Hannibal was one of the darkest shows on television, which is not surprising considering that it was a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. During the series, Hannibal messed with the head of FBI agent Will Graham while supposedly helping him solve cases, and the tension between them was augmented by the fact that Hannibal was secretly the Chesapeake Ripper, a cannibalistic serial killer.
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Hannibal aired on NBC, which theoretically should have put limits on the horror depicted, as broadcast stations have certain content restrictions that streaming and cable services do not. However, NBC only pulled one episode from the rotation, and that was at the creator’s request — a story about a woman brainwashing children to murder their families was scheduled to air too close to the real-life Sandy Hook shooting. Other than that, Hannibal often pushed boundaries, and several scenes were so dark that it’s shocking the network allowed them to air.
5) A Man Escapes From a Human Mural
One of the most disturbing moments in Hannibal comes at the beginning of a season 2 episode, “Sakizuke”. The episode before had ended on the cliffhanger that a man had been stitched into a mural made of human bodies, which is a disturbing enough image for television, and what followed was even worse.
The man’s escape was not easy. He had to rip his own skin to get out of the mural he had been sewn into, and this was shown rather graphically. Although it was not quite as disturbing as some other scenes, it was gory, and the man was clearly tormented, making it an uncomfortable scene that pushed the envelope a little too far.
4) Slitting Abigail’s Throat In Front of Will
Hannibal season 2’s finale was one of the most violent episodes in the series. In this episode, Hannibal is unmasked, and the entire investigative team suffers violently when they realize that Dr. Lecter is a killer and not really on their side.
Hannibal holds Crawford at gunpoint, Bloom gets pushed out a window, and Will gets stabbed. However, the most disturbing moment is when Hannibal calls Abigail over to him, only to slit her throat while Will watches, helpless to stop him. This moment was the culmination of an episode that was so violent that it’s surprising it was allowed to air. It is also both graphic and disturbing, leaving the audience with an image that is difficult to stop thinking about.
3) The Torture of Abel Gideon
The Abel Gideon story is one of the most disturbing in Hannibal‘s history, especially the climax. Hannibal kidnapping Gideon and amputating his leg was bad enough, but afterward he served it to him at a dinner party, and Gideon ended up eating part of it after resisting.
The entire sequence is so disturbing that it is a relief when Gideon is finally murdered. Surprisingly, NBC allowed all of this, including the cannibalism, which is a scene that is even more disturbing to view than to write about. Gideon’s torment is ironic considering that one of the few scenes NBC insisted be toned down involved him killing someone in a gruesome manner during Season 1.
2) Hannibal Saws Open Will’s Head While Will Is Awake
Season 3 included a particularly gruesome sequence where Hannibal saws open Will’s head and plans to eat his brain. Fans debate what the point of the sequence is, since Will ultimately emerges with nothing more than a cut on his head, but agree that it was one of the most disturbing Hannibal and Will sequences in the series.
As with some of the other dark sequences, this one pushed the envelope on how much gore and disturbing content NBC would allow. Surprisingly, the network permitted this scene to proceed, but by season 3, there had been many gruesome scenes, and at least Hannibal does stop short of actually eating Will’s brain.
1) Mason Feeds His Own Face To Dogs
Mason was a disturbing character to begin with, but the scene where Hannibal gets him to feed his own face to dogs is especially gruesome. It’s a chilling scene that is not easily forgotten, especially since it was rather graphic.
Of course, Hannibal doing this to a child molester makes it easier to take, but that doesn’t change the fact that there was a level of gore, violence, and drug use in this scene (Mason was under the influence of psychedelics) that is not often seen on network television.
What moment in Hannibal do you think was the most disturbing? Leave a comment and join the conversation at the ComicBook Forum.
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