The 10th episode of season 3 finally delved into Bedelia’s past and revealed why Zachary Quinto is such an essential character to Bedelia’s “becoming”. This episode also solely focused on Francis Dolarhyde and Will and Hannibal took a much more back-seat role this time around. Despite the excitement that happens on Dolarhyde’s end, who interacts with both Will and Hannibal, I was more intrigued and fascinated with Zachary Quinto’s character Neal. Oh, how I wish he’d grace my television screen once more!
In previous episodes, Bedelia comments that Hannibal manipulated her and forced her to kill her own patient in self-defense. This episode, however, reveals the exact opposite as viewers are faced with a much darker Bedelia, a Bedelia who wasn’t as innocent as she appeared at the start of the series. We caught a glimpse of the fate Bedelia’s patient met in a flashback in the premiere episode and the audience was led to believe Bedelia actually felt a shred of remorse. The first thing we saw of Neal was Bedelia’s fist coming out of his mouth and his corpse lying haphazardly in her office. This episode clarifies that Neal was just a victim of both Hannibal and Bedelia. Talk about bad luck with your psychiatrist!
Neal is much more aware of Hannibal’s intentions and vents to Bedelia about Hannibal’s behavior, “I nearly choked on my own tongue, and he remained indifferent.” Neal’s backstory reveals that Hannibal induced a seizure out of him just the same as he did with Will and Neal seems aware of something being clearly off about dear ol’ Doctor Lector. The scenes shift back and forth, from present day to past with Bedelia talking to Will in the same fashion as she did to Neal revealing Bedelia is no brainwashed fool. In fact, Bedelia seems to share Hannibal’s appetite for violence and the need to destroy; it is ironic how alike a patient and psychiatrist ended up being. In conversation with Will, it is important to note that Bedelia comments if she were to come across an injured bird, she’d rather crush it than help it. This explains Bedelia’s behavior when Neal chokes on his own tongue, yet again. Instead of rushing to help him, Bedelia instead shoves her fist in his mouth thus crushing the injured baby bird.
Bedelia seems keen on “crushing” Will to a certain extent and Will can see through her façade almost immediately. Will’s insistence for conversation seems to be solely due to the Tooth Fairy case yet they talk mostly about anything else [mostly Hannibal]. The exchanges between Will and Bedelia are some of my favorite moments of the episode as the two basically try to out-sass one another. Bedelia calls Will the bride of Frankenstein and proceeds to spend 99% of their interactions making innuendos about Will’s relationship with Hannibal. In these moments, it was as if the fans themselves possessed her. They circle each other like predators and I can’t help but wonder what fate awaits Bedelia at the season’s end. Is she attempting to assist Hannibal by pushing Will over the edge? “I was with Hannibal behind the veil; you were always on the other side,” is one stand-out line Bedelia utters to Will making me question if her intention is to help Will join Hannibal behind the veil. Her past incident with her patient may have answered some questions, but Bedelia and her present motives remain a mystery. I’m certainly not rooting for her, especially after this episode, but I’m curious to see how Bedelia meets her end; it almost seems inevitable or will this sly-fox evade death once more?
Moving on to Dolarhyde, viewers could see how Dolarhyde shared similarities with Hannibal yet his similarities with Will had yet to make an appearance. This episode emphasized those similarities as we’re treated to a kinder, softer Dolarhyde whose interactions with Reba were simply breathtaking and tragic. Tragic because one knows this contentment he’s found with Reba won’t last long especially with his constant contact with the devil Hannibal and with his growing desire to “transform.” Dolarhyde wants to be seen, but remain hidden at the same time which makes Reba his perfect other half. She can’t physically see him and takes whatever she’s given by him. “And the Woman Clothed in Sun’s” standout moment is a quiet one that occurs between Reba and Dolarhyde in the zoo. Reba caresses an unconscious tiger while Dolarhyde watches on, momentarily floored by the gentle essence of Reba which starkly contrasts his violent one. The violence seems to halt when he’s with Reba and as Reba rest against Dolarhyde; one can see he’s actually content and shocked.
Dolarhyde’s interactions with Hannibal resemble that of a teen meeting his or her idol. He’s floored by Hannibal’s words and inspired by his nudge. Hannibal is molding Dolarhyde to his liking and Dolarhyde isn’t even resisting unlike Will, thus making Dolarhyde a much easier target. Hannibal, while controlling Dolarhyde, is having even a bigger blast manipulating Will by giving him bits and pieces of information about The Tooth Fairy despite full well knowing Dolarhyde is the sadistic serial killer Will is searching for. A smug Hannibal is quick to piss me off and I can’t help but hope Will gets the upper hand in the end.
Dolarhyde and Will have their fateful meeting right after Dolarhyde ate (yes, ate) the Great Red Dragon painting he’s so obsessed with. Dolarhyde immediately recognizes Will and hilariously tosses him against the elevator wall and then out the elevator in an effort to escape. The wind has clearly been knocked out of Will who struggles to stand. He’s now seen the face of The Tooth Fairy and with three episodes left, the upcoming events are bound to feature a blood bath or two. I just hope Will is strong enough to survive and kick some ass! Is it so wrong for me to want Will to outsmart everybody in the end [mostly Hannibal].
What are your thoughts on “And the Woman Clothed in Sun”? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and theories in the comments down below!
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