TV Review: ‘HANNIBAL Season 2, Episode 7: YAKIMONO’

Every so often a character comes around that slyly steals every scene they’re in. They don’t do it forcefully, they just have a way of drawing you towards them even when the main character is supposed to be the focus. For Hannibal, Dr. Chilton was that character. He was snarky and sarcastic and played to perfection by Raul Esparza. His demeanor can be exemplified by his sarcastic little ‘mazel tov’, fake congratulating Will Graham as he walks out of his prison cell for the last time at the top of this week’s episode.

And now, thanks to Hannibal Lecter, he’s gone. We’re only halfway through season two and Beverly Katz and Frederick Chilton are gone. By the end of the season I’m expecting a bloodbath.

There is a lot going on in tonight’s episode. First off is the re-appearance of Miriam Lass, minus her arm. She thanks Jack for never giving up hope that she was still alive, although Jack tells Will that he believed her to be dead and stopped looking long ago. She’s pretty much a blank slate when it comes to her captor. She remembers not his voice or face, but could recognize his shape. She is shown Hannibal interacting with Alana and definitively states it wasn’t Hannibal who imprisoned her, although Jack isn’t convinced. There’s a great moment after this where Miriam is fitted with a prosthetic arm. It’s not super important but it does add a nice emotional moment.

Then there is Will’s release. Upon walking passed the “dunk tanks” he used to inhabit, Jack offers him a ride home as well as an apology for not believing in him. They both go to the abandoned shed the Ripper has been using to keep Miriam locked up in as well as vials of Beverly’s blood and the instruments of her death. This scene brings the welcome return of his “This is my design mantra” with the swinging light pendulum. Then of course there’s the emotional reunion between Will and his dogs, at which point Alana presses him about his intentions with Hannibal and he warns her to stay away. Will then visits Miriam and she reveals that she remembers light therapy similar to the one used by Chilton and both have drugs in their system only Hannibal or Chilton would have access to.

Jack wants to bring in both doctors in for questioning, but Hannibal gets to Chilton first by killing the FBI agents sent after him and framing Chilton for the slaughter. This is the only really graphic, gory moment of the episode, when Chilton wakes up from a drug induced sleep covered in blood and brandishing a weapon. He follows the red trail into his kitchen and discovers the two disemboweled agents and flees to Will’s house. Will alerts Jack that Chilton is in his house and Chilton flees from the back, leading into a pursuit, and Chilton’s eventual capture. While in custody, Miriam is brought in to see Chilton and “Remembers” him being her captor and in a moment of panic, shoots him with Jack’s gun. RIP Frederick, we hardly knew ye. This marks a radical change from the book/movie series, as he is kind of a huge part of Silence of the Lambs.

The final scene of the episode is a very surreal moment, as Will (with a much needed haircut) enters Hannibal’s domain, announcing that he’d like to continue with his therapy and the two begin a new session. It’s not the shocking twist ending we’ve been getting for the past couple episodes, but it does hint at a new direction for Will and Hannibal. It gives me a very “Friends close, enemies closer” feeling.