'Hannibal' Ends With Lots of Blood — and the Ultimate Cliffhanger

Warning: This recap contains storyline and character spoilers for the series finale of Hannibal.

Now that’s how you do a series finale.

As disappointed as we still are that NBC canceled Hannibal after three seasons, we couldn’t ask for a more satisfying — and more bewildering — finale than what we got Saturday night. After finally joining forces to take down the Red Dragon, longtime adversaries/soulmates Hannibal and Will Graham fall into each other’s arms… and then tumble off a cliff together to their apparent deaths. (Guess a Season 4 would be a little tough now, huh?)

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The finale doesn’t waste any time getting crazy: We pick up where we left off last week, with deranged killer Francis Dolarhyde announcing his Red Dragon-ness to his blind sweetheart Reba. She’s understandably terrified, and Dolarhyde wants to know if he can trust her: He asks her to take the key that’s tied around his neck and lock the front door. He ominously adds: “Don’t try to run… I can catch you.”

Reba does try to make a run for it, but Dolarhyde’s instantly there to stop her. He points a shotgun in her face, moaning that “I wish I could’ve trusted you.” But he’s struggling with his dual identity; he douses the floor with gasoline as he tells Reba, “I can’t give you to him… better you go with me.” With that, he torches the place and appears to blow off his own head with the shotgun, leaving Reba to crawl to safety. And this is all before the opening credits, folks…

After visiting Reba in the hospital, Will takes the good news to Hannibal: “Ding dong, the Dragon’s dead.” It feels like goodbye for these two: Hannibal says it’s a shame Will didn’t get to kill Dolarhyde himself, and bids him a fond farewell. (“When life becomes maddeningly polite, think about me.”) But Will’s not feeling so fond; when Hannibal asks him, “Was it good to see me?” Will responds with: “Good? No.”

Of course, we’re only a quarter-way through the finale, so we know that’s not the real goodbye — which is confirmed when Will returns to his hotel room and is captured by a very much alive Dolarhyde. He faked that shotgun death, and tells Will he feels like Hannibal betrayed him. (Will: “He betrayed me, too.”) Dolarhyde still wants to meet Hannibal, though, and lets Will go to make that happen.

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Will and Jack hatch a plan to snare the Red Dragon, using Hannibal as bait: They’ll set up a prison custody transfer and let Hannibal escape, drawing Dolarhyde out of hiding. Bedelia makes her objections known to Will in a typically dreamy, esoteric conversation; she warns him that Hannibal “will hardly be caught a second time.” Will’s reply: “I don’t intend for Hannibal to be caught a second time.”

So is he planning on killing his old pal Hannibal, too, while he’s at it? It sure seems like that as he schemes with Jack and Alana Bloom to coordinate the fake escape. Now all they need is Hannibal’s cooperation — and of course, he makes them beg for it. Hannibal enjoys toying with Will, now that he’s needed again, but Will seals the deal with the magic word:

They put a restrained Hannibal with Will in the back of a van that’s escorted by a pair of police cars — but then a third police car comes screeching up. It’s Dolarhyde, who shoots the van’s driver in the head, leading to an ugly crash. The Dragon then kills the other agents on board and speeds off, leaving a woozy Will to watch as Hannibal frees himself and commandeers a police car. He does offer Will a ride, though, so that’s nice.

Will and Hannibal head to a cliffside retreat of Lecter’s to wait for the Dragon. They share a bottle of wine and allude to their deep, strange feelings for each other: “My compassion for you is inconvenient, Will,” Hannibal purrs. Suddenly, though, a bullet streaks through the window and pierces Hannibal’s gut; Dolarhyde strides inside and informs the good doctor he intends to film his death.

Will starts to reach for his pistol, but Dolarhyde spins around and stabs him in the face. They struggle, with Will managing to stab Dolarhyde in the leg and Hannibal shoving Dolarhyde away before he can slit Will’s throat. This is all, of course, accompanied by cascading rivers of blood that even rival the infamous Season 2 finale.

Finally, Hannibal and Will team up to hack the Dragon to pieces, locking eyes as they each take a slash at him before Hannibal finishes him off by tearing Dolarhyde’s throat out with his teeth. (The moody new Siouxsie Sioux song playing underneath is a nice touch.) With Dolarhyde dead, Will contemplates all the blood he and Hannibal have shed: “It really does look black in the moonlight.”

Exhausted from battle, the two hold each other steady. Hannibal: “This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.” Will: “It’s beautiful.” They share an intimate embrace. And then… Will grabs hold of Hannibal and plunges off the cliff, taking Hannibal with him!

We peer over the cliff to see nothing but waves crashing on the rocks far below. Credits. (Oh, and there’s a post-credits scene of a blissful Bedelia sitting at a dinner table, about to feast on her own leg.)

Well, then… are Will and Hannibal really dead? It certainly would eliminate the possibility of any more Hannibal seasons or movies, and would seriously mess with the mythology established by the Thomas Harris books. We’re sure Bryan Fuller could find a way to resurrect his dynamic duo if Hannibal finds a new home someday. But for now, this ending — as grandiosely tragic as it is — feels somehow perfect. Our compliments to the chef.