Bryan Fuller Talks About The Artistic Significance of Will's Vomit in Hannibal's Season 1 Finale "Savoureux"

TV Guide interviewed Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller about the season 1 finale.  Fuller goes into detail about Will Graham vomiting up a human ear in the season 1 finale.

Link: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Hannibal-Postmortem-Bryan-Fuller-1067011.aspx

Some people might look at this screen shot and think they are seeing a kitchen sink containing a vomited up human ear and pills.  According to Bryan Fuller's interview, this is part of his grand artistic vision.  

Somebody frame this work of art.

From the inteview: 

It was something that I knew was going to happen, even before I started writing the pilot. The last run of episodes was going to [have] Will Graham throwing up an ear, fearing that he had eaten somebody. Initially it was a finger, [but] I just thought, 'There's not as much chew time for a finger as there is an ear.' [Laughs] It was a really great destination to drive to and one of those kind of sparks of inspiration.

"Great destination"!!!  "Sparks of inspiration"!!!  He's talking about a sink filled with vomit, people. It's not the Sistine Chapel.

Fortunately, the interviewer asked the key question:  "Speaking of what we don't see, how did Hannibal get the ear in Will's stomach?"

Hannibal is a wily guy. [Laughs] As a storyteller, I have to have an answer in reality. On one hand, I could see a version of Hannibal sneaking into Will's house with an ear on a stick and pushing it down his throat. On the other hand, as a lover of horror and sci-fi and quasi-supernatural storytelling, I love the explanation that Hannibal is a devil. But that was not Thomas Harris' intention. So, he has to have been physically able to accomplish that in some manner. If we did something where it was sort of magical, then I think we would lose our grip on reality. That's something I think is very important to maintain, out of respect for the audience and also the character and his origins. But in my mind, I love the greater mythology of Hannibal being a very punitive devil.

I think Fuller has lost his grip on reality. He is constantly choosing style and drama over substance. You've got to think these things through logically or you run the risk of looking foolish.  People (me) are still wondering how an aging Lance Henriksen hoisted the dead body totem pole on the beach. And how did the "living dead girl" break into Will's house and hide under the bed without one of Will's menagerie of dogs barking? All of these loose ends are adding up and getting very distracting. In short, it is not a "great destination" if you don't know how you got there.

If Hannibal did sneak into Will's house with an ear on a stick and push it down his throat, film the scene. If it was a magical stick pushing the ear down Will's throat, show it. Why have the same few characters have the same few conversations? Why have the elk visions all the time?  Shake it up a bit.

Imagine with this "auteur" could do with a toilet. 

Cue up the theme music to "That's Entertainment."  

REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Savoureux" Season 1 Finale or "Friends, Romans, Countrymen...and Abigail Hobbs"

UPDATE: Bryan Fuller Interview About Season Finale

Season 1 is officially over.  This means that a lot of elk wranglers will be out of work this summer. Honestly, the elk imagery on this show is at the "beat a dead horse" level. Enough.

The show opens with Will dreaming about an elk with a man's head.  (See below).  If I had these kinds of dreams, I would avoid sleep at all costs by drinking coffee by the gallon.

When Will wakes up from his gruesome nightmare, Will vomits up a human ear in his kitchen sink.  He calls Hannibal Lecter for help (bad idea) which quickly leads to Will's arrest for the murder of Abigail "Freckles" Hobbs.

The "Encyclopedia Brown" Syndrome

I do not like this version of the Will Graham character. He is constantly miserable. He seems very weak-minded and always caves in when his boss, Jack Crawford, is pushing him to his limits.  Will goes around telling other characters things like "I don't trust myself to know what is real." They shouldn't let him drive a car, let alone hunt down serial killers.

Will Graham, and later Dr. Lecter, have what I call "The Encyclopedia Brown" syndrome.  The police have to go to Will (and later Dr. Lecter) because he is the ONLY person who can possibly crack the case.  You have to accept this premise, if you are going to enjoy the "Hannibal" universe.

What would Thomas Harris' books Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs be without having Dr. Lecter as a consultant?  Unlike miserable Will Graham, Dr. Lecter gets a kick out of investigating gruesome serial murders. He loves to play mind games with the investigators ("quid pro quo") and he enjoys trading information for small freedoms and privileges. 

Again with the handcuffs? 

Haven't we learned anything from Dr. Gideon?  We saw two episodes where the same middle-aged, somewhat out of shape man busted free from handcuffs and went on a killing spree. What are the odds of Will, who looks as frail as a 90 year old woman with brittle bone disease, busting out of the handcuffs?

Will in handcuffs

You won't believe what happens next...

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REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Releves" ...And That's Why You Never Comb Your Hair in an Oxygen Chamber

Poor Georgia Madchen.  The "living dead girl" died a fiery death in an oxygen chamber on this week's Hannibal.  The spark was caused by her combing her hair with a plastic comb.

Too bad Georgia didn't have a J. Walter Weatherman (Arrested Development) in her life.  This one-armed man worked with George Bluth to set up dramatic scenarios to teach George's children life lessons. In each scenario, he "loses" his right arm when he breaks one of George's rules. Kids, if you yell / leave the door open when the air conditioner is on / don't leave a note... you will lose your arm.

REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Entree" - Eddie Izzard as Dr. Gideon (Part 1)

Dr. Gideon returns tonight.  I'm going to re-watch his first episode "Entree".

OPENING SCENE/MEET DR. GIDEON
If you are shocked at the "twist" at the end of this scene, then you are as naive as this guy...

Opening:  ECU on sweaty man lying motionless on the floor.  Pull back to reveal that he is behind bars being watched closely by 5 people (3 officers, 2 orderlies). No one is rushing in to save him.  "This is your final opportunity to comply. On your feet, Dr. Gideon, or we will restrain you." After checking his pulse, they order a gurney.

CUT TO: Dr. Gideon on a stretcher in an empty, darkened infirmary where a solitary nurse is hooking him up to a heart monitor.  Where are the five people who were watching him a moment ago?  They were so suspicious of Dr. Gideon lying motionless his cell, why aren't they suspicious now?

You won't believe what happens next...

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REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Roti" - Dr. Gideon - Part II

When Eddie Izzard, a very smart British stand-up comic, first showed up as Dr. Gideon in “Entrée”, I had high hopes. He has the intelligence, presence, and acting ability to create a memorable villain. When we see Dr. Gideon this week, he is threatening to sue Dr. Chilton for making him think he is the Chesapeake Ripper. I thought we would get some genuine excitement from Dr. Gideon, not a frivolous lawsuit.  

Even if Dr. Chilton planted the idea in Dr. Gideon’s brain, Dr. Chilton’s thumbs didn't gouge out a nurse’s eyes, kill her, and mutilate her dead body by impaling it with everything that was not nailed down in the infirmary. For some reason, this preposterous lawsuit is being heard by a judge (give me a break) and a handcuffed Dr. Gideon gets out of his cell again to be transported to court.

Also, does anyone remember what happened the last time Dr. Gideon was in handcuffs? (Hint:  It involves eye gouging, murder, and mutilation in an infirmary.)

There is no way that a person could break out of handcuffs twice.

You won't believe what happens next...

REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Buffet Froid" or Hannibal Flintstone

Seriously.  When is the last time you saw someone eat a piece of meat this big outside of "The Flintstones" cartoon?

Tonight's menu:  Giant Leg

REVEW: 

For the first time in the series, I could identify with Will Graham.  He kept checking his watch, I kept checking my watch. He feels like he is losing time, I feel like I am losing time. Most of the scenes just drag on and on.  Will seems to have the same few conversations with the same few people (Hannibal, Jack Crawford, annoying Asian CSI lady). Blah, blah, blah.

I know a lot of people already love this show but I am not one of them. This week's opening was a generic "girl alone in a big house gets murdered" situation.  There is nothing new or fresh about this scene.  

After a lackluster first half, there is this amazing scene.  Will goes back to re-examine the crime scene late at night.  He slowly searches the crime scene with his flashlight. He shines the flashlight...

on the dresser...

on the bedside table...and

...under the bed

Heart attack. The murderer is crouched silently under the bed like a praying mantis. Once she sees Will, she skitters backwards under the bed.  The bed flips over and she runs past Will.   As she runs by, he grabs her arm and a hunk of dead skin pulls away from her rotting flesh.

A few questions...

#1:  The murderer, Georgia, has a medical condition that makes her unable to recognize faces. People look like they are wearing masks. That doesn't give her carte blanche to go around hacking up people's faces. You can't go around stabbing everything you can't recognize. I don't understand string theory or PBS's "The McLaughlin Group" but you don't see me stabbing them in the face.

There is a character on Season 4 of "Arrested Development" with a similar condition.  Lindsay's new boyfriend has face blindness. Somehow he is able to muddle through life without hiding under beds and running amok with a scalpel.

#2:  Who needs million dollar MRI machines, if Hannibal can smell encephalitis?  I am sure many members of the medical community could overlook his little cannibal "quirk" if he would lend them his nose. Win-Win?

REVIEW: Hannibal (NBC) "Trou Normand"

Damn it!  I got sucked into NBC's Hannibal again.  After the flesh angels and human cello, I did not want to watch any more episodes.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the actor who is playing Hannibal and I enjoy horror movies but the show is too gory for me.

If I do watch it, most of my time is spent wondering about the small details.

This week featured a totem pole composed (or decomposed) of dead bodies.  When the crime was recreated, there were shots of the killer/artist using twine to tie the bodies together.  The logistics of using twine makes sense on a one pound rump roast but is it sturdy enough to bind 30 dead human bodies to a pole? I highly doubt it.

"Nothing to see here, folks.  Move along.  
No, it is not a totem pole made from dead bodies."

There are elaborate corpse mutilations each week.  You would think that one of the culprits would get sick with some rare disease.  It does not seem sanitary to defile corpses (or, in one case, comatose people) and spend a great deal of time creating performance art out of them.  Something's gotta give.

On a show like House M.D., a patient can contract a near fatal illness just from drinking the quinine in tonic water.  On Hannibal, the main character maintains a steady diet of human flesh and never gets sick. It is true that he is picky about what human flesh he will accept for a meal.  He thoughtfully returned a liver to a corpse because it had liver cancer and was inedible. How was he able to diagnose his meat before preparing it? Could he just eyeball the cancer or did he run tests? 

Why doesn't Hannibal get some disease from toting a cancerous human liver back and forth like he's returning a sweater to The Gap? I can't stand it.

Once again, sorry I watched this show.  Thanks for the nightmares, NBC.

Flesh Angels & Human Cellos! NBC's "Hannibal" is Too Gross For The Rusty Walrus

Who knew that one of the big three networks would make a prime-time show that is too gross (for me) to watch?

I knew that watching NBC's "Hannibal" would entail cannibalism.  Fine. I did not sign up for flesh angels (don't ask) and a human cello (really, don't ask).

I loved Jonathan Demme's "Silence of the Lambs" but watching each subsequent spin-off has resulted in disappointment.   Anthony Hopkins created one of the most charismatic movie monsters of all time.  Hopkins is chewing the scenery in the movie (when he is not chewing flesh).

This is the sort of cannibal show that is more my speed: