Hannibal: The Wrath of the Lamb Recap

Synopsis for 3×13: The FBI hatches a plan to catch the Red Dragon once and for all. It doesn’t go as planned.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

After Francis stole Reba last week, he took her and hid her and proceeded to torment her. First, he tried to see if he could trust her. He made her feel the key around his neck and then told her to go and lock the front door. Of course, with the key in hand, she tried to run but he was right there to catch her. Then he showed her a gun, after escorting her back to the bedroom, and made her feel it to confirm it was there after he put the key back around his neck. He claimed he didn’t want to give her to the Red Dragon, so it was “better she go with him” as he doused the room in gasoline. First he set the place on fire, then shot himself, and left her scrambling to escape.

Thankfully she made it out and, in the hospital, talked to Will about it. She told him what she knew, that Francis had killed himself, and the whole ordeal was over. Will tried to encourage her a little and insisted it wasn’t her fault, what he did. After their conversation he went straight to Hannibal and they had a little talk about the Red Dragon.

Hannibal, though seemingly amused by the death of the dragon, pointed out he was pleased with Will’s actions toward Chilton in the previous episode. Then they talked about going home again. Would Will even have a home? He said he and Molly wanted to try to be a family again. Before he left, he issued a bit of a “mic drop,” and pointed out that he knew all along if he’d kept chasing Hannibal, Hannibal would have kept running. So he stopped, in order to get Hannibal to turn himself in.

When Will went back to the motel he got attacked by a very-much-not-dead Francis Dolarhyde. They had a nice little talk about Hannibal, and Will pointed out that to a degree he understood where Francis was coming from. The Red Dragon expressed a desire to meet Hannibal, because Hannibal had betrayed him and had betrayed Will, too. He would be stronger than Hannibal, but he needed Will’s help to arrange the meeting.

Team Sassy Science got their final scene in the series and it was sad, because there wasn’t nearly enough of them throughout. They figured out how Francis had staged his death. He made sure Reba would feel the head, and had left the body of a man he’d killed there instead of his own to convince everyone he was dead. Will pointed out that since the Red Dragon was alive, they needed to bait him, and the best bait was going to be Hannibal Lecter.

Will broke the news to Bedelia, who uttered my favorite line of all time when she called Will a “ridiculous, righteous, twitchy little man.” They were going to take Hannibal into federal custody and arrange a fake escape that would attract Dolarhyde’s attention. Bedelia believed him to be insane, because the risk was going to be too great and they wouldn’t catch him again if he got away. Will claimed he didn’t intend to catch Hannibal again, and gave Bedelia a heads up that “meat is back on the menu.”

Alana went to visit a very messed up Chilton. She said his incident reminded her of what Hannibal was capable of, and Chilton replied and pointed out that it was also what she and Will were capable of. They talked about skin, and in a Buffalo Bill-esque moment Chilton said he wouldn’t mind having Hannibal’s skin grafted onto his own. Stay weird, my beautiful bae.

After she visited Chilton, she went to Hannibal and offered him a deal: help the FBI catch Dolarhyde, and all privileges would be restored. He agreed, but on the condition that Will asked him himself and said “please.” What a charmer. Hannibal let Alana off with a warning and reminded her that she died in his kitchen “when she decided to be brave,” and that she and her family were all on his borrowed time.

Will solidified his insane plan with Jack and Alana, and went to ask Hannibal to help. Of course Hannibal couldn’t say no to Will’s face, so he agreed to assist. During transport, however, things didn’t go quite as planned and Francis showed up in a police car and caused a huge crash. He left the door open so that Hannibal and Will could escape in a police car they took from a couple of officers killed by Dolarhyde. It was very much a “get in the car, loser,” moment for Will and he went ahead with Hannibal out to a bluff where Hannibal had a house.

Alana, a long way away, sent her family off to safety after Hannibal’s threat.

The house Hannibal went to was apparently where he’d kept Abigail and Miriam at some point, and where he and Will would hang out for a bit. They talked, and Will pointed out that Francis would be watching them. Soon after, a gun shot rang out and the Red Dragon showed up and an epic fight ensued. Working together, Hannibal and Will used whatever means necessary to slay the dragon and ended up covered in blood with the dragon dead on the ground.

My favorite shot in the entire episode came from the blood spilling out to form the dragon’s wings.

They stood together then, covered in blood and very injured, at the edge of the bluff overlooking the ocean. It was there Hannibal expressed that this was all he’d ever wanted for them. They engaged in an intimate hug, right before Will tipped them off a cliff and they fell to what may have been their deaths.

That’s it. That was the show. Welcome to the Hannibal season (and possibly series) finale.

I stuck around for the after credits scene, and it left nothing but questions. It showed Bedelia sitting at the dinner table, a nice long leg set out and ready to eat. Panning to her, it showed that the leg was hers, therefore implying that something more is afoot even though the boys took a dive off a cliff.