HANNIBAL Renewed, NBC Confirms Season 2: Crime Thriller Returns in 2014, Only 3 Episodes Left for 2013

Fans of Will Graham, Jack Crawford, Abigail Hobbs, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Dr. Alana Bloom, and even Freddie Lounds can now rest easy. After a few tense weeks of nail biting and hoping, NBC has renewed "Hannibal" despite dropping Nielsen ratings numbers. It turns out the thrilling show about the popular Thomas Harris character from his novel Red Dragon, was renewed based on how promising it is in terms of originality and writing. This is a huge step for NBC and network television in general. So with season two coming in early 2014, what should we expect to see in the final three episodes of the show's freshman season?

If we know anything about "Hannibal" it is that the episode titles are incredible. The last three episodes are already wetting our appetite with their respective titles: "Roti," "Releves," and "Savoureux."

"Hannibal" made headlines earlier this year when show runner Brian Fuller pulled the fourth episode of the season in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Due to the graphic nature of the episode's plotline involving children brainwashed into murdering, Fuller only released an edited version of the episode as a webseries in order to tie up any loose ends between aired episodes.

Also, NBC's Salt Lake City affiliated network pulled the whole show from local television earlier in the season.

"We're so proud of Bryan's vision for a show that is richly textured, psychologically complex, and very compelling," said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke, in the statement that announced the show's renewal. "There are many great stories still to be told." 

"Hannibal" has an interesting story in terms of television ratings and politics. According to Deadline:

"'Hannibal' got off to a solid ratings start and was in serious contention for an early renewal. The numbers eventually tapered off, and NBC put the renewal decision on hold. Hannibal was well reviewed, and there overtures from at least one cable network in case NBC passed on a second season. Additionally, Amazon, which carries repeats of the show, had expressed serious interest in taking it on. Hannibal, from Gaumont International Television, is produced under a different model at a license fee that is a fraction of what dramas with similar production values cost.

"Through its eight original telecasts to date, Hannibal is averaging a 2.0/6 share in adults 18-49 and 4.7 million viewers overall in "most current" Nielsen numbers. According to NBC, Hannibal is the youngest drama on ABC, CBS and NBC, with a median age of 45.7. It's also an upscale drama, indexing at a 111 among adults 18-49 living in homes with $100K+ incomes. Additionally, Hannibal is heavily time-shifted, with its 18-49 rating growing by 75% going from next-day 'live plus same day' ratings to 'live plus seven day.'"