But as ever, Will’s intelligence and moral compass are wild cards.

It’s a win-win situation for him Will goes free, and whoever the copycat is takes the fall for Hannibal’s ritual mutilation. Lecter desperately wants the prosecution to believe so. The big question hanging over the trial, then, is whether Hannibal is the killer he terms Will’s “admirer.” He almost definitely isn’t, but Dr. Speaking of ears: Will’s got an admirer, and his idea of a Valentine is shipping an ear to the courtroom. Which makes sense, considering the mountain of physical evidence against him, including Abigail Hobbs’s ear in his stomach. As Kade Purnell points out, that’s a de facto admission of guilt-the question isn’t whether or not Will did it, but how aware of himself he was while doing it. Initially, Will’s legal team is running with the unconsciousness defense. He’ll probably be dead in a few episodes, but pitch-black Hannibal could always use more comic relief. This isn’t a trial, it’s an advertisement!, he says. There’s a bossy prosecutor, a judge whose main job seems to be making decidedly not impartial facial expressions, and a defense lawyer who’s admirable in the extent to which he wears his skeeviness on his sleeve. So, this is the week when Will finally goes on trial. Hannibal can’t tear himself away from Will, even when it endangers his own freedom.

But in his own way, he seriously considers Will a friend, and that concern might well be what lands this series’ namesake cannibal behind bars. Lecter doesn’t want to get caught it’s why he set Will up in the first place. So does Hannibal, leading to the conflict of interests I’m hoping will continue to define this season. It’s do-or-die time for Will Graham, literally: our hero’s haunting dream of flipping the switch on his own electric chair shows he understands the stakes of his trial full well.

Hannibal season 3 ep 2