CONTENT WARNINGS: murder, suicide, spoilers from the entire show
When I first watched NBC Hannibal Season 1 Episode 05 “Coquilles” I found the serial killer of the week aspect of it Lacking, but didn’t think too much about it and clicked to continue watching– I already enjoyed the Bella and Jack plotline and it left me bawling. That was enough for me.
But as I continued and eventually finished the show, I kept thinking back to it, and even when I rewatch the show I just Can’t Stop Thinking About All These Damn Parallels With Will Graham And The Angel Maker, so I’m gonna throw up a little post here and hopefully I stop being haunted.
With that said, I won’t go into all the existing parallels, I’m skipping the ones I think everyone already knows.
THE DARK GIFT
What makes this episode the most surreal out of anything in the show, is the question of How Does The Angel Maker Know? Does He Really Know? And the answer is a simple Yes.
The show deliberately makes all of the victims turn out to be Sinners, it forces us to believe that the Angel Maker just Knows, no matter how illogical. And you can throw an argument for Luck and Convenience, but Hannibal has very purposeful writing, so I’m less inclined to believe in Random Luck because that’s lazy to me.
The show forces us to believe in the Angel Maker’s Gift just as it makes us believe Will Graham’s– what Will does goes beyond Logic, but we always believe in him because he’s always correct. I and the characters in the show who have witnessed what Will does will laugh if anyone even dares to suggest Luck.
They See Into The Minds Of Others. They Know.
(We get a shot of Will Graham’s head on fire towards the end of the episode, he hallucinates that the Angel Maker’s hallucinating Him having a head on fire, a fun nod to the Encephalitis cooking Will’s brain, and also, Will Graham’s Evil Nature.)
MURDERCRIME
The Angel Maker only targets those he sees as Sinners. His victims were serial rapists and one ex-convict, three victims he saw fit to kill. Three Victims.
Will Graham’s direct kills consist of Garrett Jacob Hobbs, Randall Tier, and Francis Dolarhyde. All serial killers. Three Victims.
They See And They Punish.
SUICIDE
The Angel Maker throws up at his first kills, he couldn’t stomach what he was capable of. He doesn’t throw up at his second, he starts his transformation into an angel himself, this is acceptance of death, because he needs to rest and needs to become an angel– he Sinned. So he kills himself.
In the Wrath Of The Lamb, after Will Graham finally accepts himself and his Dark Enjoyment via tag-teaming Francis with Hannibal, he immediately attempts to kill himself alongside Hannibal, throwing them both off a cliff.
Suicide ties into the previous paragraph about all their victims being Bad.
(The Angel Maker kills himself with fishing hooks, Will tries to kill himself with Hannibal The Lure. Hooks. Lure. Lol.)
“Coquilles” is a more concentrated and extreme version of what Will Graham goes through in the show, and that makes me go so fucking rabid, so I hope this all made sense and if anyone has anything to add, please do.
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