Hannibal Episode 3.04 Aperitivo

Tonight's episode answered many questions, including what has become of Hannibal's other victims. After surviving being shot by Miriam Lass, Dr. Chilton has become hell bent on getting revenge against Hannibal. So much so that Chilton takes a meeting with Mason Verger, who's searching for a new psychiatrist. Mason inquires about Chilton's injuries and then says, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Chilton reveals that he wears fake teeth, a contact to correct his lazy eye and has a hole in his cheek. Mason shows off his reconstructed face, cobbled together from skin grafts. Chilton questions Mason about his $1 million offer to anyone who has information about Hannibal's whereabouts. Their conversation makes Chilton realize what Mason truly wants is not a psychiatrist but a profiler, someone who can help him capture Hannibal for his own means. Chilton, hoping to land Hannibal for himself, realizes he'll need a different partner.

Flashing back to Will's recovery in the hospital, we learn that Abigail wasn't entirely a figment of his imagination. Rather, it was Dr. Chilton who visited Will in the hospital. Desperate to find Hannibal, Chilton tried to enlist Will's help. But Will was not swayed and wanted no part in helping Chilton hold Hannibal captive at his hospital. Even more so, Will's loyalty remains up in the air after he imagines how that fateful night could've gone if he had helped Hannibal murder Jack.

In the present, before the events of the Episode 2, Jack stops by Will's house, where Will is repairing his boat engine. He says he's there to make sure Will sticks to the narrative they created, but what he's really after is an answer to the question we all want an answer to: Why did Will call Hannibal? Will explains that he wasn't sure what he was going to say until he heard Hannibal's voice. He wanted Hannibal to run because Hannibal is his friend. But he also wanted to run away with him.

Alana also survives the fall from Hannibal's window, but her recovery is far from easy. There are rods in her pelvis and, as she tells Chilton, quite a bit of marrow seeped into her blood, so she will be thinking differently from now on. After Will turned him down, Chilton turns to Alana for help convincing Will to lead them to Hannibal. Alana of seasons past wouldn't have considered manipulating Will for her own gain, but post-Hannibal Alana is a different woman. She returns to Hannibal's home, wheelchair-bound, where, as luck would have it, she finds Will. Alana is there because she was looking for him while Will says he wanted to visit old friends. Hearing Will reminisce about Hannibal, Alana asks if he can still see the best in Hannibal, even after everything. Will simply tells her to leave, then returns to his reverie with an imagined Abigail by his side.

With Chilton no longer a candidate, Alana interviews for the role of Mason's psychiatrist. Margot brings Alana to Mason, warning her about Mason's appearance. But when Alana, now walking with the aid of a cane, first lays eyes on Mason, she doesn't flinch. Mason tries to unnerve Alana, referring to her as the one person Hannibal entered more deeply than the others, but Alana's resolve can't be broken. She asks Mason whether he's really been forthcoming with the F.B.I. about what he knows about Hannibal. Mason claims his search is not about vengeance; he's forgiven Hannibal. Alana counters that forgiveness is not all it's cracked up to be. Seeking revenge, on the other hand, is something she can understand.

Another flashback shows Jack, having survived Hannibal's stabbing, waking up in a hospital bed, his hand intertwined with Bella's, herself in the hospital bed next to him. She tells Jack that he's not going to follow her to the grave and sagely reminds him that he can do something she can't; he can cut out the thing that's killing him. Her words hit Jack hard, and when Chilton goes to meet with him, Jack has left the behavioral sciences behind and transferred to homeland security. Chilton implores Jack that Will can lead them to Hannibal but Jack stands firm; he's let it all go. At home, Jack is never far from Bella's side. When she takes her last breath, he is lying right beside her.

Alana helps Jack make the necessary preparations for Bella's funeral, including choosing a white gown for her to be buried in. As he gets dressed to attend her service, Jack can't help but remember Bella wearing a different white gown: her wedding dress. When it's just him and Bella's casket in the church, Jack plants one final kiss on his wife's forehead. As he takes the moment in, he spies familiar handwriting on a card attached to a bouquet: Hannibal sends his condolences. Jack takes a seat in a pew to collect his thoughts, and soon after, Will walks in and takes a seat behind him. Jack tells Will that even though he knew Bella was dying, it didn't hurt any less when she passed. He then warns Will that he knows what's coming for him, too, and that Will doesn't have to die on him. Before he leaves, Jack gives Will Hannibal's card.

Mason's caretaker, Cordell, tends to his client with massages and masks to help blood circulate in Mason's face. While doing so, he and Mason chat about Mason's plans to eat Hannibal alive. A flashback to Mason's surgery shows just how badly Mason carved up his own face, including leaving his teeth and gums entirely visible. When Alana arrives, she advises Mason that Europe aligns with Hannibal's tastes - and that's how they'll catch him. Hannibal's name may have changed, but his tastes haven't.

When Jack pays Will a visit, he finds Alana opening his front door. She confirms what Jack presumably suspected: Will is gone. Alana says Will knows what he has to do, but she questions if Jack does. Miles always, Will sets sail for Hannibal.