Source
r/HannibalTV•
agentbueller

[Spoiler all] In defense of a character swap that angered a lot of people

First of all I'm talking about the swapping of Chilton and Lounds in regards to being the Red Dragon's victim. (A difference between the source material and the show)

I don't think the swap occurred for the Red Dragon, I think it occurred for the Silence of the Lambs arc. In Silence of the Lambs Chilton gets eaten by Hannibal at the end when Hannibal follows him to the Bermudas on vacation. It's the most rewarding kill in the entire series because in the series Chilton is a sadistic asshole who borders on (or imo pretty explicitly) tortures the patients of the hospital. Chilton is the guy who's been there to hurt the main character every step of the way, so they saved his death for last.

Now in the TV show the main character is Will, and Lounds is the one who has been trying to thwart him at every step. She has no code of ethics and is probably the most easy to hate character besides folks like Mason and The Dragon, who all get what's coming to them in the arc where they come up. But Lounds persists from season 1 through season 3 completely unharmed, and while operating in this legal gray area but morally wrong place. I think the parallels to book/movie Chilton and TV Lounds are staggering, and because of that they wanted her to be the last victim of Hannibal (That's canonically shown)

Posted Sep 19, 2016, 12:46 PM UTC

3514
ALT_enveetee•

I actually didn't hate Freddie--she definitely is the epitome of a Syltherin in my book in that she is cunning and very resourceful, but I don't think she is evil or operates out of malice like Mason. She manages to show slivers of humanity, like when Jack shows up to the Beverly on display scene and Freddie tries to dissuade him from doing it. To me, that definitely came out of actual sympathy--she does not benefit from urging Jack to send someone else in. It was just a shred of good ol' regular, human sympathy.

I also got the sense that she did feel bad for Abigail, as well, and even though she definitely wanted to use that story to become more famous, she did seem to be operating out of a sense of indignant justice in figuring out what happened.

34
Jason_Wanderer"It's Beautiful"•

Just to add onto this, if I remember correctly, she even had a legitimate conversation with Will during Mizumono.

5
harleyyquinade•

True, she is not weepy eyed like Alana over Will risking his life but she is also not mocking him when she tells him he doesn't know if he is going to survive him (Hannibal) it's the only time they have a quiet, calm one on one conversation and you sense a bit of lowkey caring on her side. After all, he saved her life when he attacked her (the irony!) or Hannibal would've killed her. But then in season 3 they are back to fighting! "You didn't die enough" Will to Freddie, lol, I reckon they just liked arguing Will never wanted her to die ;) their bickering was always fun to watch but that scene in Mizumono was nice for a change.

1
SirIan628•

It being Chilton also worked because of the implication that Will set him up since Chilton was an annoyance for Hannibal.

I could see your idea about Freddie being the last victim. "Goodbye, Clarice. We're having an old friend for dinner."

17
zabandi•

I thought it was a great idea just because you are genuinely shocked when Freddie is alive. Not to mention Freddie isn't that bad of a person.

8
harleyyquinade•

Agreed I also like Freddie is the only character that never suffered any near death situation or injury, remarkable for this show. Sad Bedelia lost her leg she almost made it in one piece.. But Freddie gets the title as the only unharmed character that also never ate people. Well and the lab guys but they were minor characters that almost had no contact with Hannibal so for me they don't count.

1
iamapug•

I love Chilton and hate what happened to him in s3 but I also honestly feel like the swap made sense, for a couple of reasons.

I personally feel like Will would have had more reason to set Freddie up than Chilton, because Freddie actively made his life difficult for 3 seasons. I don't hate Freddie, nor do I think the average viewer does, but she has been a serious annoyance to Will and has basically stalked him and publicly embarrassed him, so you can maybe see why he would take an opportunity to finally get revenge- especially because Freddie is one of the only characters who made it through the whole series physically unscathed!

Because of this, I think having the victim be Chilton actually makes Will's actions less understandable and more unsympathetic, and not just because he seems to be a fan favorite who a lot of viewers already had sympathy for. It's not that Freddie would have deserved this kind of treatment, but come on, Chilton really didn't do anything to Will personally. Overall, he was an annoying asshole and I'm sure Will didn't enjoy being imprisoned in the BSHCI, but that wasn't exactly Chilton's doing. He even came to sympathize with and believe Will before he was released! To me this shows even more how Will is like or is becoming more like Hannibal- Chilton's only real sin was being kind of annoying, or rude, and that was enough for Will to set him up for horrific violence. And of course some part of him had to know that it would please Hannibal- which it did.

Going forward, I also don't think it will be Chilton who gets the "having an old friend for dinner" treatment like at the end of SotL. I think you are right that it could DEFINITELY be Freddie, especially if Will is involved at that point. It would be especially fitting since Will pretended to kill Freddie before. I also think it could be Alana, since Hannibal has promised to kill her and she is the one who actually antagonized him in the hospital in the series, unlike Chilton. (I don't think Bryan Fuller would actively kill off Alana, though...)

7
harleyyquinade•

I think if the show continued Alana was going to get book Chilton's death, she was running the hospital and humiliated him and Hannibal always keeps his words. Eventually he'd find her and kill her, or Margot to make her suffer.

As for Will, his reaction to the tape with Chilton and Dolarhyde shows he is not like Hannibal, and Alana also lowkey suggested Chilton as he was the only person dumb enough to do that..

1
iamapug•

I think it would make sense for Alana to get book/movie Chilton's death, too, I just don't think Bryan Fuller would actually kill her off. Also if it was Hannibal and Will free/on the run together, I can't see Will letting it happen.

Inthink Will's reaction to the video showed it was hard for him to actually face what he had done, but he basically admitted to Bedelia that he knew what he was doing when he put his hand on Chilton's shoulder. Of course, everyone in the room bears some responsibility, including Chilton for being dumb enough to participate in the first place.

2
BlackCrowRises•

I'm pretty sure Alanna (if they ever make season 4) will be the "Old Friend for dinner", since they've been building that since season 2.

3
harleyyquinade•

Exactly, they even made her run the asylum like Chilton in the book, also that line he tells her seemed like total foreshadowing. But we never saw it because there was no season 4. But I'm sure if there was Alana would be the old friend for dinner.

1
K_S_MorganTogether and Free•

I dislike Freddie. I think she's brave, yes, but she's also a terrible human being. I could write a lot about that, but I will just mention the moment that shocked me in the every beginning - when she seeks Nickolas Boyle out, provokes him, tells him about Abigail, deliberately fuels his hatred and pain. She's responsible for his death, as well for Marissa's - less than Hannibal, but still.

2
SpringBonnie87The Verger Baby•

There's no evidence of Chilton torturing his patients in any of the books. It's only said that he's a bad psychiatrist.

1
harleyyquinade•

Freddie easy to hate?? She was awesome, didn't give a fuck about Will or Hannibal or what anyone said about her, fearless, never ate people, also the only character that was never severely injured (she was too smart probably smarter than the rest they all suffered near death injuries or died but not her) she also never killed anyone. Also flawless hair and fashion sense. TL; DR Queen.

1