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First, let’s begin this review with the wonderful news that Hannibal has been renewed for a third season. This second-season run has been so extraordinary, and Bryan Fuller clearly has so much story left to tell, so the fact that NBC will continue to air this extraordinary show is really heartening. Never has something been more applicable to my mood-based reviews.
Current mood: Jubilant
In celebration of this great news, Hannibal aired a really fun episode last night that set everything in place for the epic finale it promised with the year’s first episode. It also helped clear up some of the more implausible twists of the last few weeks, especially everything revolving around the resurrection of Miriam Lass and her helping to pin the crimes of the Chesapeake Ripper onto Frederick Chilton. And, as I thought, it revealed that Will had not killed Freddy Lounds at all, merely folded her into some kind of conspiratorial deep-cover operation he’s running with Jack Crawford to reveal the real killer.
Really, it makes so much sense. From the moment Beverly was murdered while Will was in jail, there’s no way Jack could have really believed he was the Ripper. Despite all of Hannibal’s brilliant manipulations, we knew things were going to come to a head by the end of the season, and it works much better (and makes Jack seem much smarter, which he should be) if Hannibal’s villainy is not some sudden revelation.