Hannibal “Mizumono” Review: Let the bodies hit the floor!

 Hannibal Lector standing tall on Hannibal

Photo Credit: NBC

A brief review of Hannibal’s season 2 finale as soon as I do what needs to be done…

Due to time restrictions let’s go straight into point form musings:

• Boy is David Slade a great director and that is sure evident throughout this episode. One of the magical things that Slade pulls off is that he adds a hauntingly beautiful quality to all the violence that unfolds throughout the end of the episode. Horrific things are occurring throughout the last half of this finale but they never feel gross or played for shock value, instead it seems that Slade finds a sort of operatic beauty to the carnage. Take for example the beautiful shot of Alana being pushed out a window to her potential death; what’s occurring is horrifying but the shot is played in such a way that it lingers not only on the potential final struggle on the character but on the glass of her life breaking around her as she stumbles to the ground below. Even when Will is stabbed and the returning Abigail throat is being split it’s not the actual act of bloody violence that is being focused on but instead the direction (and due has to be given to the great writing as well) makes the viewer focus on the emotional strife of the scene. There are so many more examples of just how well shot and directed this episode was we could be here for a few thousand words just talking about the fight scene and the nightmare quality to the visuals the list goes on and on. In all Slade has crafted a visual masterpiece in “Mizumono” and it’s one of the best shot and directed episodes of television I have ever witnessed.

• While we’re on the technical end props have to go the unrelenting nature of the score and the sound design throughout this episode. The relenting clock like nature of the score during the last half and the wispy nature of the sounds of the actual action that is occurring give the feeling the horrid nightmare that we are witnessing. Not often do I mention Sound design or score when talking about television shows but it was so great throughout this episode that it’s really hard not to.

• Ok on to the finale from a point of wrapping up a season of television. “Mizumono” didn’t answer any questions about the how of the investigation, it didn’t pull back the curtain on how exactly Will pulled off his wizardry and it left us to our own accord about how exactly everything worked for the last half of this season; at the same time nor did it have to. The second half of the season seemed to me to be very disinterested with the how of everything and instead looked into the emotional end of the duel of Will and Hannibal; as a finale of said second half of this season of the show “Mizumono” worked fantastically. There has been a since of surrealism to the last half of this season in contrast to the cold realism of the first half and “Mizumono” took that to the brink essentially acting as an hour long nightmare of sorts. Everything from Will’s still dulling mind to the big Jack Hannibal fight to Will getting a glimpse of Abigail before her dying to Alana falling out a window felt less like a straightforward thriller and more of a lucid dream from the mind of Hannibal Lector. It’s a near perfect episode especially after the way the last many episodes have been slowly burning to this point.

• As for the season as a whole I have very few complaints. This was a fascinating and experimental season of television that built to a finale that caped everything off perfectly. Did I prefer the more straight forward start to this season than the dream like second half, probably, but most of that stems from the fact that the second half of the season was much harder to watch because it was so creepy and disturbing in its nature. I loved this season as a whole better than the first it seems as well and it seems at this point that Fuller really has a handle on this show and where he’s going with it and is not afraid to step into some wild places.

Let’s just say it’s going to be a long wait for next season.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?