Well I have to say that after the ending to ‘Hannibal‘s second season, I was quite satisfied with the direction of the show though I’m completely curious where the third season will be going. Now in an interview with TV Guide, executive producer Bryan Fuller has come out to tease fans what to expect! Of course, there is going to be a few season finale and other spoilers below, but that should be a given if we’ll be talking about the next season. Consider yourself warned!
Previously Fuller had said that “We end season two in such a strange way – boy, I would be pissed [if that were the end]! We don’t quite land the plane, we leave the plane in the air.”” Now that the second season finale has aired, it was amazing how literally he had meant that as we see Hannibal fleeing in the sunset. At least there won’t be much doubt on Will Graham’s accusations of Hannibal now. Of course, he just has to deal with a warrant out for him.
Please don’t repeat last season’s story arc where he spends the first few episodes in jail. Please.
When asked how much of the finale (aside from the amazing fight scene we were teased in the first episode) did the writers know what was going to happen, Fuller responded:
“Really, we wanted to demonstrate how much Will hurt Hannibal. That was a big motivation for this entire finale: It had to be the nasty breakup. It had to be the terrible doom that everyone was rocketing toward because they dared to enter into a relationship with Hannibal Lecter and thought they could outsmart him.”
On how Hannibal looked when he realized he was being tricked:
“When he smells Freddie Lounds on Will Graham, Mads’ performance is so struck in that moment because Hannibal was convinced. Will’s plan succeeded; he absolutely seduced Hannibal Lecter. That’s part of it for Hannibal. “You tricked me, and I allowed myself to be tricked.” The other part was just the devastating loss of the friendship.”
Of course, even with all of Will taking the entire season to setup Hannibal, he did call him to warn him that “They know” before Jack knocks on his door. So did Will really truly betray Hannibal?
“Honestly, Will did not know what he was going to do next in terms of who he was going to betray and who he was going to save. I think he could see a world in which he allowed Hannibal to get away, and there’s a world where he could see him incarcerated. When Will calls Hannibal to say, “They know,” part of it was to bring the series full circle back to that very first episode and create moments to parallel that. But also for Will, it could mean two things, [which] we won’t really understand with absolute clarity until Season 3. On one level, it could be exactly as it appears with him calling his friend and warning him that trouble’s coming. Or it could be Will calling and telling Hannibal, “They know,” because he wants Hannibal to get out of there before Jack arrives because he’s worried about Jack’s safety. We really wanted to embrace the idea that the audience should not know at this stage what Will Graham’s intentions are because we have a few more punches to be pulled — and not pulled — in Season 3.”
With Will seeing the stag die, is this the end of the relationship between Will and Hannbial?
“The stag always represented the connection between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. He started seeing the stag after he was first exposed to Hannibal’s murder of Cassie Boyle impaled on the stag head in the field. It felt like, at that moment, the relationship that they had has died. Whatever comes next between them will be a fresh new hell. … In any relationship, when you throw a fit and end a relationship in dramatic fashion, later you might be going, “Oh, I do sort of miss them.” [Laughs] The obsession is going to always work both ways between these two gentlemen.”
When mentioning that Will was heavily injured, one might wonder if he could end up dead. Well not to worry there because according to Fuller:
“We are staying very true to in the incident in the novel with Will and Hannibal and it’s very basic outcome.”
Of course Will wasn’t the only person that was possibly fatally injured…
“There’s going to be an impact from what’s happened here. It’s safe to say that not everybody survives. Everyone that’s laying their breathing could be breathing their last breaths. It doesn’t go well for all of them… One of the wonders of this season is: Will Alana survive and will Jack Crawford survive? Will Abigail Hobbs survive? Those are things that are going to be revealed very slowly at the beginning of Season 3.”
With Hannibal on his way to France with Dr. Du Maurier, you have to wonder if she’s been in on it the whole time or what role she plays. We won’t have to wait long to find out:
“The answers to exactly why Bedelia Du Maurier is on a plane to France with Hannibal Lecter is all part of the first episode of Season 3, which will essentially function as a new pilot for a new series because everything’s different.”
Now here is some BIG news for fans of the books about the overall direction of Season 3!
“Season 3 is going to be a lot of fun because it’s going to be taking a lot of disparate elements from the novel Hannibal Rising and the novel Hannibal and mashing them up together as part of the thrust of the season. It’s going to be fun to bastardize two novels into one sort of Frankenstein season. I will brace everybody right now: We’re significantly changing the Hannibal origin story from Hannibal Rising. The books won’t necessarily be in sequential order. We’ll be hitting elements of each of them except Silence of the Lambs in the next season. My hope is that not only do we have a completely different Hannibal Lecter story in Season 3, but we will meet some of those great characters like Francis Dolarhyde and Lady Murasaki and weave them into the world in a unique way.”
That was SUCH a great season finale and I for one am waiting for every little morsel of information to eat up of the next season. It will be a lot of fun to see how they take aspects of both ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Hannibal Rising’ and weave them together on the small screen. I’m also eager to see the European setting that fits so well with the characters.
Are you hungry for more information on the next season of ‘Hannibal’? Dying for it to start airing again? Share your thoughts below!
