Criminal profiler Will Graham is tasked by FBI agent Jack Crawford, the head of Behavioral Sciences, to help investigate the disappearances of eight young girls across Minnesota. Graham and Crawford's team investigate several subsequent murders, while also trying to catch the Chesapeake Ripper. With the investigation weighing heavily on Graham, Crawford decides to have him supervised by psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who, unbeknownst to them, is the Chesapeake Ripper himself, actively seeking to derail the investigation.