Relationship Spotlight: Will Graham & Hannibal Lector (Hannibal)

There’s still a couple months before Hannibal returns for its third season, but it’s never too early to write about this gorgeous, horrific show (not many series could fit both those adjectives in equal measure – Hannibal’s definitely a rare breed.)  The subject of today’s post is, of course, the most compelling reason to watch the show:  the twisted, twisted relationship between psychologically-fragile FBI profiler Will Graham and Hannibal Lector, his psychiatrist who possibly steps a smidgeon outside normal ethical practice (I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers.)

Despite the deafening alarm bells of “Run, Will – he’s a cannibal!!” dramatic irony, it’s impressive just how engrossing Will and Hannibal’s relationship is.  The irony is there, naturally.  The man who can dexterously place himself in the mind of any killer can’t see the killer sitting across from him, Hannibal’s position gives him access to all manner of FBI intel, and it’s an obvious exercise in disgust every time he invites Will over for a sumptuous dinner of human flesh.  With our insight as viewers into Hannibal’s blatant insidiousness, it would be easy just to focus on this side of things, but the series offers so much more to dig into.

In Will’s sessions with Hannibal, it’s clear that the not-so-good doctor isn’t just a murderous foodie with a taste for his own kind.  His gas-lighting manipulations are almost like another kind of cannibalism.  He consumes Will by breaking him down piece by piece, making him question everything he thinks he knows.  Part of it is utilitarian – Will is an expert with uncanny abilities, and since he’s the person most likely to get wise to Hannibal’s unsavory habits, it behooves Hannibal to throw him off his game.  However, practicality is only the tip of the iceberg.  Really, Hannibal plays with Will’s mind because he wants to.  He deceives, disorients, and dominates Will, pushing him just to see when he’ll break.  It’s absolutely sick, and it really says something that, for a character who literally kills people and eats them, this is what makes my skin crawl the most in relation to Hannibal.  At the same time, though, I like how much it hammers home his sociopathy.  Destroying Will is nothing to him because he honestly doesn’t care – it’s a necessity, or an experiment, or a game, and Will is just a thing Hannibal can use.

As part of Hannibal’s subjection of Will, he seeks to isolate him from everyone else.  Gradually, by degrees, he alienates Will from his coworkers and his few friends, wanting to position himself as the only one Will relies on.  This has both a tactical motivation – it leaves no one to help Will – and a sinister one – it makes his control of Will more complete.  Beyond that, Hannibal feels a perverse attachment to Will.  He’s fascinated by Will’s empathy disorder, which allows him to fully identify with anyone.  Not only is it the polar opposite of Hannibal’s pathology, which disallows empathy entirely, but he’s taken with the idea of Will’s dark potential.  Will can step into a killer’s head the way other people step into a room, and if Hannibal just applies the right pressure, perhaps he could be trapped there.  Through Will, Hannibal tries in part to create a playmate for himself, and he considers Will a friend in a way that only a sociopath can.  He “cares” for Will much like someone would care for a prized possession; Will is someone he owns, and any “sadness” (or facsimile thereof) that Hannibal feels over problems in their “friendship” is self-centered distress at the loss of his toy.  I like this, too – the show demonstrates that Hannibal isn’t an automaton without suggesting that he’s anything less than utterly vile.  “Connecting” with someone in his distorted way doesn’t make him salvageable.  Instead, when we see how he warps it, it only serves to highlight how despicable he really is.