[Ed. Note: You know how our friend, author and lapjacking enthusiast Andrea Speed, did all those Breaking Bad recaps for us? Well, that's dead and gone, but out of the blue, Andy asked if she could recap another television show, Hannibal, for us. And we said yes! So... uh... this is it? I mean, I would have hoped that was obvious by now. Doggs, there are so many spoilers.]

Hannibal, Season 2, Episode 3: Hassun

This episode could be titled “Court Time”, as Will goes to court, on trial for his life, with everybody choosing sides. Save for Hannibal, who is playing a new game.

Will and Hannibal remain the only two who know he’s actually innocent. Will’s lawyers aren’t even going to claim he’s innocent, because it’s ludicrous with all the evidence against him. They’re going for Will being an “unconscious” killer, unaware of what he was doing, in an attempt to escape the death penalty. There is much plot business, and many stylish shots, but things don’t really get cooking – so to speak – until Hannibal decides he’s going to help Will.

This eventually brings will face to face with something he hadn’t considered: Hannibal honestly likes him. Oh sure, he’s framed him as a cannibalistic serial murderer, and deliberately risked his life by not telling him about a potentially fatal illness, but in his twisted way, he thinks of Will as his bestest buddy. (Makes you shudder to think what he’d do to someone he hated, right? Of course, you do find out what he’d do this episode, in case you needed a reminder.) This is a shocker to Will, as are all the grisly gifts Hannibal has messengered to the court, to cast doubt on Will’s guilt.

The severed ear doesn’t immediately help, so Hannibal sets up a much more elaborate crime scene, this time involving an incendiary device and antlers. Still, the killings are a bit sloppier than the killings Will was accused of, and the judge decides to throw out the “other killer” defense. Which is the last stupid mistake he ever makes.

The judge’s death tableau is probably the stand out image here, although the opening dream sequence, with Will imagining himself in the electric chair, was pretty startling too. (It was the leather facemask with only the mouth and nose exposed, and the backwards smoke that really sold it. Kinky and disorienting is a great one-two punch.)

So while Will wasn’t exactly set free, there will have to be a new trial, and now everyone isn’t sure what to think. Except for Will, who now realizes his problem with Hannibal is much bigger and much weirder than he initially thought. It’s one think when your opponent hates you. But when he genuinely likes you, and yet he’s still putting you through hell? What do you do then?