Hannibal - Recap: Freddie is a Vegetarian, Unfortunately

Episode nine of Hannibal saw plenty of bodies, fresh or otherwise, upturned from their graves. For Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), one face was all too familiar. Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl) resurfaced this week, having taken a few episodes’ worth of a vacation from our televisions to crumble and crack under the pressure of keeping the truth behind her father’s string of murders safely, and literally, buried. Perhaps the most compelling arc this week came to us from Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), who not only matched Abigail’s downward spiral into utter mental anguish, but saw himself crossing the boundary into terrifying insanity. Will has been hanging on by a thread, people, and “Trou Normand” saw the very fibers of that thread begin to tear and break.

The episode opened with yet another horrific murder scene, proving that the writers of this show are dead set on continuously outdoing themselves in the gore department, not that I’m complaining. The human totem pole was certainly a spectacle to behold, boasting seventeen bodies in total, murder victims who’d been killed over the course of forty years and reclaimed for use in this one grand vision. The totem topper was the only truly fresh corpse, and seven bodies adorning the “piece” were buried in a circular fashion surrounding the killer’s work. Will’s special signature analysis on the beach that day uncovered that the murderer most likely made the last man watch, sharing his work for a reason. Why had this person killed so quietly for decades only to unveil his grotesque habit in such a massive fashion?

One moment saw Will analyzing the crime scene, the next he was instantaneously teleported to Hannibal’s office, much to Lecter’s surprise. Much more so, however, to Will’s, who leapt into a state of complete and utter panic surrounding, as Hannibal put it, his disassociation from time. Will had lived nearly three-and-a-half hours of his life completely blank, prompting Hannibal as Will’s self-proclaimed friend to take action. The risks Will has been taking by putting his mental health in jeopardy to save future victims has not only hurt his own life, but has now put other innocent people in harms way. Will is a time bomb in the making. What if the next totem pole is Will’s own work? Will, however, refused to open up to Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), who recognizes quite clearly that something is very wrong, but who refuses to step in for fear of losing his "fine china."

Meanwhile, we were invited to check in with Abigail Hobbs, who remained within the care of her mental health facility. The first scene we witnessed was a dream sequence, depicting a partial confession from Abigail. She’d known what her father was, admitting that he’d have killed her had he not had other girls to slaughter. Suddenly, the faces of her group mates in therapy morphed into the corpses of the girls her father had killed, blaming Abigail for their deaths. In one final moment, the room emptied leaving only Nicholas Boyle, the brother of a victim (the girl Hannibal killed to spark Will’s train of thought) who’d aggressively surprised Abigail at her home driving her to kill him in self-defense. Remember, Hannibal helped Abigail hide the body knowing that Abigail had uncovered his own secret. The two had made a pact, but Abigail, as was made clear by her dream, had begun to come apart at the seams.

NBC "Hannibal"

A visit from Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki) was even a welcome sight. Not for us, of course. Well, maybe for us. She revels in her awfulness, and I appreciate that as a viewer. That is, she presented Abigail with an offer that was too tempting to pass up; the opportunity to write a tell-all book revealing her side of the story and freeing her from the pressure of secrecy. Abigail was through with keeping her mouth shut, as instructed by Will and Hannibal. Plus, she needed the money following the sale of her family home and an onslaught of lawsuits coming from the families of the deceased. Also, I'm paying especially close attention to how they dress Freddie. She's always clothed like a sorceress. This scene, to me, was reminiscent of when Ursula the Sea Witch coerces Ariel to trust her. "It doesn't cost much, just your voice!"

Hannibal and Will would visit Abigail in an attempt to quash her fears and convince her of the threat of working with Freddie, who is incredibly and obviously self-serving. In truth, Abigail would be taking advantage of their trust and exploiting them for her own benefit. Hannibal, especially, seemed concerned with Abigail’s decision, and we, of course, no why. We’d catch a glimpse of a hooded figure uncovering a body on the edge of a wooded area. Nicholas Boyle’s corpse had been revealed!

NBC "Hannibal"

Jack Crawford was as adamant about exposing Abigail Hobbs' secrets as he’s always been. The entire group recognized that Abigail was hiding something, but Crawford made the executive decision to put the girl in a potentially damaging situation by having her questioned in front of Boyle’s corpse. Alana (Caroline Dhavernas) fought as best she could, but inevitably lost. We’d never seen her so enraged, though, as she witnessed Abigail’s incredibly uncomfortable talk with Jack. Jack wondered whether the girl had seen Boyle since the night he attacked her, but Abigail did her best to thwart the interrogation before leaving in tears. Alana, on the contrary, ripped into Crawford. Incriminating the girl meant questioning Hannibal’s word as well, considering that he backed up her false story. Personally, I’d assumed it was Hannibal who dug up the man’s unmarked grave in a motion to scare Abigail into submission. In truth, it was Abigail, looking to free herself from the weight of the man’s blood on her hands. She passed the test, so she and Hannibal must have been in the clear. Still, Hannibal was hurt by her breaking of their pact and her willingness to put him in danger.

Another massive time slip saw Will Graham go from teaching a class to standing alone in a darkened lecture hall. Alana appeared in the doorway, drawn in by Will’s “practicing.” He did his best to keep his cool while the two spoke of their stilted romance. Alana admitted to having feelings for Will, merely half-regretting their prior kiss. Still, his instability was what drove her to keep her feelings in check. Interesting, considering we'd just witnessed another complete mental lapse from Will. The idea of a total blackout of the mind is much more terrifying to me than any of the crime scenes we’ve witnessed thus far.

Eventually, the team began to piece together the puzzle behind the totem pole of doom. Will had immediately recognized the need for a connection between the first man killed in 1973 and the grand finale death. The first death would have been fueled by passion, while the rest were seemingly unnecessary necessities. Meaning, the man needed bodies but would have no motive to kill the fifteen innocents comprising the center of the pole, victims killed, in many cases, to look as though they’d died of bizarre natural causes. In the end, it seemed the final victim, Joel Summers, was actually adopted after his parents, bottom body Fletcher Marshall and his wife, were killed. Joel Summers was, indeed, Joel Marshall. The wife, however, remained conspicuously missing, sending up a red flag to Will that the killer must have loved the woman. The one remaining question mark was that DNA tests revealed a lack of blood relation between the two men.

In a final act, Crawford and Will journeyed to visit a certain Mr. Welles, who was the only man questioned in the murder of Fletcher Marshall. There the suspect sat, ready to be taken into custody. His work was done, but what was his motive. In conclusion, the man had loved Marshall’s wife, but her pregnancy sent him over the edge. Joel Summers, in his opinion, was never meant to be born. Will and Crawford seemed to get a slight amount of pleasure cluing the man in on the truth; Joel Summers was his son. He hadn’t created a legacy, he’d destroyed his only chance at one. The scene closed as the man seemed to completely check out. The lights were on, but no one was home.

NBC "Hannibal"

Another sleepless night at Graham’s saw him venturing to visit Boyle’s body. Will didn’t have to place himself in the actual crime scene on this occasion to analyze Boyle’s body. It was easy to discover that Abigail had, indeed, murdered him. Before alerting Crawford, Will confronted Hannibal, who admitted that his newfound friend was correct. The two feel a mutual responsibility for Abigail, like new fathers, and revealing her to be a killer would have destroyed her entire future. Hannibal reasoned with Will, who promised to keep their secret.

The episode closed with a final dinner at Hannibal’s home. Hannibal and Will were joined by Abigail and Freddie, also known as the most intolerable dinner guest of all time. Of course she’s a vegetarian. How unfortunate! The show can’t punish her yet by having us watch her eat what we’re assuming is some sort of human organ. They're biding their time. The thing about Freddie is that she has self-proclaimed herself to be "pathological," but what are her motives? I think she just enjoys the game. The foursome spoke about the upcoming book before Abigail took a bite of her meat. To me, the expression she gave read that she knew what she was eating, having already been exposed to her father’s similar habits. Did she enjoy it? That is the big question.

In the privacy of the kitchen, Abigail cracked following her discovery that Will had deduced the truth. The floodgates had opened, and she admitted everything to Hannibal. Abigail had helped her father to protect herself, luring young girls into his clutches in order to save her own skin. Hannibal reminded her that, when all things are considered, she still remains a victim rather than a monster. I very much enjoy how this show depicts Hannibal Lecter as both a lover of his “craft” and ever so slightly self-deprecating and self-loathing. The final sequence took us to the scene of one of Abigail’s encounters with a future victim via flashback. As her father quietly lead her towards a new girl sitting alone on a train, we did witness just how torn up Abigail was surrounding what she’d done and would continue to do.

What did you think of Hannibal Season 1 Episode 9, “Trou Normand”? Do you sympathize with Abigail? As the show winds down its first season, where do you see Will ending up, mentally speaking, by the finale? Do you appreciate Hannibal Lecters' complexity? Will someone soon be eating a helping of Freddie Lounds Loins?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Hannibal Season 1 Episode 9, “Trou Normand”! Hit the comments below or tweet me your reactions to the episode @JoeTranch!