There's a moment when Hannibal is kissing Alana in Hannibal Season 2 Episode 6 where he breaks the kiss and looks directly down upon her.

Frederick mentions that the ripper eats his victims as an act of dominance... and dominance is exactly what Hannibal is doing. 

Watch Hannibal Season 2 Episode 6 Online

His entire dinner party, and his jail break that night for Gideon, are all for show.

Hannibal uses every single detail to dominate the conversation of the ripper case, to show that he is the one who is ultimately in control. The dinner party is used to confirm his suspicions of Jack no longer being on his side and also to dominate Alana into the object he needs for an alibi.

Alana's hookup with Hannibal is just too gross.

There's just something so out of character for Alana to bond with Hannibal over their "loss" of Will. Only a few episodes ago, Alana was trying to find any means she can to free Will of the charges against him, but one attempted murder and she's fleeing towards Hannibal.

She can believe Will is the ripper of numerous people, but Hannibal is the one exception. Alana is smarter than this, or at one would hope she is.

Still, Alana's life feels fleeting now because of this alibi and hookup - and the images of death that are surrounding her. What's even worse is the flip-flop of opinion.

Alana does not follow the team, her heart or the evidence while Jack is completely working towards trying to confirm Will's suspicions. Even Frederick agrees with him. Hannibal is showing his dominance over one of Will's greatest treasures, staying one step ahead of Jack as he begins to pursue him. 

This act of dominance does not end with Hannibal.

Will, too, is displaying his own version of dominance. He's successfully convincing Frederick of his doubts and Jack is quickly starting to follow along too; yet when Will begins to have visions of himself as the stag, the visions never completely transform him.

Will is able to think like Hannibal, to see himself like Hannibal, but he can never kill like Hannibal because he knows and sees what Hannibal does and it makes him sick. 

By far, the biggest act of dominance is Hannibal's dealings with Gideon; Hannibal amputating Gideon's leg because he doesn't need it anymore, and then serving Gideon his own leg.

Gideon may have had some power in the beginning of Hannibal Season 2, but now he is confined and immobile in Hannibal's house. Gideon is one of the few who knows Hannibal's secret as such Gideon is, most likely, not long for this world.

It's the ultimate show of dominance from the creator and originator of the ripper persona to the copycat, Hannibal cooks and serves up Gideon's own leg as a show of strength and power. No matter how many times Gideon covers for Hannibal or copies him, Hannibal is the one who is in control, and Hannibal makes sure Gideon knows exactly where his place in all of it lies.

And then there's the ending, Miriam Lass is alive... sans an arm and living in below ground storage. Obviously, Hannibal leads Jack to this spot, but what does he want to prove with it?

What do you think is Hannibal's purpose for Miriam Lass?