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Hannibal Ep 2.02 “Sakizuki” is brilliant, chilling and flawless

Hannibal Ep 2.02 “Sakizuki” is brilliant, chilling and flawless

Hannibal

Hannibal Season 2, Episode 2 “Sakizuki”
Directed by Tim Hunter
Written by Bryan Fuller
Airs Thursdays at 10pm ET on NBC

Hannibal season 2 serves a second course with “Sakizuke,” the grandest guignol Bryan Fuller and director Tim Hunter have produced yet. Will Graham assists the FBI in tracing down a serial killer from within his cell, while Hannibal Lecter continues his mind games. Hannibal delivers another standout episode; and “Sakizuke,” ranks with the most upsetting of them.

Most interesting is how the first two episodes of season two play out like a feature length film. Here we have a serial killer who’s constructing a human mural, with bodies sewn together within a silo, so when viewed from above, they form the image of an eye. The opening sequence in “Sakizuki” is not for the faint of heart, as one of the victims of the skin tone killer awakens amidst the mass of dead bodies, and rips the stitches from between his naked flesh in order to set himself free. Sensitive viewers should be warned: Fuller has said that NBC’s Standards & Practices department had absolutely no problem with the human mural sequence, but that later in the season, the network took issue with a sterilized needle approaching someone’s eye. In other words, this is just the beginning of the these gruesomely mesmerizing set-pieces, and they might get worse. The terrifying chase sequence that follows might not shock audiences, but Tim Hunter does a superb job in escalating the tension to an amp degree. Kudos to Hunter for finding brilliant ways to track both the killer and the victim through the corn fields leading to the edge of the cliff while allowing audiences to understand the geography of the action. Cinematographers James Hawkinson and Karim Hussain are both credited as working on “Sakizuki,” so it is unclear who to praise for the look of the opening chase. A simple flashlight makes a great impact in building the nail-biting suspense when simply turned on and off, and the steady cam work is brilliant, remaining mostly in the point of view of the prey.

“The eye looks beyond this world into the next and sees the reflection of man himself.”

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Hannibal forces us to look at things we would rather not see. But the true strength of the series lies in its exploration of a place beyond physical horror. Manipulation is the main focus in “Sakizuki,” and this week Will manipulates Alana and Hannibal into believing that he no longer believes he is innocent. The only way to beat Hannibal, is by first understanding him, and so Will must find a way to regain focus and step into his shoes. For the first time in the series, Will seems to be gaining the upper hand, while Hannibal is slowly losing his edge. In Will’s darkest hour, Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier pays him a visit. Her brief time spent with Graham is a ray of light for Will. And with the whisper of three words, Will no longer has to doubt his sanity. Gillian Anderson has been an excellent addition to Hannibal and she will be missed. Luckily, for viewers, Du Maurier makes it out of “Sakizuki” alive, but not without leaving behind some of her perfume. Perhaps we’ll see her again, although it seems unlikely.

Surprisingly, some of the best moments in season two revolve around Will trapped in his cage. Each and every conversation he has with his many frequent visitors, not only advances the narrative, but reveals the answers to the psychology behind every evil act. Graham may be locked up throughout the entire season, but he’s still Hannibal’s true detective. Even when confronted with the possibility of the death penalty, Will Graham won’t plead guilty. He knows it would only drive him more mad if he never knows the truth. A life sentence without closure would indeed be worse than death. Will knows that if he has any shot at getting back his life, he needs to act fast.

Hannibal Season Two

Dr. Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter is the embodiment of every psychotherapy patient’s worst fears, but Hannibal’s perfectly crafted world is starting to fall apart. Will is now taking advantage of knowing Hannibal’s obsession with him, and manipulating it against him. In addition, Hannibal’s therapist decides to leave, so now Lecter is left all on his own. Hannibal is brilliant, intuitive and seductive, but we sometimes forget he is also human. Mads Mikkelsen gives a astounding performance – eery, menacing, creepy, and now he begins to show us his weaknesses. He is, we are told, a pure psychopath; but he isn’t crazy, he’s just evil because he chooses to be.

In the premiere, we’re introduced to a new murder investigation which plays out over the course of the first two episodes of the season, and Fuller says that while the show isn’t abandoning the case-of-the-week format, it will definitely be integrating longer running arcs that are sustained over multiple episodes. What’s interesting about the skin tone killer is that he is almost a non-entity. We don’t learn any of his backstory, much less his name, but he serves as a deeper metaphor for what’s happening between Hannibal and Will. Lastly, the contrast between Will and Hannibal’s profiling techniques is always fun to watch. Hannibal might not have Will’s ‘mind palace’ but he uses his heightened senses to uncover the truth. Turns out the two of them make the perfect team.

Other thoughts:

During Hannibal’s first season, the episodes were titled after French meal courses. In Season 2, the episode titles will refer to Japanese cuisine. According to Fuller, those have a particular significance to Hannibal’s own history and link to his backstory.

Will – “One of these things is not like the others. One these things just doesn’t belong. Who are you? Why are you so different from everyone else? I didn’t put you here. You are not my design.”

Will – “This is my design!”

Du Maurier: “From what I have patched from the person suit that you wear … you are dangerous”

Gillian Anderson is far to busy to return to the show on a regular basis. She’s starring on another NBC series called Crisis, and is still a lead in The Fall. However, Fuller has expressed interest in getting her back to finish out her arc.

Hannibal: “Hello. I love your work”

Here is some brief notes on Optography via Wikipedia:

Optography is the process of viewing or retrieving an optogram, an image on the retina of the eye. A belief that the eye “recorded” the last image seen before death was widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was a frequent plot device in fiction of the time, to the extent that police photographed the victims’ eyes in several real-life murder investigations, in case the theory was true. Although repeatedly debunked as a forensic method, there is a scientific basis behind the idea.

With the theory that the eye retained an image at the moment of death rampant in the Victorian imagination, police investigators in the late 1800s began considering optography as an investigative technique in murder cases. One of the earliest known attempts at forensic optography occurred in 1877, when Berlin police photographed the eyes of murder victim Frau von Sabatzky, on the chance that the image would assist in solving the crime.

Don’t forget to listen to our Hannibal podcast. New episodes are available to download every weekend.

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