HannibalS03E01 "The Great Red Dragon"]]:

** Alana: "I taste oak...what else do I taste...?"

* '''All''' of "Fromage". [[spoiler:The entire hour is Hannibal manipulating people who are annoying the hell out of him into situations in which he can kill them without exposing himself. It starts with Franklin inadvertently passing on a "message" from the killer-of-the-week Tobias, which prompts Hannibal to invite Tobias for dinner so as to sound him out -- only for Tobias to not only admit that, yes, he's a killer, but that he knows that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Afterwards, Hannibal plays the situation like a fine instrument; Tobias admits that his latest killing (a trombonist made into a cello by chemically treating his vocal chords into strings) will draw the FBI to him simply as an expert in stringing instruments, and Tobias plans on killing them before escaping; Hannibal wants to keep Graham alive, so he passes on Franklin's "message" to keep him on his toes. When Tobias escapes from Graham and shows up at Franklin's next therapy session, Hannibal takes the opportunity to kill his annoying fanboy, knowing that Tobias will be blamed for it. He then engages Tobias in combat, and purposefully takes a few nasty-looking but otherwise superficial wounds before proceeds to '''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]]''' Tobias; first using a rope-a-dope on a rather conveniently placed ladder (that ''he himself moved'' during the course of the fight) to pin and break Tobias's arm, then an almost nonchalant larynx strike that drops Tobias like a sack of potatoes. Following that, he not only uses his handkerchief to pick up a heavy statue -- [[ArcSymbol of a deer, no less]] -- before smashing Tobias's head with it, he uses the handkerchief to tip over the table it was on -- no fingerprints means it looks like Tobias fell against it, dropping the statue on his own head. Then he delicately folds up and tucks the handkerchief back into his pocket, as neat as you please; you'd never think he moved it at all. Hannibal: 3. Tobias, Franklin, FBI: 0.]]

* As Hannibal mentions in "Releves" [[spoiler: before killing Abigail offscreen,]] he has killed many more people than Garret Jacob Hobbs. But if the police only know about his killings done [[spoiler: in the persona of the Chesapeake Ripper,]] and if he sometimes kills in different ways, or copies other killers, then it's probable there have been many killings even they don't know about... And even as [[spoiler: the Chesapeake Ripper,]] he already seems to be the most infamous serial killer currently active in the world of ''Hannibal.''

* So much of this series works as {{Foreshadowing}} for the planned future seasons which are to be adaptations of the books; but more than that, they put future events in a new light. When Dr. Chilton bullies Lecter in ''SilenceOfTheLambs'', for instance, it seems petty and motivated by jealously- his prisoner is smarter than him and doesn't bother to hide it; but in this show, given everything Chilton goes through thanks to the Chesapeake Ripper fiasco, finding out that the guy he thought was helping him was in fact the real Ripper himself and had been playing him for a fool the whole time, thereby nearly ruining his career, [[spoiler: exposing Gideon as not the Ripper but then dumping Will on him as if he ''was'' a SerialKiller when he wasn't, and very nearly getting him painfully killed]]; suddenly, Chilton's grudge against Lecter takes on many new dimensions. Lecter basically humiliated Chilton over the course of the entire first season, and will probably continue to do so over the course of the second- of ''course'' Chilton is pissed off at him!.
** In the novel, Jack Crawford says that Hannibal is an InsufferableGenius and that this was the only weakness he ever saw in him; in both book and film he warns Clarice Starling that "you don't want Hannibal Lecter running around inside your head". Given that in those novels, Hannibal was captured before Jack even met him, he was likely talking about how he acted during interviews and his trial, but this show gives Jack a much more up-front look at how Hannibal behaves and his future words carry much more weight as a result. Jack also assigns Clarice because he thinks Hannibal will respond better to a woman- we see that in this show, such as him opening up to his female therapist (for a given value of "opening up"), his "friendship" with Abigail, and in the fact that [[spoiler: when he killed Abigail and Meriam Lass, it's implied that he preserved their bodies rather than eating them, showing his respect for them- this also calls forward to ''Literature/RedDragon'' as we know that a police officer will see something horrible in Hannibal's basement that will give him "emotional problems"- since Hannibal eats most of his victims, it's possible that the preserved bodies of Abigail and Lass- and maybe others- are in Hannibal's basement, waiting to be found.]]

* '''All''' of "Fromage". [[spoiler:The entire hour is Hannibal manipulating people who are annoying the hell out of him into situations in which he can kill them without exposing himself. It starts with Franklin inadvertently passing on a "message" from the killer-of-the-week Tobias, which prompts Hannibal to invite Tobias for dinner so as to sound him out - only for Tobias to not only admit that, yes, he's a killer, but that he knows that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Afterwards, Hannibal plays the situation like a fine instrument; Tobias admits that his latest killing (a trombonist made into a cello by chemically treating his vocal chords into strings) will draw the FBI to him simply as an expert in stringing instruments, and Tobias plans on killing them before escaping; Hannibal wants to keep Graham alive, so he passes on Franklin's "message" to keep him on his toes. When Tobias escapes from Graham and shows up at Franklin's next therapy session, Hannibal takes the opportunity to kill his annoying fanboy, knowing that Tobias will be blamed for it. He then engages Tobias in combat, and purposefully takes a few nasty-looking but otherwise superficial wounds before proceeds to '''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]]''' Tobias; first using a rope-a-dope on a rather conveniently placed ladder (that ''he himself moved'' during the course of the fight) to pin and break Tobias's arm, then an almost nonchalant larynx strike that drops Tobias like a sack of potatoes. Following that, he not only uses his handkerchief to pick up a heavy statue - [[ArcSymbol of a deer, no less]] - before smashing Tobias's head with it, he uses the handkerchief to tip over the table it was on - no fingerprints means it looks like Tobias fell against it, dropping the statue on his own head. Then he delicately folds up and tucks the handkerchief back into his pocket, as neat as you please; you'd never think he moved it at all. Hannibal: 3. Tobias, Franklin, FBI: 0.]]

* In "Rôti", Will is just beginning to sense glimmerings of the Chesapeake Ripper through his hallucinations - e.g., a forest of antlers - because he's getting into the head of Dr. Gideon, who thinks and/or thought he was the Ripper. He's essentially perceiving the Ripper/Hannibal's true nature through the empathetic equivalent of a thick fog, or misted glasses.

** I'd take that bet. Winston was actually dragging a length of rope with a ragged end (I checked - it's in both the shooting script and the show); he either chewed or pulled himself free, and whatever it was that he escaped, he's ''very determined'' to escape it. His fur was as dirty and matted as dog fur can get given television standards. He acknowledges Will but won't approach him. Will has to entice him with food - even then he's reluctant - and the water from his bath is filthy. Will introduces him to the other dogs using a cage and makes ''very certain'' that he supervises and controls their behaviour, allowing Winston a calm and safe welcome; Winston's obedience is as much a product of Will's handling as Winston's upbringing. He had no collar, no tag, no registration, nothing. An absence of viciousness doesn't mean a dog had a good past home, and who's to say Will ''didn't'' check for lost dog notices or anything like that? If Winston's prior home still exists, I don't think he'd be glad to return.

** They show you in the episode! There were only two people in the van with him, a cop (who looks near to Gideon's age) and an orderly (younger); and then there was the driver, whom he got the drop on. They were in a small space, where Gideon's lack of height would have given him extra room to manoeuvre. Gideon himself isn't overweight to a degree that would hinder him in combat - he's stocky and sturdy, as well as a surgeon familiar with anatomical weaknesses and probably used to making quick decisions under pressure, though in this instance he's killing people rather than keeping them alive. Honestly, it was probably easy in comparison with surgery.

** Freddie's been in her business for a while; she's probably inured to a lot of horrific things (she's pretty cool about that cop getting shot in front of her face, for instance). And while writing about one personal kidnapping by one murderous knock-off is good material, a book about a young girl whose father cannibalised other young girls is ''bestseller'' material. More than money - reputation, publicity, fame!

* '''All''' of ''Fromage''. [[spoiler:The entire hour is Hannibal manipulating people who are annoying the hell out of him into situations in which he can kill them without exposing himself. It starts with Franklin inadvertently passing on a "message" from the killer-of-the-week Tobias, which prompts Hannibal to invite Tobias for dinner so as to sound him out - only for Tobias to not only admit that, yes, he's a killer, but that he knows that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Afterwards, Hannibal plays the situation like a fine instrument; Tobias admits that his latest killing (a trombonist made into a cello by chemically treating his vocal chords into strings) will draw the FBI to him simply as an expert in stringing instruments, and Tobias plans on killing them before escaping; Hannibal wants to keep Graham alive, so he passes on Franklin's "message" to keep him on his toes. When Tobias escapes from Graham and shows up at Franklin's next therapy session, Hannibal takes the opportunity to kill his annoying fanboy, knowing that Tobias will be blamed for it. He then engages Tobias in combat, and purposefully takes a few nasty-looking but otherwise superficial wounds before proceeds to '''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]]''' Tobias; first using a rope-a-dope on a rather conveniently placed ladder (that ''he himself moved'' during the course of the fight) to pin and break Tobias's arm, then an almost nonchalant larynx strike that drops Tobias like a sack of potatoes. Following that, he not only uses his handkerchief to pick up a heavy statue - [[ArcSymbol of a deer, no less]] - before smashing Tobias's head with it, he uses the handkerchief to tip over the table it was on - no fingerprints means it looks like Tobias fell against it, dropping the statue on his own head. Then he delicately folds up and tucks the handkerchief back into his pocket, as neat as you please; you'd never think he moved it at all. Hannibal: 3. Tobias, Franklin, FBI: 0.]]

* In ''Buffet Froid'', we finally get some insight into why the Angel Killer saw Will with his head on fire. [[spoiler:Will has severe encephalitis, which means his head is ''literally'' inflamed.]]

* Miriam Lass [[spoiler: discovers that Hannibal is the Ripper because she]] found a copy of ''The Wound Man'' in his office, just like Will did in the books. In ''Sorbet'', Will shows a slide of ''The Wound Man'' to his class right before a slide of Miriam.

* In ''Rôti'', Will is just beginning to sense glimmerings of the Chesapeake Ripper through his hallucinations - e.g., a forest of antlers - because he's getting into the head of Dr. Gideon, who thinks and/or thought he was the Ripper. He's essentially perceiving the Ripper/Hannibal's true nature through the empathetic equivalent of a thick fog, or misted glasses.

* The reason Bedelia left the perfume behind in ''Sakizuki'' is because she knows [[spoiler: Hannibal could track her down with his [[TheNoseKnows sharp sense of smell]]]], regardless of whether or not she was wearing it.

* The opening of Season 2 shows Jack [[spoiler: confronting Hannibal without backup, in a preview of what's to come]]. We're left to wonder about the circumstances. Was there a pressing need that forced him to act before backup could arrive? Was his phone dead, broken or stolen so that he couldn't call anybody? Was he discredited so that nobody would come to his aid? ''Yakimono'', however, gives us some important foreshadowing. [[spoiler:Will calls Jack to tell him that Chilton is at his house, and Jack arrives in a rage to apprehend Chilton alone (or worse), without any sort of backup]]. Will is quick to notice this. Jack's dance with the Chesapeake Ripper has become personal, and he demonstrates a reckless desire to be the one to visit justice on the killer. [[spoiler: This, then, is likely why he will confront Hannibal alone. Pending the outcome of their fight, his recklessness could lead to his death]].

* Winston, the dog Will adopts in the first episode, is found wearing a collar and a leash and, after initial skittishness, is a friendly and well-socialized pooch--probably not an abandoned or abused dog. Yet no explanation is given as to why Will adopts him instead of finding and returning him to his owners. Anyone want to bet that Winston's family is still looking for him?

* In ''Trou Normand'', the killer who makes a massive totem pole of his victims is [[spoiler: an old man, who is shown to be very weak and frail, despite somehow managing to tie dozens of bodies to a huge pole of wood, and then somehow standing the pole upright. The latter would have to have been done with heavy machinery, but we don't see him have access to any.]]

* As Hannibal mentions in ''Releves'' [[spoiler: before killing Abigail offscreen,]] he has killed many more people than Garret Jacob Hobbs. But if the police only know about his killings done [[spoiler: in the persona of the Chesapeake Ripper,]] and if he sometimes kills in different ways, or copies other killers, then it's probable there have been many killings even they don't know about... And even as [[spoiler: the Chesapeake Ripper,]] he already seems to be the most infamous serial killer currently active in the world of ''Hannibal.''

** In the novel, Jack Crawford says that Hannibal is an InsufferableGenius and that this was the only weakness he ever saw in him; in both book and film he warns Clarice Starling that "you don't want Hannibal Lecter running around inside your head". Given that in those novels, Hannibal was captured before Jack even met him, he was likely talking about how he acted during interviews and his trial, but this show gives Jack a much more up-front look at how Hannibal behaves and his future words carry much more weight as a result. Jack also assigns Clarice because he thinks Hannibal will respond better to a woman- we see that in this show, such as him opening up to his female therapist (for a given value of "opening up"), his "friendship" with Abigail, and in the fact that [[spoiler: when he killed Abigail and Meriam Lass, it's implied that he preserved their bodies rather than eating them, showing his respect for them- this also calls forward to ''RedDragon'' as we know that a police officer will see something horrible in Hannibal's basement that will give him "emotional problems"- since Hannibal eats most of his victims, it's possible that the preserved bodies of Abigail and Lass- and maybe others- are in Hannibal's basement, waiting to be found.]]

* The opening of Season 2 shows Jack [[spoiler: confronting Hannibal without backup, in a preview of what's to come]]. We're left to wonder about the circumstances. Was there a pressing need that forced him to act before backup could arrive? Was his phone dead, broken or stolen so that he couldn't call anybody? Was he discredited so that nobody would come to his aid? ''Yakimono'', however, gives us some important foreshadowing. [[spoiler:Will calls Jack to tell him that Chilton is at his house, and Jack arrives in a rage, determined to apprehend Chilton (or worse) on his own]]. His dance with the Chesapeake Ripper has become personal, and he demonstrates a reckless desire to be the one to visit justice on the killer. [[spoiler: This, then, is likely why he will confront Hannibal alone. Pending the outcome of their fight, his recklessness could lead to his death]].

* The opening of Season 2 shows Jack [[spoiler: confronting Hannibal without backup, in a preview of what's to come.]]. We're left to wonder about the circumstances. Was there a pressing need that forced him to act before backup could arrive? Was his phone dead, broken or stolen so that he couldn't call anybody? Was he discredited so that nobody would come to his aid? Yakimono, however, gives us some important foreshadowing. [[spoiler:Will calls Jack to tell him that Chilton is at his house, and Jack arrives in a rage, determined to apprehend Chilton (or worse) on his own.]] His dance with the Chesapeake Ripper has become personal, and he demonstrates a reckless desire to be the one to visit justice on the killer. [[spoiler: This, then, is likely why he will confront Hannibal alone. Pending the outcome of their fight, his recklessness could lead to his death]].

* The cold open of Season 2 shows Jack [[spoiler: confronting Hannibal without backup, in a preview of what's to come.]]. We're left to wonder about the circumstances. Was there a pressing need that forced him to act before backup could arrive? Was his phone dead, broken or stolen so that he couldn't call anybody? Was he discredited so that nobody would come to his aid? Yakimono, however, gives us some important foreshadowing. [[spoiler:Will calls Jack to tell him that Chilton is at his house, and Jack arrives in a rage, determined to apprehend Chilton (or worse) on his own.]] His dance with the Chesapeake Ripper has become personal, and he demonstrates a reckless desire to be the one to visit justice on the killer. [[spoiler: This, then, is likely why he will confront Hannibal alone. Pending the outcome of their fight, his recklessness could lead to his death]].

** This is actually a bit debatable. According to Mads Mikkelsen and Bryan Fuller, Hannibal respects and perhaps even loves Bella Crawford, for her strength in the face of death. And I'm not sure he would mind Jack finding his wife at Hannibal's feet, given that she obviously killed herself. The desired effect (keeping Jack's mind occupied with his dying wife) is maintained regardless of the coin toss.

* '''''All''''' of ''Fromage'. [[spoiler:The entire hour is Hannibal manipulating people who are annoying the hell out of him into situations in which he can kill them without exposing himself. It starts with Franklin inadvertently passing on a "message" from the killer-of-the-week Tobias, which prompts Hannibal to invite Tobias for dinner so as to sound him out - only for Tobias to not only admit that, yes, he's a killer, but that he knows that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Afterwards, Hannibal plays the situation like a fine instrument; Tobias admits that his latest killing (a trombonist made into a cello by chemically treating his vocal chords into strings) will draw the FBI to him simply as an expert in stringing instruments, and Tobias plans on killing them before escaping; Hannibal wants to keep Graham alive, so he passes on Franklin's "message" to keep him on his toes. When Tobias escapes from Graham and shows up at Franklin's next therapy session, Hannibal takes the opportunity to kill his annoying fanboy, knowing that Tobias will be blamed for it. He then engages Tobias in combat, and purposefully takes a few nasty-looking but otherwise superficial wounds before proceeds to '''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]]''' Tobias; first using a rope-a-dope on a rather conveniently placed ladder (that ''he himself moved'' during the course of the fight) to pin and break Tobias's arm, then an almost nonchalant larynx strike that drops Tobias like a sack of potatoes. Following that, he not only uses his handkerchief to pick up a heavy statue - [[ArcSymbol of a deer, no less]] - before smashing Tobias's head with it, he uses the handkerchief to tip over the table it was on - no fingerprints means it looks like Tobias fell against it, dropping the statue on his own head. Then he delicately folds up and tucks the handkerchief back into his pocket, as neat as you please; you'd never think he moved it at all. Hannibal: 3. Tobias, Franklin, FBI: 0.]]

* At first Will's repeated visions of the Raven Stag are symbolic of his inability to escape the memory of Garrett Jacob Hobbs (who hung dead girl bodies on antlers). However over the course of the series the Raven Stag comes to represent Hannibal, until it transforms into the Wendingo. This is symbolic of Will realising that he is being manipulated by Hannibal. The association could have just come from him being unable to escape Hannibal, as he couldn't escape the memory of Hobbs, but that isn't all. Remember how Will spends a session with Hannibal staring at the stag statue in Will's office? Or how Will knows that it was that statue that caused Tobias' death (though he believes accidently)? Or even Will's dream of talking with Abigail over Hannibal's copycat killing (a girl impaled on a stag head). Notice how Abigail looks frightened when Hannibal tries to wake Will up.
* So much of this series works as {{Foreshadowing}} for the planned future seasons which are to be adaptations of the books; but more than that, they put future events in a new light. When Dr Chilton bullies Lecter in ''SilenceOfTheLambs'', for instance, it seems petty and motivated by jealously- his prisoner is smarter than him and doesn't bother to hide it; but in this show, given everything Chilton goes through thanks to the Chesapeake Ripper fiasco, finding out that the guy he thought was helping him was in fact the real Ripper himself and had been playing him for a fool the whole time, thereby nearly ruining his career, [[spoiler: exposing Gideon as not the Ripper but then dumping Will on him as if he ''was'' a SerialKiller when he wasn't, and very nearly getting him painfully killed]]; suddenly, Chilton's grudge against Lecter takes on many new dimensions. Lecter basically humiliated Chilton over the course of the entire first season, and will probably continue to do so over the course of the second- of ''course'' Chilton is pissed off at him!.

* '''''All''''' of "Fromage". [[spoiler:The entire hour is Hannibal manipulating people who are annoying the hell out of him into situations in which he can kill them without exposing himself. It starts with Franklin inadvertently passing on a "message" from the killer-of-the-week Tobias, which prompts Hannibal to invite Tobias for dinner so as to sound him out - only for Tobias to not only admit that, yes, he's a killer, but that he knows that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Afterwards, Hannibal plays the situation like a fine instrument; Tobias admits that his latest killing (a trombonist made into a cello by chemically treating his vocal chords into strings) will draw the FBI to him simply as an expert in stringing instruments, and Tobias plans on killing them before escaping; Hannibal wants to keep Graham alive, so he passes on Franklin's "message" to keep him on his toes. When Tobias escapes from Graham and shows up at Franklin's next therapy session, Hannibal takes the opportunity to kill his annoying fanboy, knowing that Tobias will be blamed for it. He then engages Tobias in combat, and purposefully takes a few nasty-looking but otherwise superficial wounds before proceeds to '''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]]''' Tobias; first using a rope-a-dope on a rather conveniently placed ladder (that ''he himself moved'' during the course of the fight) to pin and break Tobias's arm, then an almost nonchalant larynx strike that drops Tobias like a sack of potatoes. Following that, he not only uses his handkerchief to pick up a heavy statue - [[ArcSymbol of a deer, no less]] - before smashing Tobias's head with it, he uses the handkerchief to tip over the table it was on - no fingerprints means it looks like Tobias fell against it, dropping the statue on his own head. Then he delicately folds up and tucks the handkerchief back into his pocket, as neat as you please; you'd never think he moved it at all. Hannibal: 3. Tobias, Franklin, FBI: 0.]]

* In "Buffet Froid" we finally get some insight into why the Angel Killer saw Will with his head on fire. [[spoiler:Will has severe encephalitis, which means his head is ''literally'' inflamed.]]

* Hannibal's psychiatrist, colleague and confidante is named Bedelia [=DuMaurier=]. The surname is an obvious reference to writer Daphne [=DuMaurier=], creator of "Jamaica Inn", "Rebecca" and "The Birds", the latter two of which got used as the basis for Alfred Hitchcock films. Given that Hannibal allegedly got a patient who attacked [=DuMaurier=] to swallow his own tongue, is it that much of a stress to notice that, as when the Hopkins-Lecter did this, he was protecting a young woman whose surname is connected to birds?

* In ''Trou Normand'' the killer who makes a massive totem pole of his victims is [[spoiler: an old man, who is shown to be very weak and frail, despite somehow managing to tie dozens of bodies to a huge pole of wood, and then somehow standing the pole upright. The latter would have to have been done with heavy machinery, but we don't see him have access to any.]]
* In Episode 10 it's hard to see how the killer [[spoiler: being a sick woman, would have the brute strength necessary to drag her victim under the bed the way she did, even ignoring the fact that fitting two struggling bodies under a normal-sized bed would leave very little room for her to build up any leverage or momentum.]]

* As Hannibal mentions in Releves [[spoiler: before killing Abigail offscreen,]] he has killed many more people than Garret Jacob Hobbs. But if the police only know about his killings done [[spoiler: in the persona of the Chesapeake Ripper,]] and if he sometimes kills in different ways, or copies other killers, then it's probable there have been many killings even they don't know about... And even as [[spoiler: the Chesapeake Ripper,]] he already seems to be the most infamous serial killer currently active in the world of ''Hannibal.''

** This is actually a bit debatable. According to Mads Mikkelsen and Bryan Fuller, Hannibal respects and perhaps even loves Bella Crawford, for her strength in the face of death. And I'm not sure he would mind Jack finding his wife at Hannibal's feet, given that she obviously killed herself. The desired effect (keeping Jack's mind occupied with his dying wife) is maintained regardless of the coin toss.

* When Bella Crawford overdoses in Hannibal's office, he flips a coin, apparently to decide whether he should save her life or not. Had he chosen not to, he presumably wouldn't want the potential fallout of Jack Crawford's wife's body being left in his office. And we know how Hannibal prefers to deal with dead bodies...