10 Horror Television Episodes That Are Practically Flawless

In terms of sheer "what the actual f**k just happened" shock factor, there are few episodes across television, let alone horror, that can match the second season finale of NBC's Hannibal.

Mirroring the nature of the show's titular character, Mizumono is unabashedly ruthless. The episode charts an explosive final showdown as Hannibal prepares to escape with Will Graham, supposedly unaware that the brilliant criminal profiler is actually working with the FBI to finally take down the man known as the Chesapeake Ripper.

Unfortunately for our heroes, Hannibal's preternatural sense of smell catches a trace of Freddie Lounds' musk; a journalist whose death had been faked by Will in order to secure Hannibal's trust. As such, when Jack Crawford arrives at the house to take Hannibal into custody, television's most dangerous cannibal is well aware of what is coming.

What follows is a Red Wedding-esque showdown of absolutely brutal proportions, ending with every main character bar the eponymous villain seemingly on the verge of death. The additional levels of shock factor generated by the return of Abigail Hobbs as she pushes Abigail out of a window - only for her to be brutally murdered by Hannibal moments later - are legitimately jaw-dropping. Mizumono is Lecter at his most terrifying; a desolating exhibition of the full extent of his merciless formidability.

Perhaps what is the episode's most impressive attribute is that despite this electric series of events, proceedings never feel hurried or overstuffed. Bryan Fuller, take a bow.