Will Graham FBI ile birlikte bir seri katilin peşinde olan yetenekli bir suçlu profili çıkarma uzmanıdır. Graham’in kendine özgü düşünme tarzı ona, herkesle empati kurma yeteneği vermiştir. Onları farklı kılanın ne olduğunu her zaman bilir. Ancak yakalamaya çalıştığı son katilin zihni, Will için bile oldukça karmaşık bir yapıya sahiptir. Bu nedenle ülkenin ileri gelen psikiyatrlarından biri olan Dr. Lecter’dan yardım ister. Dahi doktorun uzmanlığıyla silahlanan Will ve Hannibal, mükemmel bir ortaklık kurarlar. Hatta ikilinin yakalayamayacağı bir katil olmadığı düşünülür.
When the FBI takes on a case of disappearing college girls, Jack Crawford recruits Will Graham, a gifted criminal profiler with a unique view into the psyche of serial killers, to consult. Jack also seeks the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist. After a copycat strikes, Will and Hannibal join forces to track down the culprit.
A series of family murders takes place, and Will determines they were conducted by each of the families' missing children, who were abducted and brainwashed into killing their old families for their "new family." Against Alana's advice, Hannibal checks Abigail out of the hospital for some frightening psychiatric practices that ultimately align her loyalty with him.
A totem pole of human bodies ranging from freshly killed to decades old are found on a beach and while Graham is investigating the crime scene, he suddenly finds himself in Lecter's office, three and a half hours away, with no recollection of how he got there. Lecter theorizes that Graham's mind is trying to escape from having to investigate such brutal murders.
Beth LeBeau is found murdered, having drowned in her own blood as a result of her face being cut into a Glasgow smile. Graham's mental state continues to sharply decline; he loses hours at a time and when a vivid hallucination causes Graham to contaminate the crime scene, Lecter refers him to a neurologist, an old residency colleague, Dr. Sutcliffe.
Dr. Abel Gideon escapes from custody and begins targeting the psychiatrists who attempted to treat him, displaying their bodies with a Colombian necktie. While Alana Bloom is put under protective custody, Gideon kidnaps Dr. Frederick Chilton and lures Freddie Lounds into a trap, forcing her to write an article about him. Meanwhile, Graham's undiagnosed Encephalitis drives his temperature up, causing severe hallucinations.
Following an offhand comment by Graham, a comb left in the chamber of Georgia Madchen, who accidentally sparks a fire inside her hyperbaric chamber and is burned to death. Angered, Graham deduces that several recent murders were all the work of a copycat patterning after recent serial murders, and that Georgia was killed because she may have remembered the face of whoever had killed Dr. Sutcliffe.
Workers make a grisly discovery--bodies discarded in a river, creating a soupy crime scene for the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to decipher. Hannibal Lecter assumes Will Graham's FBI duties, assisting on the case, while Will sits in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane awaiting trial for the very murders he investigated.
The BAU team narrows in on the origin of the discarded bodies from the soupy crime scene, working to discover the killer's artful plan, while Will Graham begins an artful plan of his own from within the asylum.
Jack Crawford risks his job by going against the FBI's directives and revealing to the court that it was his hand that pushed Will to his limit. It is now Hannibal's turn to get in the box and give testimony. An unknown copycat has appeared who is killing in the style of Minnesota Shrike. Will Graham's lawyer sees this as a good omen and changes the defense strategy. Good luck knocks at Will's door in the guise of an unexpected twist at the end.
The BSU investigates Beverly's death after her body is found displayed in a gruesome tableau. Abel Gideon returns to the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Will seeks a horrific revenge for Beverly's death.
Will assists the investigation into a woman's body found inside a horse, while Alana frets about Will's intentions toward Hannibal. With the clock ticking, Will and Hannibal race to protect a witness they believe to be in great peril.
The BAU team look into the case of a truck driver's body that appears to have been torn apart by two different animal species. Will meets Hannibal's strange new patient after one of his sessions. Determined to find Will's true self, Hannibal devises a test but the results surprise him.
Will is ready to go measures against his own will in order to bring Hannibal to justice by rescuing him from being murdered in a particularly unusual way and thus gaining yet more of his trust towards trying to give him a taste of his own medicine called persuasion.
After the devastating bloodbath at Lecters home Hannibal establishes a new life for himself in Italy along with the company of his own psychiatrist Bedelia.
With his wounds now healed, Will Graham heads to Europe eight months after the horrific event that almost took his life, in search of closure with Hannibal Lecter. Meanwhile an Italian inspector thinks that Lecter and a killer he pursued 20 years earlier are the same person.
Will Graham continues his search for Hannibal Lecter, making his way to Hannibal's childhood home in Lithuania. Meanwhile, Jack Crawford arrives in Italy, hoping to find Will and intervene before tragedy strikes again, and Bedelia warns Hannibal against unraveling his new life.
After surviving a disfiguring gunshot, Dr. Fredrick Chilton is now focused on rallying support to capture Hannibal, using Will as bait. Jack is distracted by Bella's failing health, but he implores Will to abandon the risky idea of finding Hannibal. Meanwhile, Alana Bloom entertains a different approach, potentially partnering with Mason Verger to utilize his vast resources.
The hunt for Hannibal begins. Will travels via train with Chiyoh to Florence, as Alanna and Mason use Hannibal's fine tastes to track his whereabouts. Pazzi tries to get in close to find out if Hannibal is the man he's looking for, but his greed may get the better of him.
With Bedelia securing her alibi, Hannibal prepares to leave Florence just as Jack and Will begin to track him down. With Pazzi murdered, Mason and his cohorts consider a different course of action. However, Chiyoh has arrived in Florence with her own agenda.
Captured in Italy by police on Mason Verger's payroll, Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are delivered to Muskrat Farm to await Mason's revenge. Alana, distressed that Will has been endangered along with Hannibal, plots a rescue. And Hannibal, once again in contact with his old patient Margot, finds it irresistible to remind her that Mason will never make good on his promises. Meanwhile, Jack informs Chiyo of Hannibal's location.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter has been under lock and key for three years at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, when a new villain arises in Francis Dolarhyde, also known as "The Tooth Fairy." As the investigation unfolds Jack Crawford approaches Will Graham to help catch this vicious serial killer who is targeting families.
The search for serial killer Francis Dolarhyde heats up as Will delves into dangerous territory. He envisions himself in Dolarhyde's psyche and contacts Hannibal Lecter for help in profiling the killer.
Carvings symbolizing the Great Red Dragon, retrieved from crime scenes, help Will Graham and the FBI shed light on Francis Dolarhyde's disturbing psychology. Meanwhile, Dolarhyde finds ways to communicate directly with Hannibal Lecter regarding his "becoming." Will feels his bond with Hannibal growing uncomfortably stronger, and seeks out Bedelia Du Maurier, the only other person who fully understands the complexities of such a relationship.
Will Graham and the FBI enlist the expertise of Dr. Fredrick Chilton in the hopes of luring Francis Dolarhyde into an ambush, using Freddie Lounds as their mouthpiece. As Will's empathy for Dolarhyde begins to affect his fragile psyche, Bedelia Du Maurier warns that the killer Will should be most concerned about at the moment is himself. Meanwhile, Dolarhyde senses that the FBI is closing in and launches a horrifying endgame.
In a desperate bid to slay Francis Dolarhyde, Will Graham engineers a cunning ploy utilizing Hannibal Lecter. Upon learning of his plan, Bedelia Du Maurier voices concerns that Will's actions may not only put his life in peril, but the lives of those around him. As the end draws near, Will remains unflinching in his game with Hannibal-even when it means coming face-to-face with his own darkest fears?
