Hannibal S02E10 "Naka-Choko" Review

Okay, so I'm about 80% sure of what Will Graham's plan is regarding the "good" Dr. Lecter, however his methodology in going about doing that is...well...not the best. That being said, a lot of great imagery in this episode and the moment I've been waiting for MASON VERGER!

Michael Pitt strolls on the scene as Margot's insane, sadistic, child-molesting (although we haven't seen that part of him yet) brother Mason Verger and I have to say it was WELL worth the wait. Michael's is clearly gathering major influences from Gary Oldman's Verger in "Hannibal" even going so far as to do an impression of his voice. But while Oldman's Verger was bed-ridden and decrepit, Pitt's Verger is young, spry and downright loony. We first meet Verger in a callback to "Hannibal", explaining his obsession with feeding people to pigs (something we'll no doubt get to see eventually). Michael Pitt's Verger is obviously going to be a wild card, depending on how long he lasts (which I'm imagining is going to be in the 3rd Season since we only have 3 episodes left before Mason tears his face off at Lecter's request) but it'll be fun to see how the relationship between Margot, Lecter and Mason plays out.

MASON VERGER!!!!!

Clearly Lecter "sympathizes" with Margot as he constantly urges her to kill Mason, but thanks to yesterday's revelation (that without a MALE heir to the Verger Dynasty, Margot gets NOTHING) it seems that Lecter would have to find some other way to aide Margot in ridding herself of Mason. Whatever happens (as if we don't know already) I'm THRILLED to see what Michael Pitt will do with Mason Verger as the series progresses. Now that that's settled let's get to the real meat and potatoes. Will Graham's plans regarding Dr. Lecter.

Last week, Will laid "The Bear Man" Randall Tier out on Lecter's dinner table and declared them to be "even steven" in terms of their mutual attempts to kill each other (after all, it's what best friends do). Lecter then urged Will to "honor" Tier and Will did just that by displaying Tier in his own museum as a wild animal. Did Will kill Tier? Well, obviously he did (justifiable, it was self-defense) however killing in self-defense and displaying him afterwards...I'm sorry, but I can't vibe with this if Graham did it.Not saying that this doesn't make for interesting TV, it most certainly does, however IF Graham killed and displayed Tier, he's JUST AS BAD AS LECTER and I really wouldn't know who to root for. I like Dancy's Graham, but he's WAY TOO unstable! He is officially a bad guy now IF he did that and I'm wondering if Graham will suffer any comeuppance for that.

Why do you look so damn sleepy!?

Getting back on track, I think Will lulling Hannibal into a sense of comfort, Hannibal believes that he and Will are of the same according after all (according to the ever beautiful but still sleez) Freddie Lounds, "If you can't be Hannibal, join him." and with the tidbit at the end, I'm 100% sure Will wants Hannibal to think he's joined him when in fact he's engineering Hannibal's downfall. I think this is made evident when Ms. Lounds discovers the pieces of Tier in Graham's freezer and Graham explains that there's a very valid reason it's there. I doubt Will would be clumsy enough to think planting evidence on Hannibal is gonna help...at least if that is Will's master plan I'm hoping it'll be better executed than what I imagine. I'd like to see Hannibal go down for who he actually killed NOT for something Will made it look like Hannibal did.

This brings me to my final point, FREDDIE LOUNDS IS NOT DEAD (at least, I hope she's not...if she is then "Here's to lookin' at you, beautiful.") but I don't think she is, not by a longshot, the reason being is that she's too vital of a character to just up and die like that (then again, I thought the same thing about Chilton) but the reason I'm saying she's too vital is because she's piecing together the fact that Dr. Chilton is NOT The Chesapeake Ripper and MAYBE Will was right about Hannibal (smart and beautiful...still sleez though). I imagine that Will KNEW Hannibal would try to kill her and in order to save her from Hannibal, Will simply removed her from the picture (by telling her to skip town ect. ect.). That's the ONLY thing I can come up with because if Graham did kill Freddie and serve her with wine to Dr. Lecter then I can't root for him anymore. Although, I am 100% sure that Freddie isn't dead and when Lecter is behind bars, she'll pop up and everything will be A-Okay.

I can't believe it's not Freddie Lounds.

This episode was a stepping stone to things yet to come and based on the previews...OH BOY! I'm still loving this. We all know where this ends for Hannibal but the hows and whys are still up in the air and MAN It's an insane ride. Until next time...