Episode 12 is all about Abigail as the pieces of the puzzle finally start to come together. The episode begins with Georgia’s death which was disappointing as she was the first killer we saw that genuinely had a mental illness that was responsible for her actions. We see her in the same hospital as Will and the pair briefly chat, later someone leaves her a plastic comb which generates static electricity igniting the highly oxygenated chamber she is being treated in. When it is speculated that Georgia killed herself Will is adamant she didn’t, and he begins to put the pieces together tightening the noose that will eventually hang him. Crawford is also putting pieces together, but unfortunately, he’s coming to the wrong conclusions. Still, it is his series of mistakes that ultimately creates the tension that drives the episode.
Jack visits Bedelia as he is concerned about Will and his relationships with Hannibal and Abigail. Her responses to Jack’s questions are almost perfect replication of Lecter’s restrained answers and unreadable reactions and that is most suspicious. In scenes with Hannibal, this might be read as a counselling strategy. But because we see them here with the very different Crawford, we learn that this is who Dr. Du Maurier is. She definitely believes that Hannibal is in danger as she tells him to stop whatever he is doing with Will and maintain his boundaries although this seems hypocritical as she completely ignores these boundaries with Hannibal, and this is probably due to their past.
We learn she ignores these boundaries because when she was attacked, it was apparently Lecter who saved her, killing his former patient to stop him from hurting his current therapist. I wonder if she suspects that Hannibal may have set her up from the start, and this seems like something Hannibal would do as we see he plans well in advance. Will now in a very clear state of mind confides in Hannibal that he is going to take Abigail back to Minnesota to try and find out who the copycat killer is, and he strongly advises against this because it will reveal him although Will has no idea who Hannibal really is. When Will takes Abigail back to the cabin in Minnesota and then has another break with time loss, it gives Hannibal the perfect opportunity to tie up at least one loose end and reveals if not all, at least a sizeable portion, of Lecter’s own motivations.
Will in his break with time sees himself killing Abigail and then what we assume is reality she runs away from him, but this is questioned when Will awakes on the plane back in Virginia without Abigail. The viewer knows Abigail is dead from the conversation she has with Hannibal, he travelled to Minnesota to find her and Will, only to find her alone. As she told Will she was an active participant in the Shrike murders, Hannibal is left with no choice but to kill her to save himself. For the past 11 episodes, this being part of the tension of the series: is Hannibal acting out of actual concern for Will or is he just playing him, making him dance just so he can sit back and watch? The psychiatrist certainly seems to make it clear to Abigail in what we must assume are her last moments before the episode ends.
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