Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 13 “The Wrath of the Lamb”
Directed by Michael Rymer
Written by Nick Antosca, Bryan Fuller, & Steve Lightfoot
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Nina Arianda, Rutina Wesley, Richard Armitage
NBC
Air date: Saturday, August 29th, 2015, 10pm

The beginning of “The Wrath of The Lamb,” what is most likely Hannibal’s series finale*, begins with a fire. Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) convincingly purges himself from the world and lets the oddly restorative power of flames to begin his hunt again. But in the ashes of that fire, there’s still a spark. You can hear it clicking throughout the episode’s score, like the burner on a stove waiting to be ignited.

The real fire hasn’t been snuffed out. Rather, it was just twitching and clicking, waiting to be sparked.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 12 “The Number of the Beast Is 666″
Directed by Guillermo Navarro
Written by Jeff Vlaming & Angela LaManna and Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Nina Arianda, Rutina Wesley, Richard Armitage
NBC
Air date: Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, 10pm

We spend a lot of time in “The Number of the Beast is 666,” thinking about or around the idea of religion; specifically around the concept of who is and isn’t the devil. Jack (Laurence Fishburne), and Will (Hugh Dancy) want to believe that they aren’t the executors of damnation, but Hannibal (Mads Mikkelson) knows his place. Hannibal is the Devil this show deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

That honor falls to Will Graham.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 11 “…And the Beast from the Sea”
Directed by Michael Rymer
Written by Steve Lightfoot
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Nina Arianda, Rutina Wesley, Richard Armitage
NBC
Air date: Saturday, August 15th, 2015, 10pm

The latest episode of Hannibal, titled “…And the Beast from the Sea,” wastes no time in jumping into a signature moment from the Red Dragon novel (I don’t view spoilers from the novels as sacred text, especially considering how fast and loose Fuller and company have played with source material; so I’d ruined this particular twist for myself quite some time ago) and then lets the chips fall where they may as Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen), Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage), and Will (Hugh Dancy) all deal with the consequences.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 10 “And the Woman Clothed in Sun…”
Directed by Guillermo Navarro
Written by Don Mancini, Bryan Fuller
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Nina Arianda, Rutina Wesley, Richard Armitage
NBC
Air date: Saturday, August 8th, 2015, 10pm

“I want to be recognized by you.”

One of our most natural desires as humans is the desire to connect. It’s a special emotion that allows us to form a bond over shared experiences, interests, desires, wants, needs, etc. And it’s something that Hannibal has had baked into its DNA from the very beginning. The very nature of Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) profession is to connect, on some level, with the killers he’s hunting. It’s that level of empathy that allows insight into the “˜design’ of these monsters. This is what drove him to thinking he could understand Hannibal Lector (Mads Mikkelsen). Empathy, as Bedelia (Gillian Anderson) tells Will, is what nearly killed him before. And what could very much kill him again.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 9 “And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…”
Directed by John Dahl
Written by Jeff Vlaming, Helen Shang, Bryan Fuller, Steve Lightfoot
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Nina Arianda, Rutina Wesley, Richard Armitage
NBC
Air date: Saturday, July 30th, 2015, 10pm

Often, most of us look into a mirror without thinking twice. We check our hair or our outfit, and then move along with our day. But for some, mirrors often carry a darker and more menacing tone – reflecting back our insecurities. We see the best of us, followed by the worst of us. For Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) first meeting in several years, they find themselves balancing the reflection of those two exact aspects: the best and worst of them. They can’t hide from their reflections. All that’s left in the mirror is honesty.