Hannibal Recap: “Coquilles”

by Veronique Medrano:

Hannibal Recap: “Coquilles”
Original Air Date (NBC): Thursday April 25, 2013
Season 1 Episode 5

This week’s episode was a nice breather from the Hobbs storyline, and while the crime is not so in-depth as the prior it allows for us to get some more insight into our main characters.  If you haven’t watched or read-up on the show go ahead and take a look at our recap of the PILOT episode here. Also, earlier this week Kimmie, Michele, and I (all writers here at DarkMedia) got together and rehearsed for our upcoming episode of Dark Coffee Chat. The link can be found on DarkMedia’s FB page, so send us your questions/comments.

Please make sure to not read this if you haven’t watched the show.

Graham goes further down the rabbit hole

Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is not in a good place. He is sleep-walking through the damn street, with a deer hallucination. Graham visits Dr. Lecter later that morning and they talk with one another about what his ‘sleep-walking’ could be caused by PTSD. Lecter, in all his wisdom breaks it down to Graham’s mental control coming unraveled as he immerses himself in the murders he is trying to take apart. Of course the whole time, Dr. Lecter is planting seeds of dissent in Graham’s head against Crawford, calling him a manipulator and adding to Graham’s mentality that he is a ‘shiny toy’ for him and nothing more.

After this little early morning chat, Graham meets up with Crawford at the next crime scene and oh is it a dooozy!

Yup, that is what he walked in on. As usual, to educate us, the forensic team does some nice back and forth talk and divulges to those in the area (to the viewers as well) that he is educated in ‘Viking’ lore. Vikings used to execute Christians by breaking their ribs and bending them back and draping the lungs over them to resemble wings calling it “Blood Eagle”. Someone is mocking those who fear God. The forensic teams points out that there is vomit on the alarm clock, and sweat on the sheets indicating that the perpetrator slept in front of his victims. Graham takes that as a cue to sleep on the bed and relive the moment, with plastic sheet to keep the integrity of the crime scene, of course.

We get to see our old friend Mr. Lightsaber, but don’t get much development on the crime as we did in episodes prior. We do get some insight on the killer, as Graham portrays, feels like he has the power to make these lowly humans into angels.
Upon further pocking and prodding, and another good dialogue bit from the forensic team as they do an autopsy on the corpse, Graham realizes that the killer was making his victims pray for him. The killer’s vomit contained drugs that someone with cancer would take (more specifically a tumor in his brain).

Graham goes to visit Lecter to determine how to anticipate the killer’s next move. But instead, Lecter plants another seed in Graham’s mind. Like the killer who is angry that his God has abandoned him and is making heaven tangible, is Graham suffering the same problem with Crawford. Didn’t Crawford say he would protect him, but only leave him out to his own mental devices, which is now causing him to sleep-walk?

Despite shrugging it off, the seeds take root and Graham talks back to Crawford as they come upon another victim, and finally when he just can’t take the back and forth struggle in his mind as to whether he should keep doing this he tells Crawford. Crawford just shrugs it off and doesn’t really fight to keep him, but leaves it in his hands. As Crawford leaves, the killer who gave up and made himself into the angels he created enters.

—Exploring Crawford and his world––

We got an insight on Crawford’s past and a little of his present in ‘Amuse-Bouche’, but now we focus more on his present with the introduction of his wife and the world they live together. Crawford takes up Dr. Lecter’s invitation for dinner, and he and his wife attend. At the first course, his wife does not want to eat the ‘foie gras’ being served, calling it cruel. All the while, Crawford continues to eat. In this initial scene with the two, you can sense a clear divide between them. They are social with one another, but not necessarily looking at one another for very long. These little interactions lead us to Mrs. Crawford’s visit with Dr. Lecter.

Despite the unorthodox and conflict of interest in him seeing her as a patient he does it anyway. He tells her it is so that it eliminates some of the guess work in her problems with him, but really it is to gain leverage in his mind on a personal level and chip away at him. Sure enough, when Crawford and his wife are getting ready for bed he tries to offer some help for whatever unknown that is ailing her, but she keeps a tight-lipped on what it is and he just shrugs it off. The tension could be cut with a knife as they stare at each other, but no words point out the elephant in the room.

When Graham and Crawford interview the killer’s wife, she lets them know that she left her husband because of his cancer and the way she describes her husband’s mannerisms make it dawn on Crawford that his wife is showing the same signs.

When he confronts his wife about having cancer, she admits to it. When he confronts Graham on his current attitude, he admits to his mental demons. In the end, despite Dr. Lecter’s poking and road blocking, both his wife and Graham returned to his corner.

—End Thoughts—

This episode was very intriguing, and sent us on an exploratory journey into the minds of Lecter, Graham, and Crawford. The dialogue with the forensic team is ‘fresh’ and insightful, and the human aspects of these characters make them more likeable. Let’s say that the best descriptive in this episode was: ‘Righteous Indigestion’

I am hopeful that the next episode will help us explore this modern portrayal of Lecter a bit better.