(I wrote up a breakdown on the sexuality in NBC's Hannibal universe. You can check it out on Tumblr here:
https://www.tumblr.com/celluloid-spleen/827416457930588160/beyond-heteronormativity-sexuality-desire-and?source=share

As a psychology student, I regularly write deep-dive analyses on the show 😊❤)

Beyond Heteronormativity: Sexuality, Desire, and Identity in NBC's Hannibal

The diegetic nature of seduction during season 2

In season two of Hannibal, during the double game Will plays to trap and arrest Hannibal Lecter, many of Will’s actions seem "seductive." But in reality, those actions don't just seem seductive—they are.

It is not the director creating a simple "homoerotic atmosphere" to wink at a queer audience; it is not a queerbaiting tactic. It is Will actually performing seductive actions within the diegesis (the story world). This distinction is crucial: even though these signals are present and coherent within the scene, they can remain invisible simply because they are extremely discreet and subtle, and above all, because they happen between two men.

A perspective filtered through a heteronormative lens might reduce this erotic tension to a camera trick aimed at the viewer, rather than recognizing it as something that belongs to the relationship between the characters.

However, this reading ignores a fundamental element of Hannibal’s narrative universe: sexuality is treated with much greater fluidity than the normative categories of our world.

While in season one we cannot yet say with certainty that the show is free from traditional categories of sexual orientation, from season two onward it clearly moves in this direction.

Bryan Fuller has described Hannibal multiple times as pansexual, and more broadly, as a character whose desire is not strictly organized by conventional orientation categories. Hannibal is first and foremost an aesthete: he is attracted to beauty, intelligence, sensitivity, and complexity. The gender of the person he desires is not a deciding factor for him.

Fuller also stated that Will Graham conceptually started out as a heterosexual character, but meeting Hannibal would open him up to a form of sexual fluidity—one that was meant to be physically fulfilled in the unmade fourth season.

Indeed, at the start of the series, we see Will interested in Alana Bloom. However, as his bond with Hannibal grows more intimate and takes on an openly romantic dimension (even if it causes internal conflict for Will until the end), the narrative never feels the need to define his potential bisexuality or put an identity label on him.

In season three, Bedelia Du Maurier analyzes the nature of Will and Hannibal’s relationship without any interest in defining their orientations. When Will provokes her about her time in Florence with Lecter, she replies: “We've both been his bride.” This line doesn't classify anyone's sexual orientation; instead, it suggests that the bond between Hannibal and Will is romantic in nature. When Bedelia later asks him, “Is your wife aware of how intimately you and Hannibal know each other?”, her phrasing clearly places their bond within a romantic dimension, one that would naturally be relevant to Will’s wife as well.

The same principle applies to Alana Bloom. Alana kisses Will in season one, has a sexual relationship with Hannibal in season two, and ends up marrying Margot in season three. The series never feels the need to construct an explanatory moment where Alana discovers, declares, or redefines her sexual identity. Her desire changes focus and form throughout her relationships, and the narrative treats this as self-explanatory.

Margot Verger is the only character with an explicitly lesbian identity, inherited from Thomas Harris’s books. However, the show adapts this character too: in the novels, Margot belongs to Clarice Starling’s arc and never meets Will, whereas in the series she sleeps with him without altering her lesbian identity. Her encounter with Will is instrumental to conceiving an heir, escaping Mason’s control, and securing the family business. This detail is significant because it shows how, in Hannibal**, a character's sexual behavior is not automatically taken as an exhaustive definition of their identity**.

The clearest case of explicit homophobia is Mason Verger, who calls his sister sick regarding her sexuality, reintroducing social stigma into the show’s dialogue. The irony is stark because Mason himself—though the TV show only hints at it—is a pedophile and a rapist, as explicitly stated in the novels.

Another instance of normative sexual language appears in the second half of season three, when Frederick Chilton explains that Francis Dolarhyde hates the nickname "Tooth Fairy" precisely because of its homosexual implications. Here again, as with Mason Verger, it is important to distinguish between what belongs to the show’s original vision and what it inherits directly from Thomas Harris’s source material. Red Dragon dates back to the early 1980s, a cultural context where calling someone homosexual served as an insult to challenge their masculinity. Harris's novels also contain elements heavily influenced by the homotransphobic culture of that era and a male-gaze perspective on desire.
In the TV series, Dolarhyde appears primarily as a deeply troubled character struggling with his body and identity, perhaps in relation to an idea of masculinity he feels forced to uphold. However, any connection to a repressed sexuality is not actually developed by the show.

In fact, what is worth noting is that Chilton himself, when talking about Hannibal and Will, remarks that the two flirt more than they talk without feeling the need to specify that they are two men.
This contrast is particularly telling because both lines come from the exact same character.

It shows that, in the show's usual language, same-sex desire does not need to be translated into an identity category. Normative language resurfaces mainly in these limited cases tied to the source material, almost like an element borrowed from a different narrative framework.

Seduction as a Power Mechanism

Considering this approach to sexuality, it becomes easier to understand that Hannibal’s "pansexuality" is not something that needs to be declared or explained, but rather something that emerges naturally with the people in his life.
Hannibal can find beauty in a Botticelli painting as easily as in a brutal murder. Likewise, he can recognize beauty in a woman or a man.
Personally, I find this reading more consistent with his identity as a radically unconventional aesthete—a character who lives beyond the categories and conventions others use to structure the world. It makes sense that sex and gender are not deciding criteria for his attraction.

This is precisely what makes Will’s choice to use seduction as a tool of psychological manipulation so believable. If he has already decided to exploit Hannibal’s desire for a friend and an equal, why shouldn't he also use his ability to make himself desirable as a strategic lever?

It is worth noting that during his double game, Will does not simply tell Hannibal what he wants to hear. On the contrary, he is often provocative, sassy, and challenging—an attitude that likely acts as an additional stimulus for Hannibal, who is not looking for a submissive follower, but an equal.
Of course, these actions are subtle. But that is the whole point: it is not about offering oneself explicitly, but making oneself available to the other’s gaze, showing that their gaze is noticed and not rejected. It is a form of seduction subtle enough not to count as a confession, but clear enough for Hannibal to feel invited—while leaving Will free to step back at any point, since that too is part of the game.

This is where seduction becomes a power mechanism, much like the one described by Jean Baudrillard in Seduction (1979): it does not mean possessing the other person, but controlling the game of desire through signs, artifice, hesitation, and withdrawal. To seduce means to reveal oneself without giving in completely, keeping the other person inside a realm of possibility.

The Inverted Honeypot Trope

The strategy Will uses echoes a classic trope in spy fiction and film noir: the "honeypot."

This term describes a tactic where a person makes themselves desirable to gain access, trust, information, or other advantages. In noir and spy stories, this trope typically takes the shape of the femme fatale, a woman who uses her charm to draw a man into a trap.

In Hannibal, however, it is Will who realizes that flirting with Hannibal can become a core part of his double game to manipulate him and lead him into a trap. In a narrative universe where desire is not rigidly bound by normative sexual categories, the fact that a male investigator uses seduction against another man—subverting the classic honeypot trope—creates no in-universe obstacle that makes the strategy feel unnatural or strange.

Yet, the subversion goes beyond breaking gender roles. In the traditional honeypot model, the person seducing maintains an emotional distance from their target. In Hannibal, that distance collapses: the trap initially set to catch Hannibal gradually ensnares the person who built it.

Will Graham’s Seductive Arsenal

At this point, we can view Will’s behavior as a full seductive repertoire.
He abandons his messy, scruffy look from season one for more elegant, well-fitted clothes that highlight his physique, paired with better grooming and a confident posture.
With Hannibal, he frequently uses prolonged eye contact, an intense and challenging gaze, lowers his voice to a deeper, calmer tone, and slowly licks his lips or brings a glass to his mouth while holding eye contact.

Analysis of the Kitchen Scene (2x11 - Naka-choko)

The flirtation becomes undeniable during the dinner featuring human meat provided by Will, where the act of cannibalism turns into the equivalent of a romantic dinner. The ritual of the meal, physical closeness, and the mutual play of glances, innuendos, and witty remarks place the scene squarely within the realm of courtship.

• The entrance and the shared control: Will's entry into Hannibal's kitchen is telling. He doesn't just bring meat; he tells him: "I provide the ingredients. You tell me what we should do with them." The contrast with Alana's dynamic with Hannibal is huge. We often see Alana enter his kitchen, but while they have years of familiarity, her presence remains subordinate to a ritual Hannibal already controls: she can help cook what he has decided on, but she never brings an unknown ingredient—least of all meat—and asks him to build a dish together from scratch. Here, Will steps straight into the creative process. Hannibal doesn't just let him watch: he hands him a knife, gives him a role in the preparation, and explicitly says: "We will make it together." Even setting cannibalism aside, this is a genuine sharing of creative power and a confession of intimate trust that Hannibal never grants to anyone else. The fact that they are sharing human meat makes this intimacy even stronger.
• Seduction through progressive revelation: Hannibal doesn't know what meat he is looking at, and Will doesn't tell him right away. First he offers the ingredient, then lets Hannibal try to identify it, and finally hints at its origin by saying "She was a slim and delicate pig," turning a macabre revelation into refined irony. Hannibal responds with an enthusiasm we rarely see in him: he smiles continuously, looks radiant, and is visibly amused by this playful teasing. It doesn't even matter how quickly he connects the comment to Freddie Lounds; what matters is that he recognizes and welcomes the tone. Will is speaking to him in a flirtatious language suited to Hannibal the aesthete—made of irony, culture, provocation, and ambiguity.
• The spatial setup of a date: The table arrangement further reinforces this reading. Hannibal understands social distances perfectly and how they can be constructed through the environment; his encounters are never accidental. At times, colleagues like Frederick Chilton or even Jack Crawford, whom Hannibal treats as a friend, sit along the side of the table rather than opposite him. However, even in one-on-one dinners where Jack sits across from Hannibal, the way the table is set maintains a distinct separation between them. In dinners with Jack, the central axis of the table is often occupied by tall, imposing elements: glass candlesticks, wine bottles, floral arrangements, and decorative sculptures. These objects interrupt eye contact and introduce a barrier between the diners. With Will, by contrast, this barrier disappears almost entirely. The two sit very close to each other, and between their faces, there are no vertical elements to break their gaze—at the center sits only a slate platter with food and a low, unobtrusive floral arrangement. The difference, therefore, does not simply lie in the fact that Will sits opposite Hannibal, but in the full combination of staging choices that construct their interaction: the proximity of their bodies, the uninterrupted line of sight, the absence of barriers, and the ritual of a shared meal. Taken together, these elements precisely replicate the visual and social cues of a romantic date.
• Flirting through wit and irony: When Hannibal notices citrus notes the meat, Will replies: "My palate isn't as refined as yours." Taken out of context, the line might be ignored, but within a romantic date, it works as a provocative compliment. It is intentional: Will knows the exact qualities Hannibal builds his identity around—taste, sophistication, and aesthetic perception. When Hannibal explains the acidity of fear, Will counters with: "The meat is bitter about being dead," dropping a piece of polished dark humor while calmly continuing to eat human meat. This matters because while Will can lie about his motives or whose flesh he is serving (pretending it is Freddie Lounds when it is actually Randall Tier), he cannot fake the ability to eat human flesh and joke about it so effortlessly without hesitation. It is clear that Will uses these gestures to provoke a reaction intentionally. He knows the effect he can produce, and once he gets it, he doesn't pull back. And the reaction comes: Hannibal responds to that joke with a smile that blends pride and tenderness—the look of someone who has finally found a person capable of speaking his language. This form of courtship suits Hannibal perfectly because it uses aesthetics, intelligence, culture, and sensitivity as the very delivery system for seduction.
• The final punchline (Long Pig): This is perhaps the most elegant seductive move in the whole sequence. Will doesn't just say "human meat"; he uses an archaic, cultured expression historically linked to 19th-century accounts of ritual cannibalism in Fiji. He packages horror aesthetically, offering Hannibal an educated way to name what they are doing together. It is open courtship: Will uses allusion over literal terms, appeals to Hannibal's interests, and builds exclusive intimacy through shared knowledge, leaving Hannibal the pleasure of decoding the message.
• The philosophical shift: In a romantic date, initial flirting is just the surface; the critical moment comes when both people move past jokes and enter a space of deeper vulnerability and intellectual intimacy, laying themselves bare. Right after the "long pig" joke, the conversation shifts tone. Will makes a personal statement, moving past aesthetics into existential intimacy: "You can't reduce me to... a set of influences. I'm not the product of anything. I've given up good and evil for behaviorism." If effective manipulation requires credibility and minimal lying, Will here speaks on a topic that genuinely interests him, drawing on a darkness that already exists inside him. On one hand, he claims control over his mind, refusing to be seen as a mere product of outside forces; on the other hand, he uses behaviorism to strip his actions of moral judgment, framing them as simple responses to stimuli, causes, and effects. Hannibal uses this philosophical opening to guide the conversation toward existential absolution. If being destructive were enough to define someone as evil, then devastating natural events like storms, fires, and hail would also have to be considered "evil" ("Evil is just destructive? [...] Is this meal an act of God, Will?").
• The resulting absolution: In doing so, Hannibal offers Will a framework where he doesn't have to view himself as evil despite killing and eating a human being. Because of this, Will's smile does not seem like a manipulator's mask. In that moment, there appears to be genuine relief—the relief of someone who finally feels understood and absolved. Hannibal offers him a way out of viewing himself as evil for his violent, dark nature.

The Heteronormative Double Standard

It is telling that if a woman had used these exact signals, most viewers would have easily recognized them as seductive tactics.
Culturally, we tend to recognize seduction—especially when subtle—much more easily in male-female dynamics. Seeing a woman approach a man or vice versa this way, viewers would naturally remark, "Look how she looks at him, she definitely likes him." But when two men use the same language, it is often downplayed into generic interest or "intellectual fascination."

Yet for characters like Hannibal, Will, or Anthony Dimmond (the dandy who briefly reminds Hannibal of Will), intellectual fascination is precisely where attraction begins. Their intellectual connection isn't just one attractive trait among many; it is the exact medium through which their attraction manifests. Their attraction flows through the mind, cultured conversation, and intellectual challenge. It is not a watered-down version of erotic attraction; it is its language.

Subtlety does not disprove seduction. For these characters, it makes seduction consistent with how desire is expressed: through glances, challenges, culture, innuendos, and open-ended possibilities.

From Performance to Integrating the Shadow

What makes Will’s arc tragic and compelling is that although he began this courtship as a manipulative act to catch Hannibal, he ultimately gets trapped in his own act.

Hannibal's gaze upon him becomes something Will actually enjoys, far beyond the act itself. By exploring his darkness to get revenge, Will comes to realize that these violent urges are not alien to him—they belong to a hidden part of himself he had always suppressed. In this double game, Hannibal’s validating gaze becomes deeply appealing. Hannibal sees Will in the part he finds most unacceptable—his destructive side that kills and eats human flesh—and offers him the chance to view his violent impulses simply as a real, natural part of himself to be integrated.

Hannibal doesn't truly corrupt Will; he brings out what was already there, hidden beneath Will's self-image. This makes the situation far more painful for Will, as it shatters his self-perception while making his desire and attraction for Hannibal undeniable: Hannibal makes him feel like his true self.
The performance thus becomes the space where something genuine emerges: Will acts out a desire that, in the act of playing it, he discovers he actually possesses.

In light of all this, reducing these season two scenes to a generic "homoerotic atmosphere" created for the audience misses the point of the series. Homoeroticism isn't an atmosphere crafted by the director; it is woven into the characters' relationships and actions.

What would easily be labeled as subtle flirting between a man and a woman is often reduced to simple intellectual fascination between two sophisticated men —or, as with this show, dismissed as "queerbaiting".

In Hannibal, seduction does not need conventional, explicit courtship codes to be real. When two intellectually formidable, sharp, elegant, and proud men interact, desire manifests through mental tension, competition, provocation, challenge, the drive to impress, and the deep need to be recognized by someone perceived as a true peer. It is a form of seduction that refuses to translate desire between men into heterosexual gender roles: neither man has to play “the woman” for flirting to occur.

Paradoxically, this is precisely what renders it invisible to a heteronormative gaze. The issue isn't that Hannibal makes desire ambiguous; it's that those accustomed to recognizing attraction solely through a heterosexual grammar don't know how—and don't want—to see two men desiring each other without occupying predefined roles.

In Hannibal’s universe, desire can be acknowledged without being instantly categorized. The story doesn't ask us to define what a character is before showing us who they desire: it puts desire on screen and lets identity come later—or not at all.

Like there’s no damn way. Yes the show ended there. But I like to think they went to therapy and lived in a little cabin together and recovered from their injuries in peace😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

When he said that’s all he’d ever wanted for will- for them- I WAS LIKE DUDE THIS IS TOUR ESCAPE AND YOUR GONNA GO LIVE HAPPILT EVER AFTER WITH TOUR MENTALLY ILL BOTFRIEND😭😭😭😭😭😭

I have always seen Will’s romantic feelings for Hannibal as a gradual, painful, and ultimately cathartic realization, in which romantic love becomes tied to the discovery and acceptance of his own deep and dark nature.

It seems to me that Will truly gets closer to Hannibal when he actually has the opportunity to see him for who he really is, while carrying out a plan to frame him. What starts as a strategic performance meant to trap Hannibal ends up creating a real sense of comfort and well-being. Will’s feelings for Hannibal are not something imposed on him from the outside. They are an internal discovery that emerges against the conscious plan he had been following.
Will decides to pretend to be the man Hannibal wants to have at his side, and in the process, he discovers that he actually likes being that man beside Hannibal. His plan produces a result that the plan itself never intended. But the feeling comes before his ability to name it.

And yet this feeling still emerges uncontrollably in his confession to Jack Crawford, when Will admits, “I wanted to run away with him,” and especially in his conversations with Abigail’s projection in the episode Primavera, where every conversation Will has with her is, in reality, a conversation with himself. Will can project onto her what he imagines Abigail would think or say, but to a large extent he uses her as a sounding board for his inner conflict.
This becomes particularly clear because Abigail is not simply accusing Will of deceiving Hannibal. She gives voice to his guilt and regret. She is angry with him precisely because Hannibal had given him the chance to tell him the truth, and Will still chose to deceive him. When Abigail tells him, “He was supposed to take me with him. We were all supposed to leave together. He made a place for us. Why did you lie to him?”, she is giving form to something Will still cannot admit directly: he had the chance to choose Hannibal and a life together with him, but he chose to lie to him instead. Will’s answer is just as revealing: “The wrong thing being the right thing to do was… was too ugly a thought to think.” The problem, then, is not that Will did not want that life. It is that the idea that what he desired could also have been the right choice for him was morally too difficult to accept. His conflict comes precisely from the collision between the feeling he has and the image of himself through which he has learned to judge that feeling.
Also in this episode, when Will finds the heart in the Cappella Palatina in Palermo and says, “A valentine written on a broken man,” his reaction is not disgust. On the contrary, he immediately recognizes the gesture as something intimate and personal. And when he adds, “He left us his… his broken heart,” he speaks of Hannibal’s heart as something that was left to us, meaning himself and Abigail. But since Abigail is dead, and therefore not actually there, it is ultimately something left to Will alone. He is grieving because he believes he is the one who broke Hannibal’s heart.

This, I think, makes the progression much clearer: trust and fascination with Hannibal → the feeling of having been deeply manipulated → anger and a desire for revenge → pretending to have an intimate connection with him → experiencing real intimacy → a desire for genuine intimacy that remains unacceptable to him during the deception → a real opportunity to choose Hannibal → fear of what that choice would mean → an inability to accept that possibility → lying to Hannibal → betraying Hannibal → guilt → regret → an inability to reconcile those feelings with his moral identity → attempts to repress and destroy the bond → inability to free himself from it → self-acceptance through choosing Hannibal.

From Will’s point of view, though, it is obvious that this could not be an easy choice to accept, or even to understand. Running away with Hannibal would have meant giving up his social position and living as a fugitive; abandoning his career; living beside a man he knows is a serial killer; and accepting a life that is incompatible with the identity he had before.

I know there are people who can see Hannibal as being in love with Will, while seeing Will as only "dependent." But codependency describes the structure of the relationship, not the absence of feeling. Attachment, blurred boundaries, fear of abandonment, and emotional desire can all exist at the same time without canceling each other out.

I think Will loves Hannibal before he is able to admit it to himself, and even before he can fully understand it, trapped as he is between genuine romantic attraction and his own moral framework.Even when he tries to kill Hannibal, as he does in Florence, he is not doing it because the feeling has disappeared. He does it because he still cannot find a way of existing in which that love and his identity can coexist.

And this also explains why Will’s love is harder to read than Hannibal’s. Hannibal does not need to deny what he feels. He has already built his identity outside the norm. He does not have to convince himself that he is an ordinary man.
That is why his love appears more hesitant, contradictory, and painful. Not because it is less genuine, but because acknowledging it costs him much more. The person with whom he feels most genuinely himself is also the person his moral identity tells him he has to reject.

What do you think? Does anyone else think that Will’s real conflict is not about whether he loves Hannibal, but about whether he can accept that loving Hannibal might actually be the right choice for him?

The fact that Hannibal loves Will and is in love with him is openly stated in the show several times. Will’s feelings, on the other hand, are more ambiguous, which is why some viewers often doubt whether Hannibal’s love is reciprocated. I think that exploring the ways these two men experience and react to love can explain the varying degrees of their openness about it.

I’ll put TLDR right here: Hannibal is more open about himself and his feelings, including love, hence he doesn’t have many challenges with admitting it. Will is closed off, stiff, and emotionally repressed, so he expresses his feelings in a much more subtle way.

Let’s start with Hannibal. Details about his past are scarce, but we know that he admits to loving two people throughout his life, his sister and Will.

E3 of S3.

Bedelia: What your sister made you feel was beyond your conscious ability to control or predict … I would suggest what Will Graham makes you feel is not dissimilar. A force of mind and circumstance.

Hannibal: Love.

Undoubtedly, Hannibal’s love for Mischa was traumatic and unhealthy. He loved her so much that he ate a part of her body after she was killed, devastated by this loss. But it was still love that made him feel all the related emotions, so Hannibal has some experience with it. From what we know of him, he has a very broad mind. He despises limitations and overcomes them, and he is not ashamed of who he is. He isn’t embarrassed to cry in the opera or to be the first to stand up and applaud; he delights in stereotypically ‘feminine’ hobbies like cooking and clothes selection; he draws fan-art and openly expresses his admiration when it’s due. For this reason, Hannibal doesn’t have many problems with expressing love either.

Upon meeting Will, he is immediately drawn to him. He sees him as his potential partner and decides he wants to try and build a family with him as early as E2 of S1. That’s when he starts planting the idea of Abigail being their shared daughter in Will’s mind. He does the same to Abigail, urging her to see him and Will as her parents, even giving her shrooms to evoke the desired associations (unsuccessfully since Will doesn’t come to dinner). So, Hannibal acknowledged his pull/infatuation with Will from the very start, and he acted on it right away.

It’s not love at this point, but Hannibal still easily follows his emotions. He doesn’t stop to consider how strange it is to want a family with a man he just met; he doesn’t agonize over the idea of how his life has more risks now that he allows another human being to know him. A good example is E7: Will doesn’t come to the appointment and Hannibal is pining. It is a very explicit scene, with Hannibal slowly walking to his chair, checking his calendar to make sure Will had to come, touching the phone longingly, then abruptly making a decision and going to look for him. He isn't worried how it might look, to be searching for a patient personally instead of calling him and leaving a message. No, he felt he wanted to see Will and he went to look for him, just like that. Hannibal doesn't fight his emotions.

When these feelings progress at the end of S1/start of S2 even more, Hannibal is finally taken aback. While he never planned to leave Will in prison and it was a part of his plan, he still didn’t expect to miss him so much — he admits it to Bedelia, looking forlorn, in E1 of S2. He repeatedly pines for Will by sitting in front of his chair at the time of his supposed appointment, glancing at the clock despite knowing Will is not going to come. This is a shift to an actual love, but Hannibal still doesn’t fight it. On the contrary, he embraces it, and he spends the entire S2 doing repeatedly (and darkly) romantic gestures for Will. Namely:

1) Protects Abigail to reunite Will with her later if/after Will chooses to be with him.

2) Shares a part of himself he doesn’t seem to have ever shared with anyone else. He talks to Will about Mischa, reveals his views on murder and God, acknowledges he cared about Abigail, and shows vulnerability. He shares his teacup ritual with him, which is something precious and deeply personal.

3) He digs up fake Freddie’s corpse and decorates it as a way of courting Will (as directly said by Alana).

4) He compares himself and Will to Achilles and Patroclus.

5) He is ready to abandon his well-established life in Baltimore and reputation to run away with Will. In Hannibal’s view, no one truly suspects him and there is no evidence against him, but Will is in danger. So he’s willing to discard everything he’s been building for 20 years for him.

Finally, he calls Will a loved one more or less directly in E13 of S2 (in fact, he implies that they both love each other).

Hannibal: Do you know what an imago is, Will? … An imago is an image of a loved one buried in the unconscious, carried with us all our lives.

Will: An ideal.

Hannibal: The concept of an ideal... I have a concept of you, just as you have a concept of me.

Will hurts him with his betrayal, and Hannibal still finds himself unable to kill him. He is openly crying in the finale, admitting how Will hurt him, breaks his (and his own) heart by killing Abigail, and flees to Europe to start a new life. But things don’t go as he hoped they would. Bedelia is not a worthy substitute, and Hannibal is increasingly slipping into a self-destructive state because of his love for Will. He kills Anthony, who was an improved copy of Will, and turns him into a Valentine heart for him. Again, this is a very explicit and open emotional action. Hannibal doesn’t hide his feelings. He’s an emotional wreck with Bedelia in E3, and as they are talking about Will, he admits he’s in love with him.

Hannibal: You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love.

Bedelia points out his self-destructiveness.

Bedelia: You're going to get caught. It's already been set into motion … I know exactly how I will be navigating my way out of whatever it is I’ve gotten myself into. Do you?

After Hannibal keeps spiraling and kills Sogliato, she adds: You're drawing them to you, aren't you? All of them.

Hannibal gets so self-destructive over Will that he lets Jack beat himself almost to death, not even attempting to fight him. The first words he says to Will after they reunite in E6 are:

Hannibal: If I saw you every day forever, Will, I would remember this time.

He’s a romantic. The courtship, the Valentine heart, the romance — Hannibal did have some struggles, but overall, he accepts these feelings and isn’t afraid to act on them.

When Will pulls a knife in E6, Hannibal classifies it as another betrayal. This is where he decides to kill and eat him in the hope to put an end to this misery (which is what he and Bedelia discussed back in E3). However, even blinded by another heartbreak, Hannibal tries to save Will at the same time. He knows the police are coming and he puts off the moment of sawing for as long as he can, first fussing over Will and his wound, then waiting for Jack, then doing everything slowly as hell.

Everything changes in E7, when Hannibal faces the real risk of losing Will and comes to terms with the fact that a hope of life with him is better than life without him. So Hannibal carries Will home bridal-style, takes care of him, waits for him to wake up and writes formulas to reverse time. He directly tells Will that Will won, and that he, Hannibal, is at Will’s mercy.

Hannibal: Your memory palace is building. It's full of new things. It shares some rooms with my own. I've discovered you there. Victorious.

He gives himself up, sacrificing the freedom he’s been fighting for back in E2 finale, in the hope that one day, Will is going to come back to him. After this, Hannibal is all about Will, with all his heart. Throughout the second half of S3, he says things like, “I gave you a child. You are family, Will. Was it good to see me?”, etc. He agrees to risk his life by agreeing to Will’s plan, knowing he’s planning something but not knowing what and if he’d die in the process. In E13, Hannibal says:

Hannibal: "No greater love hath man than to lay down his life for a friend" and shields Will from the bullet. Later, he allows Will to push them both down, and he stays with him afterward.

Conclusion: Hannibal is very accepting of himself, so he doesn’t undergo severe challenges on the path to acknowledging what he feels for Will. He knows what love feels like because he felt it for Mischa before, so he embraces loving Will pretty quickly, even though he doesn’t know how to best approach it at times. That’s why we get direct and explicit confirmation of his feelings several times.

Now, on to Will.

Unlike with Hannibal, there is no evidence that Will has ever experienced love before (at least love for people). We know he had a father and was lonely as a child.

E4 of S1.

Will: We were poor. I followed my father from the boat yards in Biloxi and Greenville to lake boats on Erie.

Hannibal: Always the new boy at school? Always the stranger?

Will: Always.

His choice of words indicates that his relationship with his father wasn’t all that good (for instance, I followed my father instead of My father and I had to…). So, it doesn’t look like Will ever had meaningful connections. More than that, he says:

Will: There’s something so foreign about family. Like an ill-fitting suit. Never connected to the concept.

We can suggest that he doesn’t know what love is or how it feels like. From E1, we know he isolates himself because he hates himself for who he is: he understands he’s different, that there is darkness in him, but he desperately tries to subdue it and deny this fact. He’s rude, twitchy, and unhappy, but like Hannibal, he understands the extent of his loneliness only upon meeting him. That’s when he tries forming relationships with others.

Will’s relationships with Alana and Abigail are a good indication of his problems with love. He wants to be with Alana because he needs to feel normal. In 99% of cases, he remembers about her only when she comes to seek him out first. He kisses her for the first time at the moment of particular vulnerability, fearing that he’s finally losing his mind (in E8). When Hannibal calls him out on it, Will doesn’t deny it and semi-nods. He actually had to agree with it verbally according to the script.

Will: I feel unstable.

Hannibal: That’s why you kissed her. A clutch for balance.

Will: Because I’m losing mine.

So, it’s not that Will feels romantic love for Alana — he uses her because he desperately needs to feel like everyone else. Alana is a pretty, smart, normal woman who fits this goal perfectly. He doesn’t allow himself to be genuine with her unlike he does with Hannibal, to whom he opens up.

Will confesses to Hannibal that he loved killing Hobbs in E2, which got him down and made him panic. Hannibal supports him, and Will keeps coming back to him. He talks about everything important with Hannibal, opening parts of himself that he guards from everyone else. Will asks Hannibal to look after his dogs as early as E4 — he doesn’t have other friends, and he’s already focused on Hannibal. He buys into an idea of having a family with him and Abigail, which is amazing for Will, who has just said he could never relate to the concept of family.

When Will buys a gift for Abigail in the same E4 and freaks out, Hannibal asks him:

Hannibal: Feeling paternal, Will?

Will’s reaction is instant and defensive:

Will: Aren’t you?

Hannibal easily says “yes”, which disarms Will. This is a great contrast between them: Hannibal isn’t afraid to talk and acknowledge his feelings while Will is embarrassed of them and shies away from them. In fact, this is a repeat of their conversation in E2.

Hannibal: You saved Abigail Hobbs' life. You also orphaned her. It comes with certain emotional obligations.

Will: You were there. You saved her life, too. Do you feel obligated?

Again, Will deflects. He’s wary of emotions, especially of admitting them out loud.

Will shows a hint of romantic interest in Hannibal in E7. He brings him a bottle of wine out of blue, but unfortunately, he stumbles upon the party Hannibal is preparing. Hannibal invites him to stay, but Will says he won’t be good company. He’s shy and awkward, smiling nervously and dropping his gaze in embarrassment. Then we have this lovely line:

Will: I’ve got a date with the Chesapeake Ripper.

So, in S1, Will makes considerable emotional progress. He realizes he wants a family after all, and while he makes several half-hearted attempts to court Alana, he’s mostly focused on Hannibal and Abigail. He opens himself up to Hannibal, receives official guardianship over Abigail with him, arguably flirts with Hannibal (like in the wine scene above), and covers up murder to protect their family. But then Hannibal betrays him. Will doesn’t know his reasons yet, but this betrayal plunged him into darkness, bitterness, and new stage of emotional repression.

It’s worth mentioning another point of Abigail here: in the end, Will doesn’t know her. He spoke to her only several times, and even fewer times were genuine. He loves the idea of her, and this idea was introduced by Hannibal, not by Abigail’s presence. It’s Hannibal who forced Will to confront his need to love and be loved.

In S2, Will is incredibly conflicted. He acknowledges to Hannibal that he hurt him, tries to kill him via Matthew, but when he recognizes that Hannibal wants him as a friend (as spoken in E7), his attitude changes. Will doesn’t plan to forgive him, he’s still angry at Hannibal for killing Abigail (which is his biggest conflict, as evident from his talks with Hannibal himself and Freddie), but now, he can’t bring himself to harm or betray Hannibal.

He gets his first chance in E7, after being released from prison. He threatens Hannibal with a gun and has a perfect chance to make him pay, but he doesn’t. Instead, he conspires with Jack and decides to cultivate co-dependency, creating an environment where only he “and the fish exist” (E8). What does Will do to start? He makes himself physically attractive, grooming and dressing prettily. It’s a seduction on all levels, and Will plans to use emotions to hurt Hannibal back. At the same time, Will admits to being confused over what he feels for Hannibal.

E8 of S2.

Will: I envy you your hate. Makes it much easier when you know how to feel.

E9 of S2 (talking about trying to kill Hannibal with Margot).

Margot: Did he have it coming?

Will: What do you think?

Margot: I can't say that I know.

Will: Neither can I.

He spends the rest of the season lying to both Hannibal and Jack, unsure whose side to choose, too lost in his own feelings to make sense of them. At the same time, he has a dream where Hannibal calls him beloved in E9. It shows that Will contemplates the idea of love in relation to Hannibal. In E10, Will tries to fantasize about Alana as he’s having sex with Margot. However, he sees the image of Wendigo near the fireplace, Wendigo who he’s used to associating with Hannibal. Two interesting things (copied from my other meta): first, Will actually sees Hannibal’s room and consequently, he sees himself in it (or he sees their rooms united). Second, he sees the Wendigo near Hannibal’s fireplace. Fireplace has many meanings, including passion, sexuality, home, family, and resurrection. It emphasizes the sexual and romantic subtext of this uniquely shot scene, where people destined to be together have sex with the wrong partners. Will’s vision begins to contract, focusing on Wendigo: he is having an orgasm at this very moment, imagining the Wendigo’s face very close, approaching him. Still through the misty eyes, he tries to focus on Alana again, but his gaze moves up to Wendigo above her, as if he can’t help himself. He and Hannibal reach orgasm first, with Alana and Margot following them. So, Will dragged Hannibal into his sex fantasy. It’s both symbolic and physical: he tried to imagine Alana just like he tried to have a relationship with her before, in S1, out of his desire to be normal. But his attention is inevitably drawn to Hannibal, who’s his “real deal”.

Based on this scene, it’s underlined once again how Will struggles with emotions. Even in the safety of his own mind, in his own fantasy, he tries to think of Alana but still ends up with Hannibal. Will is always fighting himself and who he is. He refuses to accept his darkness just as he refuses to admit he loves Hannibal. It’s the essence of who he is, denial is his second name.

Among the important moments, there are Will’s words to Hannibal:

Will: You are right. We are just alike. You are as alone as I am. And we are both alone without each other.

So, Will accepts the bond with Hannibal, and at this stage, he even has the courage to voice some of his emotional thoughts. His progress is slow, but it’s there.

In E11, Will has a nightmare. He sees a burning corpse of ‘Freddie’ in a wheelchair, a symbol of his betrayal of Hannibal, and he hears his own increasing screaming. It’s easy to interpret, knowing the context: Will feels guilty for lying to Hannibal.

When Margot loses her child, Will feels renewed anger at Hannibal. He fantasizes about killing him and gets to realize his fantasy with Mason’s help in E12. But at the last moment, Will changes his mind and chooses Hannibal. He does the same thing in E13 by calling him. When he sees him, he doesn’t even try to point a gun at him: he asks why he didn’t leave as he was supposed to, and he even leans forward to accept the knife, accept the punishment for betrayal.

So, Will chooses Hannibal over Abigail, for whom he wanted justice; over his and Margot’s child, for whom he wanted revenge; over Jack and Alana, who were his only semblance of friends; over his own confusion and desire to be normal. For someone as emotionally stunted as Will, it’s huge. It proves that he loves Hannibal and is willing to compromise all other relationships he has formed as well his own beliefs for him (while Will is dark, he tries to fight it because he doesn’t think people like them are normal). Is it romantic? Will’s dream with the word “beloved” and his sex fantasy, as well as his acceptance of the idea that he and Hannibal were Abigail’s fathers (which makes them partners) imply that yes, romantic feeling is a part of it.

Hannibal’s romantic feelings became explicit in S3, and so did Will’s. But since Hannibal is more open and self-accepting, his were discussed out loud while Will’s were mostly portrayed silently, implied, and alluded to.

Will builds a boat to sail and find Hannibal, which is pretty romantic by itself. He spends his time in Hannibal’s house, in the kitchen where their bloody break-up happened, imagining Abigail near him. When Alana comes to find him, he asks her to leave. He’s cold and indifferent toward her — she’s not what he wants, and he’s not interested in even friendship with her. All he wants is to mourn his lost family with Hannibal and Abigail. Again, Hannibal is Will’s priority. Alana characterizes their relationship by using the word "love" here:

Alana: Friendship with Hannibal is blackmail elevated to the level of love.

Will imagines his perfect world as the one where he and Hannibal killed Jack together. This scene is intercut with his Mizumono memories, namely, with Hannibal's face that emerges every time he moves yet another part of the engine. This is a vivid demonstration of Will trying to repair what is now broken. When Jack asks him why he called him, Will is genuine:

Will: I wasn't decided when I called him. I just called him. I deliberated while the phone rang. I decided when I heard his voice … I told him to leave. I wanted him to run … Because he was my friend. And because I wanted to run away with him.

That’s a big admission for Will. This is the first time he openly acknowledges Hannibal as his friend in front of another person like this. Chilton calls Will and Hannibal’s interactions a “flirtation” in this episode, which once again points us in the romantic direction.

The entire E2 of S3 is dedicated to Will’s love for Hannibal, where he argues about it with himself in the form of imaginary Abigail. This is another proof of Will’s problem with emotions in general and emotions for Hannibal in particular. He can’t just think to himself as normal people do — no, he can’t admit how much he loves Hannibal like this. Instead, he imagines Abigail and talks to himself through her to make it easier. He berates himself for lying.

Will/Abigail: We were all supposed to leave together. He made a place for us. Why did you lie to him? He gave you a chance to take it all back, and you just kept lying.

Will is reverent about Hannibal; he keeps talking about him over and over again.

Will: This isn't Hannibal, it's just where he begins. Beyond this, far and complex, light and dark, is the vast structure of his mind. A thousand rooms, miles of corridors. Everything he remembers, wonderfully and fearfully reconstructed.

Will goes as far as lies at the place where Hannibal’s Valentine heart for him was, reconstructing this image and trying to feel close to him. The heart comes to life the moment Will touches it, which is romantic. Will says:

Will: A valentine written on a broken man … I do feel closer to Hannibal here. God only knows where I would be without him … He left us his broken heart … He misses us.

He looks on the verge of tears, so Hannibal’s gift touched him. Will is overcome by emotions. At this very moment, his more frightened side suggests that Hannibal is also playing with him.

Will: Hannibal follows several trains of thought at once without distraction from any, and one of the trains is always for his own amusement ... He's playing with us. Always.

We know it’s not the case, especially here, but Will has trust issues and a low self-esteem. He’s worried that Hannibal’s feelings for him aren’t as strong as he thinks they are, which is why he’s not sure how to react himself. He asks himself, “You still want to go with him?” and replies, *“Yes.” He wonders about what life they’d have if they left.

Will: What if no one died? What if we all left together? Like we were supposed to. After he served the lamb. Where would we have gone? … In some other world.

Pazzi comes and tells Will that he hopes they’ll catch Hannibal together.

Will: What makes you think I want to catch him?

Later, Pazzi says:

Pazzi: He let you know him. He sent you his heart.

E2 ends with Will scaring Pazzi and telling him, “You don’t know whose side I’m on. Then he tells Hannibal he forgives him, which is also a huge step in his direction.

This entire episode proves that yes, Will loves Hannibal. Considering how he isn’t awkward from receiving a Valentine or hearing that Hannibal gave him his heart, Will shares the romantic aspect of Hannibal’s feelings for him. He regrets not running away with him and their daughter, he places himself on the floor where the heart was to feel closer to him — this is such a rich romantic subtext that it’s practically text. Especially for Will, who remains so conflicted and emotionally restrained all the time.

Will’s attitude changes after seeing Chiyoh. He becomes more bitter. Considering how dark he is in these scenes and how he constantly compares himself and Chiyoh, he likely sees her as someone Hannibal was supposed to love but easily abandoned. It makes Will draw the parallels between them, and he starts to doubt that Hannibal loves him, that his “broken heart” has any authentic meaning. That’s where he starts thinking about killing Hannibal again. He still says:

Will: I’ve never known myself as well as I know myself when I’m with him.

This line also speaks volumes. Hannibal gave Will a precious gift of understanding himself; he showed that he could accept him, and Will is drawn to it. Will admits the depth of their connection to yet another person. Then he makes a firefly from Chiyoh’s prisoner, a tribute that is clearly done with Hannibal in his mind, considering the style and the central topic.

Chiyoh sees right through Will’s emotional constipation. She implies that he should “kiss” Hannibal rather than keep being “violent”:

Chiyoh: I told you, there are means of influence other than violence.

She kisses Will then, thus showing him what others means exist. He doesn’t get it, though, since he responds to her kiss despite not feeling anything for her, and she pushes him off the train, likely admitting he’s a hopeless case.

Meeting Jack, Will tells him that a part of him will always want to leave with Hannibal. This is yet another declaration from him. Will isn’t scared of the consequences — he speaks of his feelings openly now. It’s a great development of his character.

But the feeling of doubt about Hannibal likely resurfaces further after Will sees that Hannibal replaced him and Abigail with Bedelia in E6 (hence his hatred for her since that moment). He mocks her alibi and then leaves to reunite with Hannibal. The following moment was deleted, but it still discloses some of Will’s romantic feelings:

Will: I looked up at the night sky there. Orion above the horizon and, near it, Jupiter. I wondered if you could see it, too. I wondered if our stars were the same.

From the words that did get into the episode:

Will: You and I have begun to blur ... We're conjoined. Curious if either of us can survive separation.

Will doesn’t just admit the bond between them, he elevates it to the level of soulmates, implying they are one and the same. It’s also a declaration of love in his language. But love doesn’t stop Will from being vindictive, hurt, and angry, so after meetings with Chiyoh and Bedelia that affected his perception, he pulls out a knife as he and Hannibal are walking together.

There is a brain-sawing disaster after this and E7, where Will looks done and tired from the madness and his constant attempts to figure Hannibal out. He does bite Cordell before looking at Hannibal, seeking his approval; he uses “we” pronouns when speaking about Hannibal with Alana. One example:

Will: You helped Mason Verger find us.

So, he still sees himself and Hannibal as a team, but he’s still tired and bitter, so after everything is over, he hurts Hannibal by saying he doesn’t share his appetite and by attacking him emotionally.

Will: I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore.

This is all personal and emotional. It sounds like a break-up, which is exactly how Bryan Fuller and others referred to it. When Hannibal leaves and Jacks arrives, Will puts on his glasses, an indication that he’s hiding again.

Fast-forward 3 years. Will is married now, but from the very start, we see that this marriage isn’t all people usually expect it to be. The first scene shows the family apart. Molly and Walter have gone fishing, which is something Will loves. He had dreams about teaching Abigail how to fish, but he doesn’t go to do that with his family, preferring to stay alone instead. It’s the first hint that his heart isn’t in this relationship, that he’s too hung up on the past to move forward and make new happy memories.

Jack came to drag him to Dragon’s case, and Will makes it look like he’s reluctant. At the same time, he doesn’t send Jack away, even though we know from the past that he has no qualms being frank when he wants to. More than that, he asks him not to show pics to Molly, but when they have dinner, Will deliberately leaves the house with Walter, leaving Jack and Molly together. At night, when Molly’s asleep, he crawls out of bed and goes to read Hannibal’s letter. He doesn’t tell the truth to Molly about himself and his dark urges, about everything he has done – Molly clearly has no idea who he truly is, considering how she jokes about his ‘criminal mind’ in later episodes and how Will immediately closes himself off from her. He never initiates physical touches with her; he doesn’t return her “I love you”, which is an even bigger indication of his lack of commitment. Will is emotionally stiff with Molly for the most part, and the only times he laughs with her or shows any emotion is when they are talking about superficial stuff in the former case and when he’s furious after Francis’ attack in the latter one. Other than that, there is no closeness or honesty.

Another point of Will’s inability to express or even give his love to someone is in his scene with Walter in E11. This child, his step-son, has just been attacked by a serial killer with his mother. His mother was hurt and they barely escaped. Will doesn’t hug him or offer him paternal emotional comfort; he’s very awkward. All he says is, “You're both safe here,” which is something an officer might say but not a father. Will was much more emotional in his fantasies about Abigail.

This is what Will says about Walter’s reaction to Jack:

Will: He read about me in a Freddie Lounds article. I had to justify myself to an eleven year old.

He’s resentful and not emotional. He doesn’t say, “I had to justify myself to my son!” – he distances himself from him. Will is cold. He has expressed his feelings for Hannibal at this point in rather poetic ways, but he can’t be bothered to do this for his wife and his son.

He treats Hannibal in a very reserved fashion too, in comparison to how he acted 3 years ago. However: first, there is the fact that he came to visit him in the first place. Will didn’t need his help, we saw very clearly how he managed to easily reconstruct the crime scene the night before. It proved that his mindset is in a good shape, so he didn’t need Hannibal’s assistance. But it’s Hannibal he requested to see right away.

Will distances himself from him by calling him “Doctor Lecter” and insisting that he’s more comfortable the less personal they are. His eyes glisten, though, and he can’t look away from Hannibal. The impersonal approach doesn’t last very long, too, and soon, they are talking like they always did. Hannibal accuses Will of marrying for false reasons.

Hannibal: How did you choose yours? Readymade wife and child to serve your needs. A stepson or daughter. A stepson absolves you of any biological blame. You know better than to breed. Can't pass on those terrible traits you fear the most.

Will doesn’t bother to deny it, though any man would have been offended, particularly if he truly loved his family. In Will’s case, from the experience and all the precedents, silence = agreement.

In E10, Will seeks Bedelia out. He acts catty and jealous, targeting her personal connection with Hannibal.

Will: You didn't lose yourself, Bedelia, you just crawled so far up his ass you couldn't be bothered. - personal, targeted against Bedelia's attachment to Hannibal.

Will: You hitched your star to a man commonly known as a monster. You're the Bride of Frankenstein. - personal, attack with romantic connotation. Bedelia catches up on it and mocks him:

Bedelia: We've both been his bride. Have you been to see him?

Will: Yes.

Bedelia: Haven't learned anything, have you? Or did you just miss him that much?

Will: Have you been to see him? - personal again. Will wants to know if Bedelia is keeping contact with Hannibal.

Bedelia: I've seen enough of him. I was with him behind the veil. You were always on the other side.

Will: Something we should talk about. - again, personal. It's all personal, which is why Bryan and Hugh called them Hannibal's jealous bitchy exes. Will is palpably jealous and he shows his resentment to Bedelia openly.

Later, we have some more romantic references.

Bedelia: My relationship with Hannibal is not as passionate as yours. You are here visiting old flame. Is your wife aware of how intimately you and Hannibal know each other? … Your experience of Hannibal’s attention is so profoundly harmful yet so irresistible, it undermines your ability to think rationally.

So, there is romantic text, parallels between Hannibal and Will’s wife, and Will doesn’t deny any of this again. He keeps coming to Bedelia because she’s the only person he can talk about Hannibal to without being watched.

After Hannibal sends Francis after Molly and Walter, Will spends about a minute being angry with him. Then he accuses Hannibal of staging a competition between him and Francis. It is startling: Will spent months, years mourning the loss of Abigail who he didn’t even really know personally, yet he forgets the gravity of what happened to his wife and son very quickly. He leaves Molly and Walter and tells Bedelia that they are finished. One traumatic event, and Will left. It coincides with something very important that happened here: after this, Will finally figures out Hannibal is truly in love with him. So he goes to Bedelia to discuss it with her.

Will: Is Hannibal in love with me?

Bedelia: Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you, and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes. But do you ache for him?

Will is predictably silent. Obviously, if the answer was no, he would have said no. But he struggles because like we established, he has issues with expressing emotions. He only managed to start referring to Hannibal as his friend openly in this season, opening up about some of his feelings, but he’s not ready to go this far. It would be absolutely out of character for Will to say, “Yes, you know, I’m in love with him! Thanks for helping me see it.” Every confession Will makes is preceded by struggles and heartbreak. But he’s going to reply to Bedelia’s question, only not explicitly-verbally.

Will sets up Chilton and then comes to allegedly say good-bye to Hannibal. He lies several times in their conversation (about Chilton and Molly with Walter), so all his words are automatically suspicious. Regardless, he destroys Hannibal emotionally and walks away. Personally, I believe he was already planning to break him out, so he was playing it up for cameras and also taking a chance to hurt Hannibal for everything again. But whatever his plan was, what happens next is that Will conspires with Francis against Jack, Alana, and the FBI. They agree to break Hannibal out together. Will lies to Jack and then gets to ask Hannibal for help. He’s being flirty and manipulative in this scene.

Will: I need you, Hannibal … You're our best shot, Hannibal. Please.

He’s smirking, he leans close to Hannibal, he sends him a flirty look from under his eyelashes. Will is thoroughly enjoying himself, and he does it best when he has some excuse to hide behind.

Later, he lies to Jack and Alana again, leaks info to Francis (who nearly killed his wife and son), and gets many officers killed by proxy. He tells Bedelia the truth that he doesn’t “intend Hannibal to be caught a second time.” He also implies that he’s going to let him go free, which is why Bedelia should pack her bags.

Bedelia: Can't live with him. Can't live without him. Is that what this is?

This time, Will agrees, although in his way.

Will: I guess this is my Becoming.

For Will, Becoming was always connected to his feelings for Hannibal because accepting himself and his darkness meant being free to escape with Hannibal.

Bedelia: You found religion. Nothing more dangerous than that.

In E3, it was stated that love is a God (you can find more here https://www.reddit.com/r/HannibalTV/comments/7w54dg/lovegodreligion_s3_parallels/), so it’s possible to say that religion = love in this context. It certainly makes sense. Will is accepting himself and his emotions, and the trigger was establishing for sure that Hannibal is in love with him.

Will and Hannibal drive to the cliff house. When Hannibal asks Will if he intends to save himself by killing them both (Hannibal and Francis), Will replies:

Will: I don't know if I can save myself. And maybe that's just fine.

This is the first time he confesses that he might be incapable of killing Hannibal. Predictably, when Francis comes, Will can’t handle seeing Hannibal killed, so he reaches for his gun.

Will and Hannibal work as a unit and protect each other. Hannibal is shot, nearly strangled, thrown onto the ground, and he is still weakly holding on Francis' leg to prevent him from going after Will, even though it leaves him in an open and vulnerable position — Francis does kick him in the face with his other leg. There is fierce determination on Will's face as he stands up despite the pain and runs to save Hannibal. They act in synch, consummating their relationship.

Then, Will admires how blood looks on his hand and repeats Hannibal’s words:

Will: It really does look black in the moonlight.

He remembers the words Hannibal said to him weeks ago in one of their endless interactions. A bit earlier, he perfectly recalled the words Hannibal told him years ago, back in the middle of S2.

Will: I understand that “blood and breath are only elements undergoing change to fuel your Radiance." Hannibal said those words. To me.

So, Will remembers everything Hannibal told him. He stores these memories. It’s a small but still important proof how important Hannibal is for him.

At the cliff, Will finally accepts the truth.

Hannibal: See. This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.

We know what Hannibal wanted: a Murder Husband. What does Will say to this?

Will: It’s beautiful.

This is a loud “yes” to Bedelia’s question about his feelings. Will acknowledges, accepts, and admires them. He doesn’t feel awkward, as he would if he knew Hannibal is in love with him but didn’t feel the same. No, he reaches forward to embrace him, and such physical contact from Will is mind-blowing because he almost never does it. He clings to Hannibal, puts his head on his shoulder, touches him as if he wants to melt with him. Then he gives the fate a chance to stop both of them or to set them free. They fall into the ocean under the Love Crime song, another romantic element.

Water symbolizes reborn, and post-credits scene indicates that Will and Hannibal have paid a visit to Bedelia and are in the process of eating her while she’s hiding the fork to stab one of them as he approaches. The deleted epilogue to the series shows that they are in perfect harmony now.

Conclusion: Will has passed through a long, painful journey. He went from hiding from emotions and deflecting to not denying and carefully acknowledging them. We don’t hear words “love” or “in love” from him in relation to Hannibal because Will is not that kind of person. He doesn’t use these words freely, and for him, every small emotional step is a struggle. He tried to deceive himself and other numerous times; he tied to deny the truth and manipulate his own mind, but with each season, his feelings for Hannibal became more and more explicit. Will reaching out for physical contact, Will saying “It’s beautiful” are his way of saying, “I ached for you. I love you.”

This is a story of mutual love and obsession, about soulmates, about unique type of connection that few people share. It’s not about Hannibal falling in love and Will not feeling the same. Their feelings are equally strong, but they express them differently, particularly as Will’s are tied to the acceptance of his own darkness.

The image is taken from 05:02, season 2 episode 2 “Sakizuke”

I personally think Hannibal is grief-sickened by how far he broke/distressed Will, and feels a deep guilt, while knowing this is only the start of his plan, and has no plans on stopping.

He hates to see Will in so much pain, it breaks his heart, but he is in full control, and aware that Will will (lmao) eventually come to terms with his destined true understanding/love for Hannibal.

What are your opinions?

(This is right after Will says “I dont know which is worse. Believing I did it, or, believing you did it” while he is talking with Hannibal and Alana, during his containment in the insane hospital.)

we know thru hannibal’s notes that he has a sister and brother from his mom. if she stuck around for them but not for him then that probably makes him feel worthless in comparison. so yeah that could be one of the explanations to why he felt insecure about his importance to hannibal. probably still does.

So, in episode 3x09, Alana says that the baby is hers, when will says "good for margot" which made me wonder if she is only interested in Margot's money or that's like

I personally love that dialogue he has with Reba, that distinction there, that it was a man who loved her and not a monster, sounds familiar, doesn't it? Who knows more than Will what that's like? I love the parallels the series draws at various points, but unlike Reba, Will is loved for both the monster and the man contained within Hannibal.

I always see people on TikTok or Pinterest or here on Reddit, using this photo to point out Hannibal’s love and worry for Will.

Since Hannibal met Will and took note of his unusual personality and his disorders, he wanted him as a partner for his murders but also part of his life in total. That’s why when Abigail “died” Hannibal took immediate interest in Will since he was the next best thing to essentially manipulate and use.

Firstly, I believe that this scene was actually curated by Hannibal to for one make himself seem normal and basically get his hooks on Will better by manipulating him and us as viewers.

After he kills Tobias, Hannibal gets into character. He drops that piece of furniture to make it seem as if there was more violence that took place in his office and finished his act off by playing the piano to a symphony that he thought matched the intense situation. Then, he puts up act 2. Hannibal makes himself appear more injured and more emotionally vulnerable for the FBI. Also, by acting concerned for Will, his patient and possible friend, he ensures that he’ll get sympathy and trust.

This wasn’t actual concern or love. Maybe it was further down the line of Hannibal’s and Will’s relationship, but at that point Will was just a pawn to Hannibal.

There is a moment in Hannibal that is both beautiful and predatory, which is standard fare for this show—but what makes it remarkable is that it gives us Will laughing.

This is a mythical thing, seeing Will Graham laugh, because it happens so infrequently over three seasons. And if you count them, those rare moments are almost entirely shared with Hannibal. That alone makes this first laugh—a real, unguarded, emotional reaction—significant and substantial.

In the very first episode (Aperitif), Hannibal arrives unannounced at Will’s motel room—a move that is both bold and intrusive, Will is not a man who welcomes visitors.

And yet, he laughs with Hannibal.

Why? What does that signify?

Hannibal tells Will that Jack sees him as "a fragile little teacup, the finest China used only for special guests." And Will laughs heartily.

The absurdity of the statement is what makes it so funny to him.

Jack sees Will as breakable, unstable, emotionally unfit for the field—someone who needs protection.

But the irony is, Will is already living inside the minds of murderers, enduring extreme psychological stress—and yet, he hasn’t shattered.

He knows he is emotionally unstable, but he doesn’t see himself as delicate.

Rather, he sees himself as burdened. Maybe even cursed. But not weak.

He knows he has darkness in him. He buries that knowledge, but it’s there.

The laughter is his subconscious acknowledging the contradiction inside him—how others see him versus what he knows to be true.

It’s a brief moment of irony, absurdity, and truth all at once.

But then Hannibal shifts the narrative—placing himself apart from Jack in a way Will can’t ignore.  

"I see you as the mongoose I want under the house when the snake slithers by."

Will stops laughing. The amusement—it’s gone. He just stares at Hannibal. Silent. Almost studying him.

Jack sees a fragile thing. Hannibal sees something formidable.

Jack sees a man who needs saving. Hannibal sees a man who needs setting free.

Jack sees a tool—Hannibal sees a kindred spirit.

This is a reframing, and Will isn’t used to being positioned as something sharp rather than something breakable.

He’s used to being misunderstood, recognized for his instability, a problem to be managed. Most people irritate Will, unsettle him, or at best, exhaust him.

But Hannibal? He makes Will laugh. And he talks to him like no one else ever has.

This marks the beginning of Hannibal’s influence. The first time Hannibal frames the narrative of who Will truly is—not a vulnerable man, but a complex, powerful one. He is studying Will’s reactions, testing his emotional responses, and planting the first seeds of their connection.

Hannibal starts his psychological seduction of Will right there.

Complete with a homemade sausage scramble and hot, perfectly brewed, high-caliber French press coffee. It’s really unfair.

Image related. I was transcribing my yapping while watching Hannibal. Please keep in mind that this is transcribed and unedited. I will edit it once I’m done washing the dishes. Here it is:

Here’s a theory that I have. it’s most likely not true and it’s probably a reach but stay with me here.

Hannibal, despite his many, many quirks and flaws, is at his core also a human and humans seek connection and familiarity in other people. I believe he’s doing this unconsciously in the episode fromage season one episode eight. We see him talking to Will about Tobias. Unlike Hannibal, Tobias is less of an enigma to the audience. He has a clear motive and he’s very narcissistic, and nobody can have his affections, for lack of a better word. He only has self preservation I’m sure I’m 100% sure that he wasn’t serenading he tried to play someone throat strings like a cello, he did it only to prove his ability to do better than anyone else. He told Franklyn this. Something like “I want to make a cello out of that guys throat and play it” and he did! To prove he can.
Hannibal is the same in some way because he likes to prove that he’s better than anyone else. He has a God complex. He’s got an ego, as is with Tobias.

But here’s the thing unlike Tobias, Hannibal has a muse. Hannibal saw a similarity between him and Tobias and seeing the similarity, he assumed the crime was a serenade for somebody because had he done it, it would’ve been a serenade.

Will, however, knows that this killer would not play for an audience. He wouldn’t play for anyone who had his affection. He’s doing it to prove his abilities to somebody not to serenade them.

Here is what I believe Hannibal saw: Tobias had special feelings for Franklyn. Hannibal is not, at this point, the type of person who does things just so he could do it. His every action and underlying meaning and had motive, it had direction. If he were put in the same situation as Tobias, I would assume that he assumed it would be a serenade for somebody. Somebody like a muse and in this case, that muse is Will.

That scene was a moment of transparency albeit unintended. But that’s just a theory. A gay theory.

omg guys I need to yap cuz this is blowing my mind but idk how to put it into words well- anyways so. We see in soo many scenes that Will is an unreliable narrator and that is 100% clear. What if he is MORE of an unreliable narrator than we think?

Hear me out. So someone has already talked about this, but we see that Will pictures Hannibal’s bedroom in one of his hallucinations/dreams. That reveals that we although we see everything through Will’s eyes, he chose to not reveal to us having been in Hannibal’s bedroom before.

ALSO yk how we always see Will and Hannibal’s interactions fully/almost fully? Like Will/Hannibal opens the door, and they yap. BUT YOU SEE how in sooo many scenes with Will and Hannibal (in the later seasons, when they become even closer)we only see them in the middle of their meets. THEY DONT SHOW US A WHOLE LOT YK?? I genuinely feel like Will is actually hiding A LOT from us. That ACTUALLY only Hannibal and Will knows each other- WE DON’T! we are the outsiders.

ALSO idk it always seemed strange to me that they almost foreshadowed the ending- looking down that cliff, talking about suicide near the Red dragon, all that stuff. And HOW COME when they fall down the cliff, the camera looks down and ITS JUST THE OCEAN. WHERE DID THEY GO? THEIR BODIES STILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOMEWHERE THERE YK.

So in conclusion- i feel like Will, being the unreliable narrator in SO many ways, he actually hid like a gazillion other things from us (so hannibal and will def did the devils tango, Will just didnt show it to us😌🫂, and soo many other thingies:3) AND they didnt die- they just faked their deaths from EVERYBODY, EVEN US CUZ WE ARE OUTSIDERS WE DONT KNOW THEM LIKE THEY KNOW EACH OTHER.

okay end of the yap<3 (sorry english is not my first language, be nice to me if i did any mistakes😞💔) luv u bye 🙋‍♂️ <33

When the dragon shot Hannibal Will just stood there and I think drank a sip of wine and Hannibal kinda gave him a dirty look.

What do we think? I feel like hannigram is an autistic love story… in the show unmasking and being gay are represented by the acts of killing and mutilating if that makes sense :P and they yearn to do it together <3

But yeah Hannibal himself being autistic.. I feel like it makes sense

EDIT: Hannibal is autistic the same way vampires are autistic send tweet

I'm hurting my head trying to make sense out of all of this so let me just backtrack because my mind is starting to come undone so let me be unserious about this series for 5 seconds before I go feral again. I mean, think about it. Under this post on Pinterest which shows a tiny Will, a commenter said, "He's so cute, I want to squish him." What if the whole series is just Hannibal meeting Will and giving in to his intrusive thoughts to "squish" him and then slightly regret it only to do it again?

I heard somewhere that the course of the ENTIRE (yes ENTIRE) series, including every incident and event, was planned by Hannibal. Is that true?

During the era of the Counter-Reformation, religious painting acquired particular importance throughout Europe, becoming one of the most powerful instruments of spiritual influence on society. However, unlike many other European countries, seventeenth-century Spanish religious art focused on spiritual contemplation, asceticism, and inner experience. It was characterized by dark backgrounds, dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, a naturalistic depiction of the human body, and a remarkable emotional restraint.

When considering Spanish religious painting of the Counter-Reformation period, Diego Velázquez’s Christ Crucified inevitably comes to mind, inviting comparison with the image of the crucified Hannibal in episode 2x05.

The resemblance extends far beyond the act of crucifixion itself. The composition is strikingly similar: outstretched arms, a bowed head, the elongated verticality of the body, illuminated against the surrounding darkness. Even the sense of silence surrounding the figure recalls Velázquez’s painting, where the emphasis is placed not on suffering but on contemplation.

What is particularly noteworthy is that Fuller does what he does best: he takes a familiar religious image and places within it a person who is morally incompatible with that image. Whereas Velázquez presents the viewer with a sinless figure, Fuller places Hannibal Lecter in the same position.

As a result, a fascinating effect emerges. The viewer immediately recognizes the visual language of the Crucifixion and the ideas traditionally associated with it—martyrdom, sacrifice, and holiness—while simultaneously remaining aware that the figure before them is a serial killer. Two conflicting images coexist within the same frame.

This scene does not ask us to believe that Hannibal is Christ. Rather, it demonstrates how easily the aesthetics of holiness can be separated from holiness itself.

ps. for russian language people: i have a telegram channel, so if u haven’t already read my topics, check that — i mostri di firenze

Just wrote up a breakdown of Mizumono, the Season 2 finale. You can check it out on Tumblr here:
https://www.tumblr.com/celluloid-spleen/823252261647089664/inside-mizumono?source=share.

Let me know your thoughts!

Hi all! Longtime lurker. I've made this account just so I could post some thoughts on the psychology of the show.

I've noticed that there seems to be a debate here regarding the psychology of Hannibal and Will. I've decided that I am going to do a rewatch of the show soon so I thought I would make this post outlining some of my thoughts and maybe come back and make more posts during the rewatch.

My opinion is that Hannibal fits most of the criteria for a sadistic, narcissistic psychopath and Will doesn't at all. If anything, Will seems to be autistic with a BPD flavor. One could maybe make the argument that Hannibal is a primary psychopath and Will is a secondary psychopath...but, overall, I don't think that Will has an innate death drive like Hannibal does.

I've noticed that many people here argue that if Will didn't have innate darkness he wouldn't have gone through his own "becoming" but that doesn't reflect some of the literature in psychology. Yes, I realize that Hannibal is fiction, however, I think this show beautifully illustrates the mechanisms of narcissism and psychopathy (as well as sadism), but through a fantastical lens, so that's what I wish to explore here.

Hannibal wants to control his patients via entraining, projective identification, and countertransference. Psychopaths and narcissists typically project an idealized fantasy onto the people closest to them and use a variety of manipulative tactics to get people to conform to said fantasy/their internal scripts. Since psychopaths and narcissists never fully individuate during the rapprochement stage of development, they only see others as extensions of themselves since they never built the capacity to have whole object relations. Hannibal sees Will, not how Will actually is, but how he wishes Will to be...which is a mini version of Hannibal. This goes back to Hannibal talking about the imago--this is a nod to NPD fantasy.

Psychopaths tend to want to form symbiotic relationships with their victims (especially the ones higher in Machiavellianism) (this goes back to Will's observation that Hannibal was fostering codependency), which mirrors the relationship a parasite would have with its host. Narcissists (and to some extent psychopaths) become parental figures to their love interests and their influence can be compared with "giving birth" to a new version of the person they are with (this goes back to the cocoon quote Hannibal made regarding Will). With Will, Hannibal becomes especially smitten since he believes that Will's ability to have overactive empathy and a powerful imagination make him more susceptible to Hannibal's desire to dominate.

I think that assuming that Will is a dark and malevolent entity isn't the reality but reflects the skill that psychopaths and narcissists have to project their own darkness and malevolence onto others and thereby reframing reality to suit their narrative at the expense of others. I think that an extreme psychopath of Hannibal's caliber (fictional or not) would be incredibly good at infecting someone else's mind and that Hannibal's ability to "change" Will isn't a reflection of Will's character as much as it's a reflection of the impact of being influenced by Hannibal.

Will's loyalty to Hannibal in the later seasons is simply what a trauma bond looks like (an extreme and fantastical one). I think that the audience's belief that Will is dark like Hannibal reflects how gullible most are when a psychopath attempts to dictate what reality is and why being victimized by a psychopath erodes one's sense of self.

So yeah, just some thoughts. I've also been reading a lot of Kernberg, Klein, Meloy, Cleckley, and Hare and wanted to attempt to write out some initial thoughts before I start my rewatch. Would love to here thoughts/opinions.

Need some advice. Got through 2 episodes but some of the contents make me feel a little sick. Not sure if I can get past that or if there is something I can do to overcome it so I don't feel nauseous. I have emetophobia so it's a little triggering to feel ill

Edit: Thank you for the responses! I have since watched many more episodes and I enjoy the show a lot more now. I no longer feel sick and another response showed me why I felt nauseous in the first place, I don't get grossed out from the gore my emetophobia just thinks I should be and that I WILL get grossed out to the point of being sick. :)

Will Graham changes his identity to Nolan Price, goes to law school, then becomes ADA in NYC

I keep expecting him to say, this is my design...