Hannibal S3 13: Wrath of the Lamb

Twisted torment of our lives

Swallowed by the lashing sea

Red moon burns the dark of night

Bedelia...have you won

your second chance 

to lose this deadly game of love.

Wha...ARE THEY DEAD?

Or perhaps...

In Blake's epic painting of Dante's Inferno, Antaeus lowers Virgil and Dante to the final Ring of Hell. Are Will and Hannibal likewise lowered to safety by the gods for their future amusement?

Blake's painting of Philosopher-Guide and Poet-Seeker being lowered by Antaeus to the 9th Ring of Hell

Or are they poets in love...

Like the inconsolable Percy Bysshe Shelley drowning in a storm in the wild voracious sea by Lerici. Unlike rascally George Gordon Lord Byron who lived a long life or their mutual poetpal the luckless Keats who was too ill to join the fun at Shelley's seaside retreat.

painting of Shelley's funeral pyre where Byron snatched Shelley's burning heart from the flames

Or (cue the hip-swivelling sound track)...

Could they be crack athletes -- like two magnificent Elvises in Blue Hawaii high-diving off cliffs then popping up above the crashing waves much to the shock and awe of all who witness their dare-devilry? Well, maybe only one Elvis - Hannibal probably spent some time diving for pearls or swallows or something off the cliffs of Japan. Can Will even dog-paddle?

Ahh, good old Elvis preparing to cliff dive

 Regardless, as Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: 

                          "Nothing of him that doth fade 

                           But doth suffer a sea-change

                           Into something rich and strange."

Behind the cloak of network cancellation, both Will and Hannibal are definitely probably Becoming something Rich(er) and Strange(r)...in our imaginations.

Shelley's gravestone

And what of Bedelia? 

She’s clearly back on those painkillers or some Hannibal-administered psycho-med. Who is she protecting herself against as she conceals a sharp-tined fork in her palm? Girl does love The Game.

Ms Anderson getting final touches from Katie Brennan for the very last scene as special effects crabby pyro-guy prepares to smoke up my pit-roast leg of Bedelia

Who's cooking legs now?

In my opinion, only Hannibal could make a roast such as that grand fruit and flower garnished kalua-roast leg smouldering on Bedelia’s table. So we know he survived. (After all, my cookbook isn’t out yet and the cooking method and presentation so obviously is something only our Hannibal would know how to execute. Right?)

tying up ti leaves

Size matters.

When we were shooting the final scene, the lovely Richard Armitage came by my prep station with compliments but asked me why I made Gillian's leg so big. He thought her legs were much slimmer. Gillian and I had already discussed it. I apologized that I had to made the roast bigger than her leg so it would have presence on the long table. She modestly said she thought it was pretty close to the actual size of her leg. Not really. She has no idea how tiny she is! 

A bit about roasting the leg:
Like Gideon's "Pinhead" roast leg, Bedelia's leg was made of pork loins stitched together over beef and lamb leg bones. I couldn't think of a special way to prepare it - Bryan had emphasized that he wanted it to be "the most beautiful thing I ever made" which is a pretty tall order. But happily, my brother came up with the idea of pit-roasting it, Kalua style. So I wrapped it in ti leaves, decorated it with tropical fruits and flowers and lay it on a bed of coals -- with ice to represent the Lake of Ice in Dante's Inferno. In the original script, Hannibal was going to slice it so I had to make it open at one end. But in the final script, Bedelia alone was seated for dinner so I had no need to worry about resets and it was a fairly stress-free shoot.

I hope more guests show up - that's 12 lb of pork in there...

There are two guest chairs at Bedelia's dining table. 

So who else is coming for dinner? 

Wow, wouldn't you just love it if Bedelia was meeting the in-laws? Uncle Bowie and Lady Murisaki?

Maybe Will is dead.  

Or has been saved by Jack who was hovering in a nearby helicopter because he was in on it the whole time. So Will is in the hospital. Or is back with Molly giving it one more try.

Or maybe not.

I'm pretty sure Will is alive. As a matter of fact, I think he’s in the kitchen helping Hannibal drain the vegetables. And why? Hasn’t Hannibal always cooked alone? Well he can’t if he’s in a wheelchair! Which still fits with the number of dining room chairs. Will is cooking under Hannibal’s instruction and any minute now, they will emerge. Will pushing Hannibal’s wheelchair and Hannibal cradling the vegetable platter in his lap. Which still leaves a chair for David Bowie or ... Jody Foster!

Oh that's just silly. I guess I should stop my wild speculation. Maybe there are three chairs because the fourth one was moved to make room for the camera dolly. 

We will never know. That is until somebody somewhere somehow saves Hannibal and Bryan gets to tell us another bedtime story.

MOAR!

Fannibals at San Diego ComicCon waving hello!

It's not over til it's over.

In the meantime, Fannibals, keep the flame alive. Email (janicepoon8@gmail.com) me photos or descriptions of your Hannimeals, your thoughts and your funny/sad stories and I’ll post them all here for us to all enjoy. Or tweet a message to me and I'll screen-grab your photos: Janice Poon @FeedingHannibal (Twitter link is at the top of this page).

 FunkoPop custom made (with tiny clay-baked thigh!) by talented sculptor Helen 

We will always have Hannibal if we keep him alive in our Memory Kitchens. So keep on cooking!

Annabel Lecter's brilliant chocolates You can order them from www.conjurerskitchen.com

Just as soon as I figure out who made this Sanguinaccio, I'll caption your name here!

Daniel and his Hannidinner

A close-up of Daniel's lovely Hannibal inspired meal

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Gabriel just tweeted this Saturday before Hannibal's Finale. A sweet bye-bye!

Look! It's Hanni & Will's mask! Just like Beverly's kidney pie.
Way to go, Jodi!