Going into Hannibal’s “Red Dragon” arc, one of my main goals is to separate the text I love from the series I love. For one, despite the fact that every episode boasts the title “Based on Red Dragon by Thomas Harris,” the series has actively worked to deviate from many elements of the original text in terms of inter-character relations. As such, the show should stand as its own separate entity. What’s more, it just makes for a more satisfying viewing experience when I’m not frantically skimming through my well-worn Red Dragon copy in search of what’s been altered.
In the case of “And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…” this makes for somewhat of an interesting experience. As Hannibal, Mads Mikkelsen beautifully conveys a certain sense of condescension that the character has towards the rest of humanity. After all, the whole reason he justifies eating other people—besides the fact that it’s delicious—is that no one is his equal; therefore, it is not technically cannibalism. Both in the books and movies, Hannibal’s distaste for humanity manifests itself much more overtly. At times throughout Red Dragon, he’s downright combative and spiteful of Will and others. Perhaps in an attempt to stay true to the novel, some of these sharp edges emerge in his exchanges with Will, Alana and Jack, particularly when he complains about the long line of foolish experts who tried to analyze or study him. Granted, three years of being locked up in a cell (despite its unrealistic extravagance) could very well have turned Hannibal into a Grumpy Garrett, but it still feels a touch out of character here.
That being said, it’s what the show does to subtly subvert both the novel and previous adaptations therein that I find most intriguing. This mainly pertains to how it moves away from the iconic image of having Hannibal communicating with his visitors from behind a transparent cell wall in favor of re-imagining their conversations as taking place in a real-life location. Whenever Will and Hannibal discuss the details of the “Red Dragon” case, for instance, they are transported back into Season One Hannibal where the two would go over Will’s cases in Hannibal’s office. Hannibal is even shown wearing similar clothes to his Season One counterpart. Whether this comes from the characters’ own perspectives or merely from the wonky internal logic of the show, it does an effective job of highlighting the fact that, while he may be separated physically from the likes of Will and Alana, there’s very much still an undeniable connection that makes it feel as though the good doctor is right there with them.
This technique also applies to the other major person in Will’s life—his wife, Molly. During a telephone conversation, the show alternates between cutting between the two as they converse on the phone, and showing them continuing the conversation while laying next to each other in bed. In drawing up this parallel, the writers appear to be hinting at the fact that this half of the season will be a war between Molly and Hannibal’s influence on Will’s psyche.
Interestingly enough, the episode also continues the season’s employment of flashbacks. Whereas the flashbacks during the season’s first half served a specific purpose in helping to slowly doll out information, however, the flashbacks depicting Hannibal’s time with Abigail Hobbs don’t really seem to hold much significance in the context of this story. Sure, it’s nice to have Kacey Rohl back as Abigail, but what do we really gain by knowing how Hannibal arranged her “murder” scene, and that he told her to head upstairs before the events of the Red Dinner? One could say that knowing she was still a willing student of his and not a traumatized prisoner adds some shading to their dynamic, but the flashbacks nevertheless feels a bit like filler material. Then again, perhaps this will make sense later down the line. Of course, I also said the same thing about Chiyoh…