Hannibal: And the Beast from the Sea Recap

Synopsis for 3×11: The Dragon continues in his Becoming with his next attack. Hannibal gets into trouble. Will has a very bad day.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Will, Jack, and Alana engaged in a little powwow presumably not long after Will got the snot kicked out of him by the Red Dragon. Francis had eaten the painting, and Alana proposed that Francis was perhaps trying to stop whatever it was he was becoming. Will seemed to mull that over, before he went and attacked Jack for bringing him into all of it in the first place. Obviously there were some bitter feelings between the two. Then Will insisted that Hannibal knew who the Red Dragon was and exactly where to find him, though of course Hannibal had yet to share that information with Will.

Paralleling their meeting of the minds, Francis and Hannibal had their own get together in Hannibal’s mind palace. Francis still used Hannibal’s old office to call in on his lawyer’s number, and they discussed the Dragon and Reba and what it all meant. Francis the man struggled with the fact the Dragon seemed to want him to kill the only person he’s ever loved. He marveled over how she’s the first woman he’s laid with alive and he listened to her heartbeat. He doesn’t want to give her up. Hannibal continued to encourage his becoming nonetheless, and put him on the scent of Will Graham’s family telling him to, “Save yourself, kill them all.”

Of course Francis did just that. On a date night with Reba, the two settled in to watch a soundless movie. For Reba, she had no idea anything was going on but for Francis, he was doing homework. He’d stalked around Will’s home and videoed Molly and Walter during their daily routine. He’d also videotaped the dogs, scoping out the place for his planned attack. A day or so later, something went wrong with the dogs and they were forced to take them all into the vet due to some sort of food poisoning. With the “early detection” system taken out of play, Francis was prepared to make his move against Will’s family.

Will confronted Hannibal and insisted that he knew Hannibal had somehow been in touch with the Red Dragon. Hannibal played dumb and ask Will how he was supposed to have done that. Personal ads, toilet paper? Of course these were the tools used in the books and other movies, so it was fun to have that little Easter Egg thrown in for fans of canon. Hannibal continued to mock Will about family, and claimed that it was Will who would let another family die.

The Dragon, being a little less than stealthy, ended up waking Molly up before he even entered the house. She showed some serious skill and an ability to stay calm under pressure in the midst of a tense situation. With Francis breaking into the house, she rushed to her son’s bedroom and got him out the window and gave him an escape plan before Francis could get to their rooms. She then proceeded to get out of the house and hide under the deck while a very disturbed and frustrated murderer stood above her. While he was distracted, Walter made a dash from the car to be under the deck with his mom, and they turned on the car alarm to catch the Dragon’s attention while they bolted the other way.

Down to the main road and into the street, a passerby got shot but they jumped in his car anyway and managed to get away with only some minor wounds. Francis was not happy and howled into the night.

Will and his stepson had a chat in the hospital about the Dragon, and Walter told him he wanted Will to kill him. Will claimed he just wants to catch the man, to get him the help he needs, but afterward he talked with Jack and it was settled that he wouldn’t go home until it was all over. With Will’s family barely making it out of an attack, the attention turned to Hannibal. Alana and Jack made him agree to keep the Dragon on the phone as long as possible so they could trace the call, and Hannibal reluctantly agreed.

Francis, at home, got into a fight with the Red Dragon. Presumably it was some sort of punishment for his failure, but from his later reaction it seemed it was also punishment for not killing Reba. He went to her soon after, a mess, and showing himself to be very human and broke up with her. She did not take it well, but at least she wasn’t going to end up dead anytime soon.

He called Hannibal to talk about it, and after a long chat about Francis’ becoming, Hannibal told him that the FBI was listening. Francis immediately cleared out, and the FBI got there too late. Alana, as punishment, began taking away the luxuries that Hannibal had been allowed to have in his cell. They took his paintings, his books, and even his toilet, leaving a very disturbed and ticked off cannibal behind.

When Molly finally woke up after her surgery, she and Will had a bit of a heart to heart. She wanted to be angry with him, but in part she also blamed herself and definitely blamed Jack Crawford for their predicament. It seemed like in Will’s world it was going to be tough to “hold onto anything good,” because everything was “too damned slippery.” She asked if they would go home eventually, and he said yes. Hopefully.

Once again Will returned to Hannibal, irritated. They discussed the Red Dragon again, Will all the more inspired to catch him after what happened to his family. Yet at they talked, Will realized something. The Dragon didn’t see what he did as murder. He hadn’t meant to kill the families, he had meant to change them. Just as he was changing.