Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 5 “Contorno”
Directed by Guillermo Navaro
Written by Bryan fuller
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Joe Anderson, Fortunato Cerlino, and Tao Okamoto
NBC
Air date: Thursday, July 2nd, 2015, 10pm

When I was in high school, I used to go white water rafting down the Nantahala River in western North Carolina during the summer. There was this jumping rock towards the middle of the route that I always terrified to jump off of – it’s fairly high up, and you had to make sure you jumped out into the middle of the river or else you could hurt yourself. It was always a daunting process, until I actually leapt. It’s in that moment where you feel a variety of emotions – adrenaline, fear, excitement – it was always a mix of those things. There’s a boundlessness to a jump like that. It’s an area in which nothing, yet everything, is happening.

They don’t call it a leap of faith for nothing.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 4 “Aperitivo”
Directed by Marc Jobst
Written by Nick Antosca
Created by Bryan Fuller
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Raúl Esparza, Joe Anderson and Gina Torres
NBC
Air date: Thursday, June 25th, 2015, 10pm

Hannibal’s trend of using other language to describe the events that are about to transpire has, more often than not, been a good rosetta stone for interpreting the episode in the larger context of the season. Aperitivo is described as the ritual of going out for a pre-drinner drink. It stems from the the Latin phrase “to open” and fully means to “open your stomach.” A taste to get you excited for your upcoming meal.

If this pre-dinner drink is an indication of the meal we’re prepared to receive, it’s going to be a brutal one, as Hannibal Lecter is about to learn the true meaning of the phrase: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 3 “Secondo”
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Written by Angelina Burnett and Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Fortunato Cerlino, Tao Okamoto and Laurence Fishburne
NBC
Air date: Thursday, June 18th, 2015, 10pm

Who is Hannibal Lector?

The secret origin of Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) devil is something that hasn’t been explored deeply in the show’s past, rather, the intricate details have been left to the linger in the shadows our dear doctor loves so deeply. But as Will Graham looks to gain traction over the man who left him and others for dead, it seems that no stone will go unturned in the hunt to gain any upper hand against Hannibal – even if that means that Will resorts to less than noble tactics to obtain that advantage.

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 2 “Primavera”
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Written by Bryan Fuller & Jeff Vlaming
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Fortunato Cerlino, Kacey Rohl
NBC
Air date: Thursday, June 11th, 2015, 10pm

“You’re already dead, aren’t you?” – Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi

Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is dead. Long live Will Graham.

After diving into the whys and wherefores of Hannibal’s (Mads Mikkelsen) European departure, Hannibal 3.2 “Primavera” focuses on some of the ones left behind the wake of his brutality. The show spends a time recapping the surgical provisional in which Will and Abigail were dispatched in the Season 2 finale – a sequence that was already particularly nasty – and then throws Carrie-levels of blood at it. Never has the term blood bath been more applicable than it is here. Memory plays a key role in “Primavera,” as it’s presence lingers over this episode like the high ceilings of the Florentine chapel where Hannibal places his ‘heart.’

Hannibal
Season 3 Episode 1 “Antipasto”
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Written by Bryan Fuller, Steve Lightfoot
Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Eddie Izzard, Tom Wisdom, Zachary Quinto
NBC
Air date: Thursday, June 4, 2015, 10pm

Long ago, Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelson) was a supporting character in the visionary drama that bore his own name. But as the series has progressed, Dr. Lecter staked and hunted his way to the forefront, ripping through the show’s scenery and, in last year’s season finale, all of our major characters. It’s fitting then that the season three premiere begins with Dr. Lector taking control of the show in a very direct way: He stalks, he preys, he hunts, and he kills – all before the opening credits.

Bonsoir. Good evening.

Welcome back to Hannibal.