NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ season 2, episode 10 review: Freddie Lounds in danger; Michael Pitt shines

Friday night, “Hannibal” continued to do much of what it has over the course of the entire season: Provide us with shocking and confusing stories all about our characters, and possibly show once again that Will Graham is becoming quite the monster in his own right.

Basically, Will came up with his own way of getting closer to Hannibal … which may have involved him killing Freddie Lounds. While we didn’t see the murder happen on-camera, it’s pretty clear what was going on when we saw him carting that body out of the car with her kicking and screaming.

The closing scene of the episode, which was an extended dinner scene between Will and Hannibal about the “meat” they were eating, was simply chilling. What is Will’s endgame here? Is he being influenced by Hannibal into being a killer? Is he trying to re-open the Chesapeake Ripper case with his own killings? We’re trying to view the show independently of the books, and with that in mind, the motivations are still not entirely clear here.

As for the rest of the episode beyond Freddie Lounds, there was most definitely some great, chilling, material. Michael Pitt was incredible as Mason Verger, a very evil man who we are going to come to see a whole lot more of in the weeks ahead. After all, Will hooked up with his sister in one of the strangest sex scenes to date that also involved visions of Hannibal with Alana Bloom.

The story leaves us with an investigation into what happened to Freddie, and with Will in a bizarre, unpredictable state. He is not fully evil, but definitely not good. He resides somewhere strange in between, and that makes us hungry for more … just not of that “meat” we saw at the dinner table at the end. A very strong episode, and a return to form after the last two. Grade: A-.

What did you think about tonight’s “Hannibal” episode? Share your thoughts with a comment, and click here to get some more news related to the show (including a preview of what lies ahead). For even more news on all we cover now, then sign up now for our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: NBC