NBC’s hit show HANNIBAL returns tonight with a new episode. In “Yakimono,” Jack’s star pupil (Anna Chlumsky) is found alive, and she becomes the best hope to identify the Chesapeake Ripper. Meanwhile, Will is released from Chilton’s asylum; Will warns Chilton that he could be in danger; suspicions about Hannibal build.
On last week’s episode when a city councilman’s body was found in a parking lot, intertwined with a tree, the artistry and missing organs suggested the work of the Chesapeake Ripper. Jack and the team raced against time to catch the Ripper while he was still on his killing spree. When Will suggested the possibility that the Ripper was filling his pantry with the victims’ organs, Jack crashed Hannibal Lecter’s dinner party to collect evidence and tested the meat for human DNA. Jack’s growing suspicions drive Alana even closer to Hannibal, believing he was the victim of a witch hunt. Meanwhile, clues from the tree man help the BAU zero in on a location they believe the Ripper used. There they discovered the most shocking revelation of Jack Crawford’s career—Miriam Lass alive. Did you watch last week’s episode? We did and we recapped it right here for you.
On tonight’s episode When Jack Crawford’s (Laurence Fishburne) star pupil Miriam Lass (Anna Chlumsky) is found alive, she becomes the FBI’s best hope to identifying the Chesapeake Ripper, but her foggy memory complicates the search. Evidence found at the site of Miriam’s rescue exonerates Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) of any involvement in the Ripper and Copycat cases, and he is released from the asylum. Will warns Dr. Chilton (Raúl Esparza) that he could be in danger due to his intimate knowledge of the Ripper case, but when Chilton tries to confide in Jack that he shares Will’s fears about Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen), he is rebuffed—no evidence has been found against Hannibal, despite the FBI’s efforts. Meanwhile, Jack wastes no time in reinstating Will on the BAU team as they hunt for the Ripper. After introducing Will and Miriam to compare notes, Jack’s suspicions of Hannibal’s involvement continue to build. Only Miriam’s memory holds the key to unlocking the Ripper’s true identity, but can it be trusted? Also starring Caroline Dhavernas, Aaron Abrams, Scott Thompson, Raúl Esparza and Eddie Izzard.
Tonight’s season 2 episode 7 looks like it is going to be amazing, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of NBC’s new series at 10:00 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about this new series so far.
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Jack loads Miriam into an ambulance and sends it on its way. The crime scene crew are working at the site where she was found. Miriam is one armed now we sees as she stands in a gown while she is swabbed and examined. They take her blood and scrape fibers off her and take particulates from her hair. She looks to be in shock. Jack listens to a recording of her voice with her telling him she was wrong and that she’s scared. She showers and then puts on clean clothes. She thanks Jack for saving her. She says she knew he would never stop looking.
Miriam asks if she can see him and he says they haven’t caught the Ripper. He tells her they need her help because she knows who he is. He reminds her that she found him and she says she doesn’t remember. She says he got inside her head. She says she had a dream about drowning and then being awake and then not. Then herself and not herself. She says she would wake to the smell of flowers and the sting of needle. She says she wasn’t afraid. She says fear and pain were far away.
Jack says he was reckless with her life and she says that it was her that was reckless. She tells him she was the one that made mistakes and tells him not to apologize. She says the Ripper was kind to her even when he took her arm. She says that he explained it to her and made the experience without pain. She says he told her that he was going to give her arm to Jack. She says she never saw his face but just light. He asks why the Ripper didn’t kill her and why she was spared. She says she wasn’t spared, he was just saving her for last.
Hannibal sits with Alana who tells him they found a witness – a survivor. The only victim of the Ripper that lived to tell. He asks if the witness is watching him now and he refers to himself as the usual suspect. She says she’s angry with Jack about that and wishes she could tell him why this is happening. Hannibal says the witness must not be able to ID him by sight and must want them to hear his voice. He stands and looks at her and says he appreciates her company. He roams around the room and stares into the double paned glass. Miriam stares back and says it’s not him. Jack asks if she’s sure and she says he’s not the Ripper. Hannibal stares calmly into the glass.
At the hospital, Chilton comes down to the cells to see Will who is dressing to go home. Will says it’s all very sudden and Chilton says all charges were dropped. He tells will Mazel Tov and that the Chesapeake Ripper has set him free. They open his cell door. Chilton says he would love to see Hannibal behind bars and doesn’t want to end up on his menu. Will tells him to confess to the FBI to save himself.
He says that Gideon is dead and Chilton is next. Will tells him confession is good for the soul and that he needs to shine a light on his relationship with Hannibal. Will tells him Hannibal operates in the shadows and shining a light will give him nowhere to go. He tells Chilton to tell Jack everything and Chilton says that will kill his career but Will says he should convince Jack like his life depends on it. Chilton asks why Hannibal didn’t kill Will and he says he wants to be my friend.
Jack waits for Will and offers him a ride home. Jack tells him they found Miriam alive. Will is stunned. He asks if they caught the Ripper. Jack shakes his head. He asks how Miriam is and Jack says she’s traumatized. He tells him that Miriam thanked him for not giving up on her but he admits to Will that he had given up on her and had given up on Will too. Will takes a deep breath and smiles at him. He tells him that he should have listened to him.
He says that he put Miriam where she could hear Hannibal and she said he wasn’t the Ripper. Will asks if that’s definitive for him and Jack says no. He asks where jack found her and he takes Will to the site. Will gets out of the car and Jack says the Ripper has been using the property since it was condemned years ago. They go in and see the crime scene techs hard at work. Will looks down a cistern and then Jack brings him to another room. There is a surgical table and equipment – saws and scalpels and the glass sheeting he used on Beverly. There are jars of Beverly’s blood. Jack shows him the photo of the Ripper’s latest victim – the politician – and Jack explains it was the water in his lungs that led them there.
Will looks at the photos and then Jack shows him the empty cistern where Miriam was kept and says she told him that she thought she would be the last victim. Jack says the Ripper knows they are close to catching him and Will says they almost had him before and once a fish gets away it’s much harder to catch the second time. Will closes his eyes and does his go into the mind of the killer thing. He sees himself standing in the room alone. He takes away all the surgical equipment and strips the room bare We see the flowers bloom.
Will stands in Hannibal’s study and we see the latest victim strung up to the tree. He says he sowed the seeds and watched them grow. He cultivated them. He says it was a long chain of events leading to this. He says the whole thing has been my design. We see Miriam down the well and Will says it’s all theater. Jack repeats this and Will says that the Ripper left Miriam there for Jack not to kill her. Jack says he doesn’t want to be caught but Will says he wants him to catch someone like when he wanted them to catch Will.
Will says something that they will find there at the kill site will lead them away from Hannibal. Jack says that Miriam has already done that and Will says you can’t trust her because Hannibal has been in her head for two years. He tells Jack he can’t trust any of what they find there to be what it seems.
come out barking and Will squats down to greet them. Alana welcomes him home and he thanks her. He also thanks her for looking out for his dogs and says they seem happy. There’s another dog with them and she says it’s her rescue she named Applesauce. He asks if she’s picking up his bad habits and she says it’s good.
Alana tells him she was wrong and Will asks because she didn’t believe him or in him. She says it’s because he tried to kill Hannibal and says he’s wrong about him. Will tells her clearly that she is wrong about Hannibal, not him. She asks if he’ll try to hurt Hannibal again and asks if he’s safe. Will asks if she means from him or for her. He tells her to stay away from him because he’s dangerous. He goes into his house with his animals and she leaves with hers.
Chilton comes to see Jack and offers his services on the Ripper case. Jack asks if he wants to fast track the case against Hannibal and says Chilton has an agenda. Chilton says his agenda is staying alive and says that everyone who supported Will’s claims that Hannibal was guilty is dead. Chilton tells him that Will has recovered a great many memories and that he thinks Hannibal used the same techniques on Miriam. He says he can help Miriam recover her memories but Jack says she’s not his patient
Miriam is fitted for a prosthetic. She looks emotionally numb. She watches the hand work and then we see them slide a realistic looking skin sleeve over it. Will comes to see her and she asks if he’s an agent. He tells her he used to teach at the FBI and that he was locked up at a mental hospital because of the Ripper. She says that Jack told her that Will was a guru. He says he’s heard she doesn’t remember a lot and he tells her that he suffered the same but has recovered much of what he lost.
He says the Ripper used some kind of light to induce seizures, blackouts and lost time. Miriam says she remembers the light and him standing silhouetted playing chamber music. She says she remembers his low, steady voice telling her things. Will tells her they are part of the Ripper’s design and that the Ripper wanted them both free. She tells him neither of them are free because he’s not done. Will just stares at this remark.
Hannibal comes home and knows Will is there because of his unfortunate after shave. Will holds a gun on him and says their last kitchen conversation was interrupted by Jack. He says he would like to pick up on that. He says Hannibal asked if it would feel good to kill him. Hannibal asks him how killing him would make him feel. Hannibal asks if he’s curious and asks what the Ripper wants with Will. Will wavers and then asks how Miriam found him. He tells Will that he knows what it’s like to be wrongly accused but Will isn’t buying that.
Hannibal says if he’s not the Ripper and he kills him, he’s killed an innocent man and that if he is the Ripper and Will kills him, who will answer his questions. He asks Will doesn’t he want to know how this ends. Will puts the gun to Hannibal’s head and Hannibal closes his eyes and looks away. Will stares at him hard then lowers his gun and walks away.
We see Miriam talking to Hannibal introducing herself as a trainee agent. The scene is in black and white. He encourages her to never call herself a trainee. Then the scene switches to color and it’s the present and Jack has brought Miriam to Hannibal’s. Hannibal says he would have come to them but Jack says he wanted to do it there. She looks around the office. Hannibal says he’s sure he has his reasons.
Hannibal says the key to successful memory recovery is acknowledging that things will never be the same. Miriam says that she must be on the road then. She spots some sketches and looks at them. She compliments them and asks Hannibal if he drew them and he says he did. (note: If you recall, back when he chocked her unconscious, she had seen something in his sketches that let her know he was the Ripper.) These sketches are of the female form but she has a flashback to a sketch of a skewered man. He says he likes portraiture that focuses on facial expression.
Jack tells her the Ripper sent her a message she had left after she was taken. She says she wants to hear it and Jack plays the message. Her eyes look wild as she listens. She says she doesn’t remember this. Hannibal asks if she would like to try. He does some stuff with strobes and a mild tone of voice. He tells her she’s safe in a room. He tells her to open her eyes. She repeats what she left on the recording to Jack. Hannibal asks what she sees and she continues with the language from the message. Hannibal asks the last thing she remembers before making the call. She turns to Jack and sees him with swords al through him and says “the wound man.”
Jimmy tells Jack and Alanna they found a partial fingerprint on a petal and it matches Hannibal but not enough match points for court. Jack tells them that Will said the evidence found would lead them away from Hannibal – he’s surprised. He and Zeller also tell Jack that they found some psychotropic drugs in Miriam’s blood. Alanna says those are used by Chilton on Gideon and Will in their therapy. She says one claimed to be the Ripper and one blamed Hannibal.
Jack says that Gideon pointed him at Chilton as the Ripper. Jack tells them to bring in Hannibal and Chilton. Chilton comes home and hears a beeping sound. He follows the noise downstairs. It sounds like a heart rate monitor. The noise flatlines just as Chilton opens a door into his secret home lab. We see Gideon is there and has been dismembered and had just died. Some of his parts lie on a saw table. He panics and runs upstairs terrified but trips over something. Then he looks up and sees Hannibal in his plastic kill suit.
Hannibal says “hello Frederick” and Chilton says “Oh my God.” Just then there are shadows at the door and they knock. Hannibal says that will be the FBI. He tells Chilton when he wakes up, his only choice will be to run. He knocks Chilton out with chemical on a cloth and lays him on the floor. He tells the people at the door – one moment please and then goes to answer it.
Chilton wakes to find himself in a chair with a gun in his lap and a knife in his hand. The knife clanks to the floor and wakes him further. He is covered in blood. He looks down at his bloody shirt and then at the trail of blood leading away from the chair. He hobbles into the other room holding the gun and we see blood spatter all over his kitchen. A dead GBI agents sits on the counter disemboweled and another lies on his kitchen table with surgical instruments impaled all over his body.
Chilton shows up all bloody to Will’s with a bag and asks if he can use his shower please. At Chilton’s, Jimmy tells Jack that Gideon has only been dead for a couple of hours and says that Chilton has been carving steaks off of him for days. The crime scene crew is all over the house. They wheel out bodies. Zeller says there are some creepy old medical books on his shelves and shows them a diagram like the body on the table with the instruments on it.
Jack says that Chilton was working the Ripper case when Miriam disappeared and says that both Beverly and her made the connection. He says that Chilton was part of the case before either Will or Hannibal worked it. Chilton explains to Will that he fits the same profile as Hannibal so it’s perfect that Hannibal would set him up rather than kill him. He says he has to leave the country and Will says that will make him look guilty. Will says there’s an APB and they are tracing his cards and phone. Chilton says he knows he’s a shoot on site and Will says he will prove Hannibal did it.
Will’s dogs start barking and Chilton looks out the window and sees a black SUB in the driveway. He asks Will what he’s done and he says he called Jack. Chilton pulls a gun on him and says no, no, no. He tells Will to sit back down. Will tells him he’s not a killer and walks away from him. He goes out and asks Jack why he came alone. Will say the Ripper is playing with all of them and Jack says he’s only playing him. Jack goes into the house but Will tells him he has a gun. Jack says “good.”
Chilton is in the woods behind his house and running. Jack calls him name and gives chase. Chilton presses on but is unsteady because of his injury. Jack takes a shot at him and then another nearby. Chilton falls and turns to face him. Chilton holds out his arms and tells Jack “please.” He takes him into custody. We see him get the work over by the forensic guys. They log in his clothes and other stuff including his wallet and car keys. Chilton tells Zeller he needs to talk to Will and he says he doesn’t care what he wants.
Chilton sits in an interview room, cuffed in an orange jumpsuit and asks the person opposite of him if it had to be him – he calls it a final indignity. We see it’s Alanna across from him and she says it’s not like him to hide an achievement. He tells her the achievement isn’t his and she asks whose it is and asks if it’s Hannibal. She says it was him and he was using coercive therapy on Will and Gideon and he tells her she won’t see the truth until it’s too late. He tells her not to say he didn’t warn her and then says he won’t say anymore about the Ripper until his lawyer is there.
Miriam listens to his voice and then tries to reconcile if he was the one who took her. She cries and says it’s him. Jack takes her in his arms to comfort her. She pulls her gun and shoots through the glass, killing Chilton. Hannibal enjoys a glass of wine and music when there’s a knock at his door. He opens it and we see Will. He asks if he can come in and he asks if he’s going to point a gun at him and Will says not tonight so Hannibal lets him in. He asks if he’s expecting someone and Hannibal says only him. He asks if he kept his standing appointment open and Hannibal says he’s right on time.
Will says it’s best if he deals with his feelings about Hannibal directly. Hannibal says he must grieve for what is lost and what is changed. Will tells him that Hannibal changed him. Hannibal says the Ripper is over and their friendship is over. Will says Miriam was compelled to take Chilton’s life to get her life back and Hannibal asks how he will get his life back. Will say she wants to resume therapy and takes a seat. Hannibal also sits because I don’t think he can resist. He smiles mildly at Will and asks where shall we begin. They look at each other.
THE END!!