It occurred to me that I never posted this meta to Tumblr, so I decided to rectify this fact)

An interesting thing: one of the fans, Bentley, visited Hannibal Prop Store once and took pics of Francis’ ledger with various notes allegedly written by him for the show. Bryan (and other writers) included lots of interesting stuff in it, you can check the site above for details.

What I found interesting and unexpected is that Francis apparently had such an overwhelming interest in Hannibal that it was even sexual. From his notes made for the show, this particular bit (transcribed by Bentley):

“I think we are so similar and could be the best partners that history could have seen. Let me show you what we could do together doctor. I am so eager to please you to be your friend your lover perhaps. Why not I think we could love each other doctor. Don’t you want to have someone that is the one in your life. That special someone that is always here for you. It is me doctor? I am!”

This person transcribed other parts of text, too, which seem to be referring to Will. Here’s an interesting part:

“He faces you, he traps you but in the end he is broken! Do you think he understands you? Do you think he really appreciates your magical power? Does he realize how special and unique and wonderful you are doctor. I have my doubts, I don’t think he really sings the wonder, the salvation that can come from following you, knowing you. ”

That’s extremely interesting because it gives a much deeper insight into Francis and his motivations. For one thing, one of the phrases that always bothered me in the show is his description of Will - namely, the mention that he’s “not very handsome”. It’s from the books, so it might apply there, but Will in the show is handsome, very much so. Francis seems to resent him.

Then, he gets hurt and believes that Hannibal betrayed him after the aborted phone call. But what was it that bothered him so? Hannibal did warn him on time and he wasn’t caught, he didn’t reveal his identity. However, after that, Francis talks about betrayal and stages the performance with Chilton that mirrors what Will did to Freddie. The burning ‘Freddie in a wheelchair’ is a symbol of betrayal that connects Will and Hannibal. Francis must have a particular reason to repeat it so literally. He knows about their history, he probably reads between the lines, too. So why he did get so angry now, to the point of wanting to kill Hannibal and recreating a scene from Hannibal and Will’s past?

My theory is, Francis believed that Hannibal is no longer interested in Will and is focused on him instead. He read the article about Will visiting Hannibal for ‘consultation’ on his case and believed that Hannibal sent him away. After this, he calls Hannibal for the first time and tells him, “I’m delighted that you have taken an interest in me … I don’t think you’d reveal my identity even if you knew it.” But after Hannibal showed that he’s still associating with the FBI, one way or another (via the phone call), Francis must have realized Hannibal is playing with him, and that it’s Will who might be his end game. He must recall that Will stumbled upon him in the museum, that Hannibal urged him to attack Will’s family, and he connects the dotes, realizing that Will is the central player while he, Francis, is a pawn. He might have been conflicted about Will’s role all this time, hence his notes, but the phone call became the last straw. Hence 'betrayal’ symbol and talks of how Hannibal betrayed him while he just “wanted to share”.

It also explains Francis’ changing attitude to Will. He touched his photo once at the start, which denotes his interest. He threw him away like a toy in the museum, and while it’s just an interpretation, to me, he looked pissed at Will in particular. When he tells Hannibal later that Will interests him, it can’t be just from their museum encounter. Francis clearly knows a lot about Will (likely from Freddie’s articles), but he doesn’t like him because he thinks him unworthy of Hannibal, which his notes prove. But in TWOTL, Francis is very unsure about Will, when he attacks him at the motel. He is no longer certain what to think of him (since he thinks Hannibal has chosen him). He automatically treats him with some sort of respect because of who he is to Hannibal and what he must represent.

Notably, this respect turned into fury in the finale, where he attacked Will quite viciously. Interesting that he went to ruin his face first and foremost. Considering his own insecurity, it says a lot about his many-layered jealousy, from deep to superficial physical level.