It’s an alarming moment! In Will’s expression, we can see no pity, no remorse, no acknowledgment of Jack as his comrade and friend. That’s all gone. Now Will has joined Hannibal in becoming a merciless predator – and Jack is their prey. You should be horrified by this scene, especially when viewing it in the context of this particular episode, which features Jack at his most toweringly human and sympathetic.
Everyone is at a crossroads in Aperitivo. Each of them has died, each of them has returned to life, and now they each have to decide what to do with the new life they’ve been given. Chilton is the messenger who travels from invalid to invalid, laying the choice before them. Alana takes Chilton’s advice and chooses vengeance. Will rejects Chilton and chooses Hannibal. And Jack, despite recognizing Chilton’s ulterior motives, ends up listening to him. He chooses to put aside his anger and his civic duty, and instead devotes himself to saving his friend. The same friend who dreams of murdering Jack in cold blood.
The scene pictured above is a fantasy, one of Will’s ‘better worlds’ where the teacup doesn’t shatter. It is a drastic reimagining of Mizumono in which Will suffers no internal conflict whatsoever. Truly the best of all possible worlds: here Will’s choice has already been made. He never betrayed Hannibal, because he is, and has always been, Hannibal’s man through and through. Hannibal never smelled Freddie Lounds on him, never offered Will a chance at forgiveness and escape; instead Hannibal serves his sacrificial lamb to Jack, an omen of the bloodshed to come. Will acts without hesitation, without deliberation. He’s conflict-free! Quite the fantasy, considering how wracked by indecision Will is in real life.
But there is one moment, even in this fantasy sequence, that acknowledges Will’s internal strife. Before he attacks Jack, Will quietly divides himself in two:
The Will in the foreground is Hannibal’s man. The cold-eyed predator, waiting for the moment to strike. But the Will in the background looks at Jack with soft eyes, remorseful eyes, eyes that care. This is the part of Will who is still resistant to Hannibal’s influence. The part of Will who can’t bear to assist in Jack’s murder. In order for Will to go through with this violent act, he must send this vulnerable part of himself away. And so, with solemn regret, the Will who is Jack’s friend fades into darkness. All that’s left is the monster.
Even in the land of fantasy, Will acknowledges that he would never be able to choose this particular outcome, at least, not without destroying half of himself first. But in reality that half can’t be destroyed, can’t be so easily banished. It’s still there inside Will, dormant but ever-present, and maybe – just maybe – Jack can reach it. Jack has devoted himself to this purely selfless cause, to act as Will’s guardian angel. Perhaps, for the first time on the show, Jack sees things more clearly than anyone. Perhaps Will can still be saved.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1IEuTgK