Hannibal: “The Number of the Beast is 666″
(Episode 3.12)

“Fate has a habit of not letting us choose our own endings.” —Hannibal
I really do wonder when the Hannibal creative team become aware of their impending cancelation because this latter half of the season has been absolutely ripe with meta-references to both the show’s reception among general audiences as well as its premature conclusion (as indicated by the above quote). Indeed, Bryan Fuller might not get the chance to choose his preferred ending anytime soon. That being said, it doesn’t make “The Number of the Beast is 666” any less of a solid entry.
In a big sign that we’re probably wrapping things up, Will finally asks, in a session with Bedelia, the question that has been driving the subtext of the show (as well as countless Tumblr blogs)—“is Hannibal in love with me?” To this, Bedelia responds, in classic Hannibal-speak “Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes. But do you ache for him?” We cut away before Will gives an answer, but his extended silence is telling.
Perhaps as an angry reaction to this internal conflict, Will decides to step up his game in terms of locating Dolarhyde. Recruiting Freddie Lounds, he offers to grant an exclusive interview wherein he will denigrate The Red Dragon in order to draw him out. To add authenticity, Will ropes in Frederick Chilton, who is looking to improve his own profile, given that Hannibal has refuted Chilton’s insanity defense in an academic journal. While Chilton offers Freddie his clinical analysis of the man’s condition, Will provides her with great, salacious soundbytes—namely, that the Red Dragon is the impotent and ugly product of an incestuous coupling. As expected, Dolarhyde strikes, killing Chilton’s bodyguards and taking the doctor hostage.
It’s around the time of Chilton’s capture that the episode dives into one of its most experimental stretches. Not so much in aesthetic (though there are elements of that) but more in a structural sense. Specifically, the subsequent confrontation between Dolarhyde and Chilton lasts for almost 14 minutes—nearly a third of the episode. In film, this would be a notable occurrence; in TV, which is defined by getting in and out of scenes as efficiently as possible, to have a non-bottle episode feature a sequence so long is nothing short of baffling.
The scene in question is the famous “do you see?” segment from the book, wherein Hannibal captures Freddy Lounds (who is a man in Harris’ story), superglues him to a chair and makes him bear witness to his “might” before lighting him on fire and sending him careening through a public area. This particular scene has been envisioned twice before—once in Manhunter between Tom Noonan’s Dolarhyde and Stephen Lang’s Lounds and again in Red Dragon, with Ralph Fiennes and Philip Seymour Hoffman stepping into the same roles. Whereas the former uses this sequence to introduce Noonan’s phenomenally creepy and unnerving portrayal, the latter works primarily because of Hoffman’s effective performance of a man scared shitless.