It Still Stings: Hannibal Will Never Finish Its Story of Homoerotic Obsession

Editor’s Note: TV moves on, but we haven’t. In our feature series It Still Stings, we relive emotional TV moments that we just can’t get over. You know the ones, where months, years, or even decades later, it still provokes a reaction? We’re here for you. We rant because we love. Or, once loved. And obviously, when discussing finales in particular, there will be spoilers:

Avid television viewers will, over time, become accustomed to the myriad of cancellations that occur at inopportune points in storylines and send fandoms into frenzies, reminding audiences that life itself is inconvenient and unfair. After three seasons of grotesque beauty and psychological warfare between its characters, NBC’s Hannibal came to an emotional end when fans watched the titular character and his obsession fall together from a cliff into rough waters. The series wasn’t renewed after this, providing a devastating blow to its fans that were dedicated to beautifully-cooked humans and disturbing tableaux wrapped in an almost-nonsensical TV-14 rating. Audiences watched the two men go over the ledge, the camera peering over to see the choppy waters far enough down to not have allowed survival. Across the countless cancellations over the past decade, this one resulted in an unfinished storyline that will seemingly never be completed.

Across 39 episodes, viewers became intimately acquainted with the strange, obsessive relationship between Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelson) and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), the criminal profiler who experiences a disordered amount of empathy and begins therapy with Lecter. The series starts in an almost-procedural fashion, with weekly crimes that Graham attempts to solve; it quickly morphs into a psychological study of people with various levels of empathy, levels of violence, and forms of self-preservation. Even with an incredible set of supporting characters, the series never shies away from moments between Hannibal and Will that focus on the two men forming an emotional bond as they’re able to revel in earnest sincerity around each other. Characters that find themselves within the orbit of these two are accustomed to the violence that surrounds them, but also eventually bear witness to the strange connection and sense of familiarity they have with one another. 

There are moments of pure beauty as the cat-and-mouse game becomes a vie for attention as Hannibal juggles the central relationship with discussions of philosophy and psychology, especially in therapy scenes that find Will explaining the inner workings of his psyche. These scenes might usually involve Hannibal manipulating Will’s mind due to its fragility, but viewers will recognize his longing to feel understood. A lifelong struggle with pathological empathy finally being broken down by someone Will respects is what builds the foundation of this relationship as these men desperately seek connection, finding one another in the wreckage. Hannibal is intrigued by Will from their first meeting and his curiosity about him never falters, even from within a prison cell in Season 3. They’re constantly seeking attention from each other as it becomes a necessity in their lives. After Will begins sessions with Bedelia (Gillian Anderson)  in the final season, he delivers one of the best lines of the series when he finally asks her, “Is Hannibal in love with me?” and, in typical Bedelia fashion, she avoids a straightforward yes by telling Will that he nourishes Hannibal and flips the question back on him. Bedelia, having affection for Hannibal as well, is able to understand Will’s feelings better than anyone regarding the cannibal psychiatrist. 

The series’ mastery of human relationships and the boundaries of the psyche is part of what made it so successful, but the homoerotic tension between the two main characters provided moments that stick even after a decade, including a Season 2 revelation where Hannibal tells Will that he could “never entirely predict [him],” a modest confession coming from a man whose best quality is understanding those around him. It’s a scene that provides clarity for both characters—both are usually able to have a clear comprehension of human nature yet can’t quite get a read on each other. Viewers spent three seasons watching these men grow a fondness for one another, complete with labyrinthian messages from Hannibal to Will and an unbearable tension, only to watch Season 3 end with their demise, dragging audiences’ hope to see the two together down with them. It was most difficult to lose a relationship that was so full of queer subtext, a genuine slow-build of obsession linked to a lifelong issue of being misunderstood. Even if they didn’t completely understand each other, they had a compulsive need to attempt compassionate sympathy for the other’s perception. While easily labeled toxic because of the relationship’s violent nature, it might also be construed as clear hyperbole to represent life’s search for meaning and companionship. Even when Hannibal douses its characters in blood, it is a symbolic exploration of rebirth and redemption. These men found each other, could they possibly save each other? (Probably not.)

Hope didn’t die after the series’ cancellation, or at least not immediately. There were hopes that the series would get a pick-up from a streamer, since this was around the time that networks and streamers were grabbing canceled shows from each other consistently. This belief kept the fandom (“fannibals,” as they are so lovingly called) going until creator Bryan Fuller announced in July 2015 that Netflix nor Prime Video would be continuing the horror drama on their platforms. Earlier this year, Hugh Dancy commented on the possibility of the series continuing, and mentioned financing as a step towards getting the series back in production. Most recently, Fuller is being sued for sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment on horror docuseries Queer for Fear by a producer who worked on the project, which will probably be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Hannibal. While fans might be clamoring for the return of their favorite bloody boyfriends, it seemingly has never been in the cards for the series to return. Perhaps that’s for the best, at this point, but there’s a pang of longing to bring finality to the story.

Hannibal was a bloodbath to watch and mental gymnastics to grasp the motivations of each character, but it provided audiences with an interesting central relationship where dynamics shifted constantly as the two leads sought a more firm comprehension of one another. 39 episodes with these two will never feel like enough, especially when it comes down to all the possibilities of where the story could have gone next. While there could be a sense of gratefulness that the series, at the least, has a feeling of finality with the nature of its ending, the story ultimately remaining unfinished will always sting. 

Tyler Doster is an entertainment writer and TV Editor of AwardsWatch based in Alabama, eternally searching for the best quote from Lisa Barlow. For all his thoughts on television and film, you can follow him on Twitter @tylermdoster.

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