Previously: Entrée.

Today: Sorbet.

“How do you see the Ripper?”

“I see him as one of those pitiful thing sometimes born in hospitals. They feed it, keep it warm, but they don’t put it on the machines. They let it die. But he doesn’t die. He looks normal. Nobody can tell what he is.”

That’s because Hannibal is “wearing a very well-tailored person suit.” A “human veil.” That’s why no-one suspects Hannibal, that’s why Alana’s doubts about Abigail don’t extend to Hannibal, that’s why the betrayal will hurt so very badly. Will is relying on this man for his mental health and safety, and that same man is slowly but steadily taking it away from him.

Previously: Coquilles.

Today: Entrée.

It’s easy to pick my single favourite scene from this episode: aside from the revelation that Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper. Aside from the fact that not only Will comes to Hannibal for comfort, but Jack does, too. Aside from the fact that the serial killer who broke Jack’s first pony, Miriam Regina Lass*, is now comforting him and revelling in Jack’s pain. Aside from Will, Jack, and Alana meeting with Freddie Lounds to enlist her help, and Freddie’s astute observation of “just a bunch of psychopaths helping each other out.” I love all of that. But that’s not it.

Previously: Potage.

Today: Œuf.

It just all stacks up so well for Hannibal. This case, the Lost Boys, hitting Will so squarely in the chest as he is caught in his need to help Abigail survive and recover, plays right into Lecter’s hands. Using his anger at being unable to help the boys, Hannibal convinces Will that it is indeed his duty to help the daughter of Garret Jacob Hobbs.

Previously: Amuse-Bouche.

Today: Potage.

In Potage, we are formally introduced to Abigail Hobbs. She’s a marvellous character — a riddle inside an enigma, someone we want to identify with and sympathise, but can’t, not quite. She’s incredibly intelligent, and as innocent as she is capable of manipulation.

Previously: Apéritif (pilot).

Today: Amuse-Bouche.

My favourite scene in this episode is Beverly Katz (Hettienne Park) teaching Will how to shoot. Because, whilst Hannibal is coaxing Will into admitting that killing Garret Jacob Hobbs felt good not for the fact that he saved Abigail’s life, but for the sake of killing, whilst everything Hannibal says can be twisted into the opposite, revealing a gruelling picture of a master manipulator casting a net — there is a support network forming. A network that Hannibal is going to go to great lengths to isolate Will Graham from.