#hannibal season 2

[aritks]

I KNOW HE WAS CRYING THROWING UP inside when he heard that.

[grahamdolce]

Hannibal 2.13 Mizumono | 3.07 Digestivo

[castielssuperhell]

[pesky--dust]

watching “Mizumono” in a nutshell

[nikkodikko]

I have been once again destroyed emotionally by one character asking the other to run away together, getting rejected and then the both of them being really gay and tragic about it

[ineffably-graham]

"he is so skroinkly. what a little blorbo doingle." i whisper to myself as i watch him bleed out after being stabbed by his lover

[fixedteacup]

I love the "where else would I go" line because it's romantic, like a sort of promise, I'll stay by you're side, I won't leave. But it's also defeat, an accusation, you made sure that I don't have anywhere else to go, you made sure that there's only you. And it's an admission, a decision he's made or is still making, I choose to be on your side, there's no turning back for me.

[morningstarbee]

opening my mouth to talk about season 2 again

so like, Hannibal frames Will for his own murders

and Will's only choice is to act in self-defense, and point to Hannibal

this backfires, of course, because Hannibal is well-respected and Will is allegedly off his fucking rocker. it makes Will look even more insane.

but, also, Hannibal is put in an interesting position. where he's trying to act like Will's friend by supporting him, but also Will's leading theory as to who framed him is Hannibal himself. so his solution is to go with Alana's defense of course, that Will did do the murders, but he was basically acting in a murder trance state and Hannibal was just the closest person to accuse. he spends the first half of the season trying to gaslight Will into accepting that he did commit the murders.

it's so fucking funny to me, because Hannibal's official stance in will's trial is basically:

It's also hilarious to me how he's balancing "it's so terrible what happened to Will and I support him and want to help him clear his name" with "okay I know he keeps insisting, repeatedly, vehemently that I'm the real culprit, but I promise it's not me haha"

and then when he ultimately decides to free Will and starts trying to set up the murders that will clear Will's name, he has to do it carefully, under the scrutiny of the FBI who are now directly aware of his potential guilt

like his Dr. Hannibal Lecter persona has to stay pristine, but he also needs to clearly paint guilt on the Copycat/Chesapeake Ripper persona

[hannibal-is-my-comfort-show]

In this essay I will show how nbc hannibal's foreshadowing game is actually insane because in the first half of season 2 when Will sends Matthew after Hannibal, he sets him up to be both hung and crucified which is comparable to how judas and Jesus died ,respectfully, symbolising and foreshadowing how hannibal was both the betrayer and the betrayed at the end of the season in mizumono. I--

[royal-dragon7]

Why is season 2 always gayer?

[aritks]

Everyone is so mean to him 😔😔

[grahamdolce]

Hannibal season 2 behind the scenes

[iconsumethesoulsofthedamned]

And by that I mean, he said he’d change.

[adrianlikesdinos]

so. I've been meaning to do a deep dive analysis into the symbolism behind the flowers the Ripper uses in the episode Futamono for awhile now. buckle up yall. here it goes.

In the episode it is brought up that all three of the flowers used (white oleander, belladonna, and ragwort) are poisonous. Jack sees this as the Ripper judging his victim to be toxic; However, flowers hold a lot more meaning than what is just seen on a surface level and I am willing to bet money Hannibal, with his attention to detail and culture, is more than aware of these flowers meanings, even far past just their Victorian meanings. And, there is also the placement of these flowers and why what type replaced what organ.

Lets start with the white oleander. Known in the Victorian era as a sign of caution, used as a warning against the complex nature of love and romance, this flower commonly represents love, desire, and seduction. This meaning and its name is said to stem from a Greek myth. A young man, Leander, was trying to woo a woman and he would swim a great length to her every night, but, one night he gets caught in a tempest. His body is discovered after his love goes out looking for him, calling "oh, Leander! oh, Leander!" his dead and drowned body is clutching the flowers. As a symbol of their love, the flowers continue to grow. This myth is important in the context of this Ripper victim because he had been drowned, the water in his lungs being the first hit or tip in the direction of framing Dr. Chilton and freeing Will. This flower, often symbolizing love, seduction and serving as caution to love and its effects, can also give some bit of motive as to why Hannibal is now working to free Will after he was the one to frame him. Hannibal has realized his misses Will, which is evident in the way he sits alone in his office every week at 7:30, and is now trying to win back his favour. Lounds was not his first attempt at courting. There is also meaning in the etymology of this plants name. Some believe the name comes from a mix of rhododendron and olea (olive,) two plants oleander resembles. When mixed with the belief the name come from the greek words ollyo, meaning "i kill," and aner, meaning "man," it gives the impression of a sort of wolf in sheep's clothing that is very similar to Hannibal's "person suit" further connecting Hannibal to this flower personally. It is also important to note the reason behind what flower replaces what organ. This flower replaces the intestines. There is hardly any symbolic meaning behind the placement of this flower except that oleander poisoning causes GI distress that is particularly prominent in animals and causes severe abdominal pain.

Belladonna is very well known for being extremely poisonous, all of its symbolism stems from this fact. The Victorian meaning for this flower is a warning and an omen of death. Its poisonous properties were already discussed in the show so I won't spend time on how its most popular symbolism is Death. The flowers were placed in a dead body. This is a crime show. Omens of death are a Tuesday night. In Homer's the Odyssey, deadly nightshade was used to poison men who landed on Circe's island and turn them into pigs. The addition of this flower implies the Ripper’s belief his victims are nothing more than rude pigs. The piece that stood out to me the most, however, was the flowers use in the Victorian era to dilate pupils because it was seen as attractive and seductive. After extended use, these eye drops would leave women blind. This directly represents what Hannibal is doing to Alana. The episode cuts from Hannibal declaring to Alana he needs to get his appetite back, straight to this victim. in Mizumono when Alana realizes how blind she has been Hannibal is quick to say "in your defence, i worked very hard to blind you." Hannibal prides himself on how effective his manipulations are, the addition of this flower is a blatant brag. a taunt. The effects this plant's poison has on the body are symptoms very similar to those Will suffered from throughout season 1, like headache, confusion, hallucinations, it also disturbs cognitive capacities like memory. In domesticated animals it causes narcosis. What flowers replace what organs is dependent on how that plant affects the body, this flower, however, does not mainly affect the heart and it is not commonly the cause of death when poisoned. The common cause of death is respiratory failure. It would make sense that, because the lungs needed to stay with the body, the Ripper chose to replace the heart instead because the circulatory system supports the respiratory system.

Ragwort, though poisonous, is never really of any danger to humans. It takes quite a lot to kill and because of its unpleasant taste it is hard for humans to build up enough in their system to do any harm. This plant is also very common, seen as a weed in most places. It holds very little symbolic meaning. What is commonly known about this plant is the danger it causes for domestic animals like horses and cows. It is said that if one seed is inhaled by a horse it would kill it. This wives tale is highly exaggerated but wives tales always come from some vein of truth. When this flower grows in pastures it probably won't do much harm if horses eat it, but too much is incredibly damaging. It becomes deadly when this plant mistakenly ends up dried into animal’s hay. It kills by attacking the liver, the organ which this flower replaces. The toxin itself does not affect the body but the broken down product, it destroys DNA and actively kills the liver’s cells. The danger it poses to animals is what creates symbolic meaning in its use. By replacing the liver with this flower it signifies the Ripper's belief that his victims are nothing but livestock. And the flower's lack of symbolism in culture creates a blank canvas for the ripper to paint his own meaning.

so yeah, flowers are really cool. the Ripper is a hopeless romantic. I would say this is a product of too much time on my hands but school has been kicking my ass and this took like 5 days to put together.

I might be doing a part two because during my research for this, a post by @alice-lecter pointed out the flowers actually used are not the ones mentioned when Jack, Zeller, and Price are discussing the body. Because of the use of both narcissus and hyacinth, I am almost certain the flowers actually used hold at least some meaning because of how Greek myth is often used in the show itself (mainly referencing the whole Achilles and Patroclus conversation.) but that is an analysis for another time. :)

[lesbian-hannibal]

bonus:

it worked

[garnishedcarnist]

I love the part in Mizumono where Hannibal is absolutely THROWING himself at that door. The way he whispers and smiles at Alana when she finds him.. He's mourning the losses he's about to create but he's so happy to take off his person suit in front of the people he's closest with, let them in before they die.