However, five days early, the episode was pulled from the United States broadcast schedule at the request of creator Bryan Fuller.
[1] This was not a result of the Boston Marathon bombings as some reports have indicated, but was actually decided just hours beforehand, and was more likely due to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
[3] In lieu of a traditional broadcast, a portion of the episode was broken into a series of webisodes, which was made available through various online media outlets.
Graham continues his sessions with Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and confides that even if he finds the boys, he will never be able to give them back what they gave away: their families.
I've seen a couple of my fellow TV journalists, including Alan Sepinwall and Matt Fowler, make the observation that the webisodes only underlined how enthralling and well written this show is, since it focused almost entirely on the characters.
Hannibal, Jack, Will and the others in their circle, including Abigail and Alana, are a fascinating group and even knowing, in broad strokes, where this story heads, I'm absolutely riveted seeing it play out.
This was their episode, they don't get many considering the show's comparatively short run and the immense amount of ground it needed to cover in that period of time.