‘Hannibal’ Review: “Relevés”

‘Hannibal’ serves up another course with its 12th and penultimate episode of the season, “Relevés,” as the death of Georgia Madchen (Ellen Muth) leads Will to realize the truth about the copycat killer, while Jack begins to have suspicions and Hannibal makes a startling revelation to Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl).

Last week’s ‘Hannibal’ episode “Rôti” saw Dr. Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard)’s escape forcing the FBI to protect his most recent therapists, while Will turned to Hannibal for help with his continued mental degradation, so how does the twelfth course of ‘Hannibal’ taste?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Hannibal’s latest episode, “Relevés!”

Will visits a recovering Georgia Madchen, still in her oxygen chamber, as she reveals she saw someone else in Dr. Sutcliffe’s office the night of his murder. A short while later, Hannibal brings Will gourmet chicken soup to his room and explains that they’ve yet to tell Jack the full extent of his condition, while Will updates Hannibal that Georgia expressed her unease at slowly remembering her crimes. That night, Georgia awakens to find a comb inside her oxygen chamber, the use of which creates a static charge that ignites the air within the device and kills her.

Still in his hospital attire, Will watches the body taken away and expresses his doubts to Jack that it could be a suicide, despite the seemingly overwhelming circumstantial evidence. Elsewhere, Freddie Lounds meets with Abigail Hobbs to continue planning out their book, though Freddie senses that Abigail wants to cover up Nicholas Boyle’s true killer. That night, Will dreams of Georgia Madchen’s diseased form leading him outside of his house, wherein a stag impales her before she bursts into flames.

Will finds Jack in his office and once again insists that Georgia Madchen’s death wasn’t a suicide, and a subsequent examination of the body reveals a fragment of the comb potentially placed in the tube as a murder weapon. Will pieces together that all of the recent murders may have been performed by the copycat killer rather than Georgia Madchen herself, but Jack and the others point out that few of the recent deaths share any connections.

Jack takes his worries of Will to Hannibal, but quickly comes to believe Hannibal has withheld information about his patient, leading Jack to the home of Dr. Bedelia du Maurier (Gillian Anderson). Bedelia remains guarded about revealing any details of her sessions with Hannibal, but does admit that Hannibal forms unusual relationships with most of his patients, with Will in particular becoming more of a friend than a patient. Meanwhile, Will visits with Abigail at her hospital, and pleads that he may need her help to catch the copycat killer.

At their next session, Bedelia informs Hannibal of Jack’s visit and presses that Hannibal has begun crossing lines in his involvement with Will. Hannibal insists he wants to help Will understand his identity, as Bedelia admits she only told Jack half-truths about the patient who once attacked her, withholding that it was Hannibal who brutally saved her by killing the assailant.

Later, Will explains to Hannibal in therapy that his recent clarity has allowed him to find the connections of the copycat killer, ignoring the more immediate DNA evidence to create a larger portrait of a murderer attempting to send a message to Will, or possibly frame him. Will explains his plan to take Abigail to her father’s cabin in Minnesota for clarity, but Hannibal advises against it. Meanwhile, Zeller and Price bring new evidence to Jack that confirms Abigail Hobbs traveled with her father in between each abduction and murder.

Believing Abigail to be the true copycat, Jack finds Freddie Lounds at the psychiatric hospital, and learns that Will snuck Abigail out of the facility on a trip. Jack next barges into Hannibal’s office for help figuring out where Will might have taken Abigail, as Hannibal confesses that he believes Will to have a dissociative personality state. Jack theorizes that Will’s dissociative personality could have been responsible for the recent murders, having “become” Garret Jacob Hobbs after Will killed him, and now absconding with his daughter.

Will and Abigail discuss future plans on the plane, later driving up to visit her father’s old cabin. Based on her choice of words, an increasingly ill-seeming Will puts together that Abigail indeed acted as a lure for her father’s murders, before hallucinating himself impaling Abigail on the mounted antlers. Will quickly sees Abigail to be alive, but soon wakes up on the plane back to Virginia, having lost more time.

Having left Will at the cabin, Abigail returns to her old home to find Hannibal waiting, as she confesses that Will found out the truth. Reasoning that Jack and the authorities will undoubtedly catch Abigail, Hannibal admits that he called to warn Abigail’s father months ago out of curiosity, the same reasons he killed her friend Marissa and goaded her to kill Nicholas Boyle. As Hannibal admits his many murders, Abigail realizes the man will likely kill her as well, and Hannibal apologizes for failing to protect her.

The liver's hitting the fan now, isn't it? We're wondering exactly how quickly the first season of 'Hannibal' will alter the dynamic between its two leads, considering how close to both madness and vindication Will seems to be coming with each subsequent installment. It's a pity that we likely won't get to see any more of either Georgia Madchen or Abigail Hobbs, the latter of whom had admittedly been given a far meatier storyline across the first season.

"Relevés" offers up a much more low-key hour of 'Hannibal' all things considered, with few real deaths of note or genuine scenes of peril, but the episode certainly sets the table for a stunning finish, in which 'Hannibal' is sure to deliver its finest course yet. Hannibal's subtle manipulations have seemingly turned Jack against Will and ultimately cost Abigail her life, and there doesn't seem to be any turning back for at least one character to wind up behind bars by the end of the season.

What say you?  Did you feel that ‘Hannibal’ hit the spot with its twelfth episode? What did you like about “Relevés?” Join us next week for another all-new ‘Hannibal’ episode recap of season finale “Savoureux” on NBC!