Hannibal Lecter Transcripts: Hannibal S1E1

Franklin: Please… Thank you. I hate being this neurotic.

Hannibal: If you weren’t neurotic, Franklyn, you would be something much worse. Our brain is designed to experience anxiety in short bursts, not the prolonged duress yours has seemed to enjoy. That’s why you feel as though a lion were on the verge of devouring you. Franklyn…

Franklin: Yes.

Hannibal: You have to convince yourself the lion is not in the room. When it is, I assure you, you will know.

Jack: Dr. Lecter. I’m, uh, Special Ag–

Hannibal: I hate to be discourteous, but this is a private exit for my patients.

Jack: Oh, Dr. Lecter. Sorry. Um, I’m, uh, Special Agent Jack Crawford, FBI. May I come in?

Hannibal: You may wait in the waiting room. Franklyn, I’ll see you next week.

Franklin: Yes.

Hannibal: Unless, of course, this is about him.

Jack: No, this is all about you.

Hannibal: Please, come in. So, may I ask how this is all about me?

Jack: You can ask, but I may have to ask you a few questions first. You expecting another patient?

Hannibal: We’re all alone.

Jack: Oh, good. No secretary?

Hannibal: Was predispositioned to romantic whims. Followed her heart to the United Kingdom. Sad to see her go.

Jack: Wow. Are these yours, Doctor?

Hannibal: Among the first. My boarding school in Paris when I was a boy.

Jack: The amount of detail is incredible.

Hannibal: I learned very early a scalpel cuts better points than a pencil sharpener.

Jack: Well, now I understand why your drawings earned you an internship at Johns Hopkins.

Hannibal: I’m beginning to suspect you’re investigating me, – Agent Crawford.

Jack: No, no. No, you were referred to me by Alana Bloom in the psychology department Georgetown.

Hannibal: Most psychology departments are filled with personality deficients. Dr. Bloom would be the exception.

Jack: Yes, she would. Yes, she would. Well, she told me that you mentored her during her residency at Johns Hopkins.

Hannibal: I learned as much from her as she did from me.

Jack: Yes, but she also showed me, uh, your paper. “Evolutionary” uh, “Evolutionary Origins of Social Exclusion”?

Hannibal: Yes.

Jack: Very interesting. Very interesting. Even for a layman.

Hannibal: A layman?

Jack: Yeah.

Hannibal: So many learned fellows going about in the halls of Behavioral Science – at the FBI, and you consider yourself a layman.

Jack: I do when I’m in your company, doctor. Um, I need you to help me with a psychological profile.

Hannibal: Tell me, then, how many confessions?

Jack: Twelve dozen, the last time I checked. None of them had any details until this morning. And then they all had details. Some genius in Duluth PD took a photograph of Elise Nichols’ body with his cell phone, shared it with his friends, and then Freddy Lounds posted it on Tattlecrime.com.

Will: Tasteless.

Hannibal: Do you have trouble with taste?

Will: My thoughts are often not tasty.

Hannibal: Nor mine. No effective barriers.

Will: I build forts.

Hannibal: Associations come quickly.

Will: So do forts.

Hannibal: Not fond of eye contact, are you?

Will: Eyes are distracting you see too much, you don’t see enough. And-And it’s hard to focus when you’re thinking, um, “Oh, those whites are really white”, or, “He must have hepatitis”, or, “Oh, is that a burst “vein?” So, yeah, I try to avoid eyes whenever possible. Jack?

Jack: Yes?

Hannibal: I imagine what you see and learn touches everything else in your mind. Your values and decency are present yet shocked at your associations, appalled at your dreams. No forts in the bone arena of your skull for things you love.

Will: Whose profile are you working on? Whose profile is he working on?

Hannibal: I’m sorry, Will. Observing is what we do. I can’t shut mine off any more than you can shut yours off.

Will: Please, don’t psychoanalyze me. You won’t like me when I’m psychoanalyzed.

Jack: Will.

Will: Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go give a lecture on psychoanalyzing.

Jack: Maybe we shouldn’t poke him like that, Doctor. Perhaps a less, uh, direct approach.

Hannibal: What he has is pure empathy. He can assume your point of view, or mine, and maybe some other points of view that scare him. It’s an uncomfortable gift, Jack.

Jack: Hmm.

Hannibal: Perception’s a tool that’s pointed on both ends. This cannibal you have him getting to know I think I can help good Will see his face.

Hannibal: Good morning, Will. May I come in?

Will: Where’s Crawford?

Hannibal: Deposed in court. The adventure will be yours and mine today. May I come in?

Hannibal: I’m very careful about what I put into my body, which means I end up preparing most meals myself. A little protein scramble to start the day. Some eggs, some sausage.

Will: Mm, it’s delicious. Thank you.

Hannibal: My pleasure.

Hannibal: I would apologize for my analytical ambush, but I know I will soon be apologizing again and you’ll tire of that eventually, so I have to consider using apologies sparingly.

Will: Just keep it professional.

Hannibal: Or we could socialize, like adults. God forbid we become friendly.

Will: I don’t find you that interesting.

Hannibal: You will.

Hannibal: Agent Crawford tells me you have a knack for the monsters.

Will: I don’t think the Shrike killed that girl in the field.

Hannibal: The devil is in the details. What didn’t your copycat do to the girl in the field? What gave it away?

Will: Everything. It’s like he had to show me a negative so that I could see the positive. That crime scene was practically gift-wrapped.

Hannibal: The mathematics of human behaviour all those ugly variables. Some bad math with this Shrike fellow, huh? Are you reconstructing his fantasies?

Will: Heh.

Hannibal: What kind of problems? Does he have?

Will: Uh, he has a few.

Hannibal: You ever have any problems, Will?

Will: No.

Hannibal: Of course you don’t. You and I are just alike problem-free. Nothing about us to feel horrible about. You know, Will? I think Uncle Jack sees you as a fragile little teacup. The finest China, used for only special guests.

Will: (laughing) How do you see me?

Hannibal: The mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by. Finish your breakfast.

Will: What are you smiling at?

Hannibal: Peeking behind the curtain. I’m just curious how the FBI goes about its business when it’s not kicking in doors.

Will: You’re lucky we’re not doing house-to-house interviews. We found a little piece of metal in Elise Nichols’ clothes a shred from a pipe threader.

Hannibal: There must be hundreds of construction sites all over Minnesota.

Will: A certain kind of metal, certain kind of pipe, certain kind of pipe coating, so we’re checking all the construction sites that use that kind of pipe.

Hannibal: What are we looking for?

Will: At this stage, anything really. But mostly, anything peculiar.

Hannibal: What is it about Jimmy Jacob Hobbs you find so peculiar?

Will: He left a phone number, no address.

Hannibal: And therefore he has something to hide?

Will: The others all left addresses.

Mr. Hobbs: Hello?

Hannibal: Mr. Jimmyt Jacob Hobbs?

Mr. Hobbs: Yeah.

Hannibal: You don’t know me and I suspect we’ll never meet. This is a courtesy call. Listen very carefully. Are you listening?

Mr. Hobbs: Yes.

Hannibal: They know.