The series is based on characters and elements appearing in Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, with focus on the relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham's most cunning enemy.
The killer, Francis Dolarhyde, starts a new relationship with Reba McClane but feels that the paintings are influencing him to commit murders, one of which involves her.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.01 million household viewers and gained a 0.3/1 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) practices his speaking before contacting the institution where Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), making the conversation they had in the previous episode.
Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) is giving a lecture detailing her experience with Lecter when she is approached by Graham (Hugh Dancy).
Meanwhile, Dolarhyde takes Reba (Rutina Wesley) to a zoo, allowing her the experience of touching a sleeping tiger.
Dolarhyde then imagines Reba bathed in a yellow light, in the exact same manner as The Woman Clothed in Sun painting.
Graham questions Bedelia's intentions and she recalls her encounter with Neal Frank (Zachary Quinto), a patient referred to her by Lecter.
With Dolarhyde and Hannibal now directly aligned, things are much more dangerous for Will than realizes, as this story continues to build in a satisfying manner.
Fortunately, this one didn't disappoint, as both Rutina Wesley and Richard Armitage conveyed the overwhelming emotions both were feeling in this unusual moment.
"[8] Mark Rozeman of Paste gave the episode a 9.8 out of 10 and wrote, "In the grand scheme of things, '...And the Woman Clothed in Sun' serves as yet another hour-long building block, wherein relationships are built up and pieces put into place that will pay off down the line.
What makes this more satisfying than last week's entry, however, is both the innate power at play in the execution of the Red Dragon sequences and the way in which the show augments the episode with the crazy non-book material.
It's not enough that Bedelia reaches down Neal's throat much further than any doctor would recommend, we also get an icky internal shot of her hand wandering down his windpipe.
He just happens to cross paths with Dolarhyde in the elevator and even though he's got a full stomach of proto-Romantic art, Will gets thrown around like a ragdoll.
"[12] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine wrote, "'And the Woman Clothed in Sun' is explicitly taken with Hannibal's great theme: 'reality' as a terrifyingly fluid and elastic realm, dictated by the conditions of the fragile mind.
Writer Don Mancini has a gleefully perverse sense of humor that fits Hannibal like a blood-splattered glove, but Navarro lacks a distinctive style and can't seem to imbue any mystery or meaning into his imagery.
That role is occupied very distinctly by Francis Dolarhyde, who is at various moments throughout '... And The Woman Clothed in Sun' paralleled with both Hannibal and Will, emerging as a kind of twisted composite of both men.