"Hannibal" Review/Recap: “Mizumono”

Adam Reynoso ‘15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

After showing a brief glimpse of the fight between Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) and Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) in the premiere, the finale finally catches up to the event and brings a fantastic end to an amazingly scripted, cinematically beautiful and overall mesmerizing season, ending in a way only Hannibal can.
The entire season has been the journey to this fight and what events had to happen for everything to fall into place the way it does. It meant that Jack had to finally catch onto who Hannibal really was and work with Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) to trap him and catch him in the act. Another arc at play this season was Hannibal and Will’s relationship. Over the season, it was Will trying to figure out what Hannibal did to him and to find a way to prove his innocence. Once freed, it was about how he was growing closer to Hannibal and who was manipulating whom. In a brilliant scene, Hannibal finally realizes that Will’s been lying to him, all because he could smell Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki) on him.

The finale is really about which side Will is on and whom he will help in the end. It’s also about Jack deciding that he’s going to do whatever needs to be done to take Hannibal in, even if it means leaving his dying wife behind. His wife, Bella, played by the wonderful Gina Torres, is back and is still a powerful player. In one scene that was heartbreaking, it showed her character making Hannibal promise that he would take care of Jack after she dies from her cancer. He makes the promise, knowing that he’s going to have to kill him later on that day.
Once the episode moves into final act in Hannibal’s home, it’s a bloodbath and is full of many surprises, one of them being the return of Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl), presumed to have been killed last season. Her return, one that was unexpected but also fit in with what’s been happening in the last couple of episodes with Will and him wanting to be a good father, really served as the final piece of Will and Hannibal’s relationship. They could’ve run off together and lived as a family, but because of Will’s betrayal, despite his warning, is out of the question.

And in the end, it leaves him gutted on the floor and Abigail with another slash to the throat, bleeding out. The scene where Hannibal actually slices her is significant because her blood is now on both of their hands, literally, and it’s the end of their relationship. The episode also ends with Jack with a shard in his neck, as shown in the first episode, in the pantry, and Alana lying outside in the rain, dying from a fall from the second floor, thanks to Abigail Hobbs. And after the credits, it’s shown that Gillian Anderson’s Bedelia Du Mauerier on the plane to France with Hannibal.
The finale may be the best finale to have aired, as it left the audience with it’s main cast possibly dying and the villain getting away. Not only that, but the way it’s tied up everything from this season and last season, it really brought everything together in a nice way. When it returns next season, the show will not be the same show as its been and will likely take on an even better form. The actors were at the top of their game, especially Mads Mikkelsen and the way he played Hannibal’s reaction to Will’s betrayal. And the story has been engaging since the premiere, never letting go or holding back.
Overall Episode Rating: A+