I thought it would be good to return to a more “bread and butter” informational psychiatry post for once. Consider this a drastic reductionism of a complex field. Following the prior post about avoiding benzodiazepines, many have asked — What else can I do to feel less anxious besides take benzodiazepines? The short answer is other (safer) medications, and/or psychotherapy. Like any other blog post, this isn’t a substitution for medical advice, since there can be causes of anxiety that require medical intervention, such as hyperthyroidism. Make sure you get evaluated properly before trying to chalk your anxiety up to
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep13
Episode 13 – Savoureux Will walks through the woods at night with a scoped rifle, hunting a stag. It runs off, and then Will fires a shot. We kind of know, already, that this is going to be a dream sequence. And knowing the stag represents Hannibal much of the time. He runs after the body, and we see the stag in shadow, on the ground, then turns to face him. For a moment it looks like a man with antlers. And then it’s gone. He follows a blood trail. And sees a man with antlers, and glowing eyes. He wakes
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep12
Episode 12 – Relevés Will walks through a hospital in a robe, pulling his IV line along on a cart. He enters Georgia’s room, with her still in the hyperbaric chamber. She looks close to normal. They talk for a bit, and it’s clear they’ve been talking regularly. She now seems able to recognize him, somehow. Will reports that they’ve only found that he has a fever, but not why. She gets pessimistic about what’ll happen — they won’t find a real cause, just give wrong meds and wrong diagnoses. Well that was her experience, after all. She also says she’s
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep11
Episode 11 – Rôti Hannibal serves dinner with Dr. Chilton. They discuss Abel Gideon, and how Chilton tried to convince him that he was the Ripper. Hannibal points out how that primarily works with those without a stable sense of self (Will), rather than with psychopaths. This reflects on much of the series, with Hannibal attempting to control Will, who has the ultimate unstable sense of self. I watch this always on guard that anyone could be Hannibal’s next victim, especially Chilton. It turns out that Gideon is accusing Chilton of making him kill. Chilton asks for advice, and Hannibal instructs
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep10
Episode 10 – Buffet Froid A car drives up to a house at night. A girl (BETH LEBEAU) gets out, and enters the house. She plays with a cage bird. We see her getting ready for bed. As she tries to sleep something drips from her ceiling. She turns on the light to see multiple leaks coming through across her ceiling. She investigates the attic to find a hole in the roof, Big enough for a person to come through. In fact we see what she doesn’t, footsteps in the snow, on the outer roof. A good use of the
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep9
Episode 9 – Trou Normand The episode opens with the team on a beach in West Virginia, investigating a totem pole of bodies. I don’t believe anything even remotely like this has ever been reported. The show appears to be getting more fantastical, or more metaphorical in the murders. The team tries to figure out where to even start. Seven bodies. Most are old victims. Will does his metronome trick. He believes the killer planned this for a long time, almost as a piece of art. The most recent victim was kept alive to witness constructing the “art” piece. “This
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1 (complete)
As a psychiatrist and a writer, I thought it might be fun to put together a commentary on this great show. I know very little about their development process, including if they have any professional consultants. So this blog series is for play. Consider it a companion piece reflecting my professional thoughts with each of my professional hats (mostly my psychiatrist hat). It’s intended to be read while watching the show. It’s a dense show, so sometimes the analysis can be quite extensive. Sometimes it’s just me waxing as well. Warning: There will be spoilers, so it’s useful to watch while reading. It’s
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep8
Episode 8 – Fromage The episode opens on Will fixing something at home, while hearing something like scream or whimper, faintly. He runs outside trying to find it. Elsewhere, Tobias teaches a boy to play Cello, who complains that the strings are tougher to play. Tobias admits that these “authentic” strings aren’t always made from cat guts. Well what else could they be made of? That’s the opening question for the episode, and we can already know where this is going. It’s revealed that Tobias appears to have taken human guts and carefully worked it until he can make strings
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep7
Episode 7 – Sorbet [the palate cleanser] Will lectures his class on the Chesapeake Ripper. The Ripper kills in groups of 3 at a time, every 18 months, and views his victims as pigs. He claims the removal of organs and mutilation of the abdomen suggests someone with anatomical or surgical know-how. Yes and no. I’d say it would be more certain if the way organs were removed was important, or that the mutilation avoided any of the vital organs. That would make the case more convincing that it’s a surgeon or a physician. Will mentions that Lass’s severed arm was
Digesting Hannibal – Season 1, Ep6
Episode 6 – Entrée The episode opens with Dr. Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard), on the floor of a maximum security ward. The guards stand outside his cell, warning him to comply, or they will be forced to “restrain him.” The imagery is a clear reference to the cells of Silence of the Lambs. He’s clearly dangerous, and the fear is that he’s playing possum. They check his pulse and call for a gurney. The tension increases, now that he’s out of his cell. Who is this guy? Is he playing possum? A nurse, now alone, puts him on a monitor.