Kō No Mono

"Kō No Mono" is the 24th episode of Hannibal overall, serving as the eleventh installment of its second season. The episode aired on NBC on May 9, 2014, and was directed by executive producer David Slade. The writing team included co-executive producer Jeff Vlaming, Andy Black, and series creator Bryan Fuller.

The story follows FBI special investigator Will Graham and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, whose relationship is central to the series, which draws from Thomas Harris's novels *Red Dragon* and *Hannibal*. In this episode, a burning body in a wheelchair rolls into a parking garage at the TattleCrime offices, landing in Freddie Lounds's parking space. Dental records identify the remains as Lounds. Meanwhile, Margot Verger tells Lecter and Graham she is pregnant with Graham's child, hoping to secure her family fortune, but Lecter plans to reveal this to her brother Mason during therapy.

Mason, shown making a child cry and using the tear in his martini, begins therapy with Lecter. Lecter hints that Margot could produce an heir through pregnancy, which terrifies her when Mason later confronts her about wanting an heir. At Lounds's funeral, Graham's comments suggest he may have killed her. Later, Lounds's body is exhumed and posed like Shiva, leading Graham to suspect a copycat killer. Alana Bloom, worried about Graham's relationship with Lecter, confronts him; he gives her his weapon and tells her to practice. Lecter later smells that she has been practicing.

Margot attempts to flee the Mason estate but is run off the road by Mason's henchman Carlo. She wakes on an operating table, where Mason plans to make her infertile. Bloom confronts Jack Crawford about his secrets, and he reveals that Lounds is still alive. Graham visits Margot in the hospital, then goes to Mason's farm and attacks him, hanging him over his pigs but stopping short of killing him. Realizing Lecter has been manipulating events, Graham suggests Mason feed Lecter to the pigs instead.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode drew 1.95 million household viewers and a 0.7/2 rating share among adults 18–49, a 15% drop from the previous episode's 2.28 million viewers and 0.9/4 share. It ranked third in its timeslot and ninth for the night in that demographic. With DVR viewing factored in, the 18–49 rating rose to 1.2.

Critical reception was highly positive.