Review: Hannibal ‘Potage’ – Honor Every Part

Although ‘Potage’ is very focused on Abigail (both her mental state and her innocence), the most fascinating thing to watch is Hannibal, who is present in nearly every scene in the episode. Even though his words are few and far inbetween, there’s plenty of close-ups on Lecter’s face, the camera analyzing every twitch and movement while he watches everybody around him. Of the three episodes, ‘Potage’ is probably the weakest, but despite its flaws, it continues to be a fascinating psychological study.

I watched the episode twice for a very specific reason: I wanted to watch Lecter’s face in each scene, studying the many lingering reaction shots to try and read into him a bit more. At first, his motivations for ‘helping’ Abigail seem a little ambiguous; is he trying to help her, or does he want to kill her? From the moment Jack, Alana, and Will start discussing Abigail’s mental state, Lecter appears to be thinking very hard about something, smirking ever so slightly when the mention of his phone call to Garrett is brought up.

Now, I’m going out on a limb here, but it appears that Hannibal is grooming Abigail. Everything he does in the episode is to isolate her from the others, and win her over with a mix of psychological analysis and emotional comfort. Hannibal’s ability to manipulate is well-established in the episode (as we’ve seen in his sessions with Will), and the way he approaches and talks to her suggests a morbid curiosity of sorts, striking to take advantage of her vulnerability after she stabs the angry brother of one of Garrett’s killers.

Abigail herself is quite fascinating in the episode, as she deals with being the daughter of a serial killer, hated by the general public and labeled a cannibal like he was. Not only does she feel guilty for what happened to those eight girls (as she says, her father told her he killed all those girls so he didn’t have to kill her), but she wonders if she’s got the same problems as him. There are some suggestions she might, especially after killing Nicholas (the victim’s brother) a lot quicker than the average person would in an argument. At the end, she visits Hannibal’s office, and asks him if she’s just a murderer because she didn’t “honor him” – which means things are a little more deep-seeded than most of the episode’s events leading up to that moment would suggest.

Unfortunately, I have to keep this review short tonight, so one other point (and a shitty transition): there’s a little too much going on at the cabin for it to be effective. Not only is Abigail’s friend dead (and her mother briefly shows up), but Freddie comes out of the woods to talk some shit, and then Nicholas arrives and gets killed by Abigail. These are really three different scenes all shoved into one, topped off with the ridiculous idea that Abigail could murder someone, and have Hannibal show up to cover it up quickly (bashing Alana’s head against the wall, and presumably his own, in the process). However cluttered it may be (and slightly over the top), it never loses its complex, grounded character psychologies, and does serve a distinct purpose in moving the plot forward in a very intriguing way.

I keep saying the word psychology over and over, but it’s what makes the show so damn interesting: from Jack’s brash approach to investigations, or Will’s slow-but-steady mental decline, Hannibal asks fascinating questions about the human mind, and what happens when you push it too far into its darkest corners. After three strong episodes, I can safely say Hannibal is my new obsession, and favorite new show of the year.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

– I can’t say enough how refreshing it is to watch a show where a death holds a ton of weight. Garrett’s death still looms large for both Will and Abigail, and will continue through the season (as will Abigail’s murder, and the copycat killings). Most cop shows are so concerned with painting their investigators as gods and geniuses, they never stop to consider the effect of what they see on a daily basis. When Abigail asks Will if killing’s that bad, he looks nauseous as he responds; “It’s the ugliest thing in the world.”

– it seems pretty clear that Hannibal killed Marissa just to fuck with Will. When she argues with her mother, Hannibal has a very close eye on her.

– Hannibal’s office is covered in red paint: are they suggesting that his office is Hell?

– Freddie is around, but mostly to be a thorn in Will’s side, calling him insane and provoking an unsettling quote from him for her website: “you don’t want to be messing with a man who thinks about killing people for a living.”

– This is nitpicking, but Garrett should also be teaching Abigail where to shoot a deer, not just how awesome it is to honor one. Yes, I understand it’s not the point of the scene, but it’s something a dedicated hunter (like my own father) would do.

– Abigail opening the pillow stuffed with hair might be the creepiest thing the show’s done so far.

– when Jack yells at Will and tells him he said the copycat would never kill the same way again, Will’s response is pure gold: “I may have been wrong about that.”

– Fun fact: white chalk outlines aren’t for dead people – they are for alive ones. It actually makes a ton of sense if you stop and think about it for a half second (which 95% of us will never do).

– Abigail: “he was going to kill me!” Hannibal: “was he?”

– Murder is very, very ugly – but Hannibal‘s made their violence artistic in many ways, adding yet another layer to the many, many subtleties at work in these scripts.

– What was it like thinking like Garrett? “Like talking to a shadow suspended on dust.” what the FUCK?