NBC announced this Friday that it would be pulling an episode of its serial killer drama Hannibal, set to air this Sunday. Reason being that in light of the recent incidents of violence in America, including the Newtown school shooting and the bombing of the Boston marathon last week, the network and the show’s producers saw the episode as inappropriate. The cancelled episode reportedly features a subplot in which a character, who brainwashes children into killing other children, according to the Washington Post. It’s obvious why that would be considered inappropriate in light of recent events.

“Hannibal” executive producer Bryan Fuller asked NBC to pull the episode, citing the Newtown, Conn., school shooting in December and this week’s Boston Marathon attack, NBC spokesman Stuart Levine said. The episode will be replaced by another one in the series, without harming the continuity of the plot. Additionally, specific scenes from the unaired episodes will be featured in a special “clip package” on the NBC website, without the cut inappropriate content. The scenes will be available from next week with special commentary by Fuller.

Hannibal centers around Hannibal Lecter, the iconic character from Silence of the Lambs and its sequels, as well as the original novel by Thomas Harris. Mads Mikkelsen stars in the thriller as Hannibal and Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne are also part of the star-studded cast.

Mads Mikkelsen, Independent Spirit Awards
The series, starring Mads Mikkelsen (pictured above) is currently in its first series.