[S1 EP1 Apertif]

*This  is where it all started-so much of what is familiar-"This Is My Design",the pendulum swing,the nightmare stag...I actually almost quit watching-not sure where they were going with it, but I'm glad that I did.

*The colours here are autumnal-reds,oranges and golds.

*Will's first recreation is extraordinarily gory, but compared to the rest of the episode-and the rest of the series...

*We get several book references but the tapping the phone is  out of the book.

*We're introduced  to Will's classroom enviroment-something that will become familiar over the first season.

*As someone with Asperger's can I just ramble for a minute: I find it interesting that Will is on the spectrum. I think this(and the fact that the person playing Will is  a good actor and good looking) is why I gravitate towards Will as much as I do. Jack pushing Will's glasses up is an incredible invasion of his personal space(people with Aspergers tend to have issues with personal space)

*Most of the cultural references are 70's related(well, Willy Wonka and The Hulk anyways).

*Interesting that Will mentions the girls being very Mall Of America-The Mall Of America is in Bloomington Minnesota, where the Hobbs family(who will feature very prominently in this story by the end of the episode) live.I don't think that's a coincidence.

*Will's recreation of Elise Nichols' death-choking her out-especially disturbing.

*Our first sighting of Team Sassy Science!

*We get Will and his dogs-dogs are one of his coping mechanisms(going back to the Asperger's for just a second).

*Sweaty Will(did he have encephalitis,even now?)

*The segue from 'He's eating them" into Hannibal's eating dinner is unsubtle and unsettling.

*We get a gradual reveal of Garret Jacob Hobbs and of Abigail.

*Alana is much more sympathetic in S1 than she is in S2.

*Poor Hannibal;he has to put up with patients like Franklyn!

*Parallels/callbacks:The scene in the hospital with Hannibal and Will is called back to in Savoureux; the scene with Hannibal and Will having breakfast is called back to in Releves when Hannibal brings Will the silkie chicken soup.

Cassie Boyle's death tableau, with the stag head, is called back to several times, when Will is trying to(starting to?) figure things out.

*Quote Of The Episode: "You're the mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by".

*The death of Garrett Jacob Hobbs happens pretty much the same way it happens in the book-though his daughter is not named.Will's killing Garrett Jacob Hobbs is what sent him to the mental hospital(in the book),not getting framed by Hannibal.