crossroadscastiel
I think easily my favorite thing about Hannibal is how it completely subverts all of our expectations of what character development should look like, as well as our expectations of what love is. In a way Will has been on his own twisted heroes journey since day one, only he has embraced and been reborn in darkness as opposed to light. He has been at odds with himself, at odds with what he feels, with the many parts of who he is that he could never bring himself to recognize as genuine, for as long as we have known him.
He has come full circle in a way I never expected when I started watching this show. It is so very rare that I find myself being sucked into a show where I am actually rooting for the darkness to succeed in the end. I love angst, but I’m also a sucker for a traditional happy ending where the good guys win and the bad guys end up in the ground or behind bars. Hannibal has a unique way of making all the darkest parts of the human condition not only appealing, but seemingly ideal, at least when confined to the universe in which these characters exist.
I remember the days of “somebody please help Will Graham” back when the show began, or wanting nothing more than to scoop him up in my arms and save him from this monster that had come into his life and manipulated him so terribly, but somewhere along the way I realized that in his own way Hannibal has been trying to help Will all along, possibly more than anyone. It has been twisted and destructive, it has been obsessive and unhealthy beyond belief, but at the center of Will and Hannibal’s relationship deep love has always existed.
Hannibal wanted Will to see him and embrace him and know him for who he is, but he also wanted nothing more than for Will to see and embrace and know himself. Every single part of himself. At the root of their relationship is a deep and profound need for acceptance in a world where they were both terribly alone before each other. And by Will finally seeing the beauty in the ugliest parts of life, by him embracing the very best that exists inside the very worst, they have both found their happy ending together.
I think if this show had ended after season 1 or season 2 it would have felt horribly incomplete. But if season 3 truly is the end – and I have faith that it won’t be if we don’t give up the fight – it will feel perfectly complete in my heart. Everything had always been leading up to this, had always been leading up to the two of them being reborn together in blood and darkness, under the light of the moon, completely and finally at peace with with themselves, and with each other.
