Hannibal: And the Woman Clothed in the Sun Recap

Synopsis for 3×10: Hannibal gets to know the Great Red Dragon, Will sees his face, Reba gets lucky, and a painting gets eaten. Yum!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Last week left off with Hannibal receiving a call from Francis Dolarhyde, and this week began by showing us how he did it. Francis, donning a Suretalk Telecom uniform managed to install a line into an office building that would allow him to call Hannibal pretending to be his attorney. They had a nice little talk about Francis’ becoming, and Francis expressed that he was an avid fan of Hannibal’s work and was delighted the other killer had taken an interest in him.

As the conversation continued, they stepped into what seemed to be something out of Hannibal’s memory palace. They sat in chairs as Francis tried to explain to Hannibal why he was so drawn to him. They were both killers, they were both beings who believed themselves to be more than human, and ultimately they had both been defamed in the news. Freddie Lounds’ latest articles were mentioned, and it seemed to draw the Great Red Dragon further into Hannibal’s sphere of influence.

Ultimately, he expressed an interest in essentially teaming up with Hannibal. He’d like to one day meet him, because the things the two of them could do together would be amazing in their view. Hannibal pointed out that he could be the John the Baptist to Francis’ Jesus; proclaiming what was to come after him. The scene ended with an unsettling picture of a CGI dragon-man stretching his wings.

The audience got a chance to catch up with Bedelia, who was seen giving a lecture about her experience. She still claimed that Hannibal had brainwashed her, and clearly intended to use the story to push an agenda and probably make a pretty penny. Who wouldn’t want to believe her suave, intriguing retelling of how Hannibal swept her away, brainwashed her, and forced her to live as someone else for a period of time?

Of course, Will Graham showed up and threw some shade. She seemed nonplussed, though, and I couldn’t help but conjure back up the two scenes between the two from previous episodes. The first, when Bedelia claimed she believed Will wasn’t a killer and the second, when Will ultimately told Bedelia he didn’t believe her claims of what Hannibal had done to her. The two have continued to be at odds with each other, and verbally sparred, throwing around how they were both the “brides of Frankenstein.”

There is a human side to Francis Dolarhyde, and this episode demonstrated that. Staying true to the books, the show depicted him taking his current fling, Reba, to see a tiger at the zoo. They were going to be fixing its tooth, so it would be put out and she would be allowed to touch it. The two shared a moment over the sleeping tiger as she stroked it and Dolarhyde told her that the orange was radiant. They returned to his house afterward and Reba made it obvious that she was impressed that he’d pulled out all the stops for her. It had been a lovely gesture.

The conversation shifted and she pointed out that she didn’t believe anyone really knew him at work. He wanted to know if she’d asked around about him, and she said no, but it didn’t stop people from telling her things. Immediately Dolarhyde physically began to withdraw from the situation, even as she began to describe what others thought of him. Even though he seemed to believe he was disfigured, others found him handsome, clean cut, and Reba quite clearly agreed with their assessment.

They kissed on the couch, and the kissing turned into a blow job, which turned into another trippy sex scene that now seems to be the show’s standard. Way to go Reba. As the pair of them made love, Dolarhyde saw her as the woman clothed in sun, which was the second part to the Blake painting that was driving all of his behaviors.

After they were done, and Reba had fallen asleep, he reached out and put her hand against his face. It was a sign of vulnerability for him. He’s human.

Hannibal, on the other hand, was very not-human. He used the phone to call up Frederick Chilton’s office and managed to sweet talk the woman answering the phone into giving him the phone number and address of one Will Graham. Anyone who has read the book, or seen the Edward Norton version of the movie, would know exactly where that’s going.

Will made an appointment with Bedelia and the two began to discuss Hannibal, especially in relation to her. Obviously Will was curious, and the two bantered about professional objectivity and morality. They talked about compassion, and throughout the entire conversation there was a flashback woven in, back to Neil (Zachary Quinto), a patient whom had Bedelia’s hand down his throat at some point. It was that moment which solidified her place in Hannibal’s web. He’d set her up and gotten what one can imagine was the desired reaction.

In the end, Bedelia left Will with what seemed like a warning: he should crush vulnerable things, not help them. Especially in reference to both Hannibal and the newest killer.

He made his way back to Hannibal, and the pair discussed what Will had discovered thus far. With him he’d brought a picture of the symbol that had been carved into a tree, the symbol of the red dragon. Of course Hannibal already knew exactly who was behind it all, but he wanted to play instead of actually offering up useful information. So he told Will about Blake’s painting, about the Red Dragon, and pointed out that the killings were part of the killer’s ‘becoming.’

While they spoke of the red dragon, Francis actually sought out the painting. He went to the Brooklyn Museum of fine art disguised as a researcher and managed to get a staff member to show him to the painting. Once it was revealed to him, he knocked her out and proceeded to rip into it and eat it. Unfortunately for him, Will Graham was on the same trail, and he and another staff member essentially caught Francis in the act. Though the staff member wandered off, oblivious, Will turned and looked in the elevator just in time to see Francis.

And get picked up, thrown against the wall, picked up, and thrown to the floor. Ow.

At least he now had a face to put to the killings, which was ultimately Hannibal’s doing. He certainly seemed to want the two to see each other, or at least be in proximity, and now only time will tell what happens next.