The big reveal of “Yakimono” reminded me quite a bit of a similar reveal of a character’s long con from the third season of Homeland (the one which relied on the audience accepting that Saul Berenson is bordering on omniscient). While out of place enough on that show that it soured my opinion on the whole season to follow, once again Hannibal takes advantage of its surrealistic nature and crafts a pretty satisfying and (in its floaty, dreamlike way) logical twist. That being said, the episode is an inevitable slight comedown off the preceding three episodes, which were both of a preposterously high quality, and moved at a breakneck pace that just wasn’t sustainable.

Will Graham is a free man, courtesy of Hannibal Lecter. Miriam Lass has been found alive. Frederick Chilton has been implicated in the crimes of the Chesapeake Ripper. All of these are events set into motion by Dr. Lecter; we were under the illusion that he was losing control of the situation over the past few weeks, as factors beyond his control began to affect his heinous human experiment. Although I’m sure he didn’t anticipate things like the murderous orderly trying to kill him, it was revealed last week that his plan stretched back much further than we could have expected. in “Yakimono”, his penchant for planning ahead is elevated to an almost mythical level.

Miriam Lass (played by the always-excellent Anna Chlumsky) has been subconsciously brainwashed by Lecter over the course of her 2-year imprisonment. The character isn’t given a whole lot of breathing room – I think Bryan Fuller doesn’t want to run the risk of dragging the show’s momentum down any more than is absolutely necessary, so it’s understandable that he therefore doesn’t want to spend too much time developing the character – but there are still some fantastic scenes in “Yakimono” which effectively portray the trauma of Lass, and, in the process, another despicable deed committed by Hannibal Lecter.

Hannibal is brought in by Jack Crawford (who just wants to appease Will at this stage) so that Lass can confirm or deny that he is the Ripper, because, predictably, she can’t remember who kidnapped her – indeed, Hannibal has somehow managed to manipulate her in such a way that she is confident that he is not her kidnapper. It’s a little contrived, and feels like an artificial way to further stretch out Hannibal’s innocence before the proverbial penny has dropped and Jack confronts him, but there’s enough compelling material here to at least momentarily distract from that.

Will goes to visit Miriam, who tells him about the Ripper’s use of light therapy, another frustratingly obvious indicator of Hannibal’s guilt. In this frustration he visits Hannibal, putting a gun to his head in a scene reminiscent of the first season finale, “Savoureux”. The key difference now that Will is out of prison, however, is that he can play the role of the predator just as well as Lecter, as he began to prove with his resourcefulness during his incarceration. For this reason, Will doesn’t shoot Hannibal, instead choosing to try to beat him at his own game. It’s a welcome change of scenery from the rest of this season so far, and one that the writers can hopefully sustain.

Dr. Frederick Chilton, meanwhile, is under pressure from Will to give evidence of Hannibal’s psychotherapeutic methods to the FBI, methods which mirror his own. Although he initially protests, claiming that such a confession would be suicidal for his career, knowing that realistically his life is in quite serious danger, Chilton concedes; before he can do so, however, the FBI find a drug in Miriam Lass’ blood used only by two doctors: Hannibal and Chilton. In another clever move by Lecter, Chilton arrives home to find a disemboweled Abel Gideon planted in his house. Knocking Chilton out, Hannibal brutally eviscerates the two FBI agents who have come to collect Chilton for questioning, and arrange them garishly throughout the house (one of them is mutilated to resemble the Wound Man, which interestingly was the painting Miriam Lass had found two years earlier in Hannibal’s house).

That Chilton is not a victim of Hannibal Lecter in the ‘traditional’ sense, but instead is used as a sort of fall-guy for the killer, is a great conceit. What’s less great, however, is the fact this means another four or five or maybe six episodes are going to by with no sight of Hannibal’s guilt being revealed to Jack and the rest of the FBI. It’s the first time that this season of Hannibal has felt like it’s stalling for time; I’m just thankful that however true that may be, Hannibal stalling for time is more entertaining than the vast majority of other shows on TV running on all cylinders.

Seeking refuge at Will’s house, Chilton is betrayed by Graham – Will is now on the same page as Hannibal, and realises that no matter how unjust, Chilton has to take the hit for Lecter so that the two can begin their game. Under police custody, Chilton is identified by Lass as the Ripper, and Lass, confused and angry, takes Jack’s gun and shoots Chilton in the face through the one-way glass. It’s a (seemingly) audacious departure from the show’s source material, but, as I’ll get to below, is an essentially hollow mechanism for spicing up the plot. Although maybe that’s just because I was angry that I thought we were losing Raúl Esparza.

“Yakimono” ends with a scene wherein Will Graham visits Hannibal to begin his therapy again. A year ago, the two sat in that room; one the predator, and the other the prey. Now, there are two predators, and the game is about to begin. And you know what the most terrifying thing is? That that is exactly how Hannibal has always wanted it.

Grade: B+

Some other thoughts:

Bryan Fuller has hinted that Chilton is in fact not dead, in Todd Vanderwerff’s walkthrough of “Yakimono”. I shared Chilton’s sentiment when he stated to Will that he “would like to remain not-dead for the foreseeable future.” Looks like you got your wish, buddy.

There were numerous great lines from various characters in this episode, but I’ve found myself making notes less and less as I watch Hannibal; I guess that’s a testament to how easy it is to get lost in the show. In any case, those are all my thoughts on this episode.