Episode 10 of “The Following” was not the most suspenseful of this new series by any stretch. It felt more like a filler episode. Sure there was some interesting character development, and a new character was introduced, but the show is getting a little too easy to predict. I hate to say, what keeps everything interesting is who lives and who dies on this show. And sometimes I would really just like someone to stick a knife in Ryan Hardy to put him out of his misery.
But back to the episode: let’s start where the last episode left off with Jacob standing in the doorway in front of Emma. Is she in shock because she really misses him or because she can’t seduce Joe Carroll again? The consensus is that the evil minx does have feelings under her pixie cut – well good for her. Too bad her angel of a boyfriend finally committed murder.
Jacobs’ character development is really going up from when the show started. He’s moved up from a lapdog afraid to murder a fly to a delusional murder – although, I think maybe the delusions might be too much. Do we really need to give Jacob a crutch for becoming a murder? The answer: no, I think he could manage all on his own. So maybe it’s really just an excuse to keep Paul in the show for the rest of the season. Either that or Jacob is turning into Dexter Morgan.
And speaking of Dexter Morgan, you will never guess who makes a guest appearance in episode 10: Sargent Batista from the ever-popular “Dexter.” Of course, still playing a cop, David Zayas goes under a new alias, Tyson Hernandez. Tyson is introduced as Hardy’s best friend, and boy does he need one. But to no one’s surprise (at least not mine), Tyson ends up getting shot and in critical condition. Will he live or die? If Hardy’s track record of losing loved ones continues, I would say the answer is no. However, I am happy to report that, as a viewer, I am unable to predict the outcome of this sticky situation. Thanks for that little bit of intrigue Hollywood screenwriters.
Then, when Joe Carroll’s minions track down the love of his life, Claire, we all knew what was bound to happen in the end. Option A: Ryan Hardy falls, yet again, a step behind Joe, the criminal mastermind, or B: Claire Matthews, again, can’t trust the police or Ryan to do their jobs correctly. Ding, ding, option B.
So Claire runs off with the bad guys to see her son. As a viewer, I can’t say I am surprised, but I will say I am irritated. Either we give the writer of the show kudos for developing their characters so well we can predict their every move, or we punch them in the face for being so predictable. But Roderick finally scores points with Carroll for finally bringing home the goods. The real question is how much more is Roderick willing to put up with from Joe. Which alpha will win the battle?
But I think the most interesting thing to happen this episode was seeing clips of a woman named Molly, one of Ryan Hardy’s ex-girlfriends. She shows up in two clips that seem random, but the episode ends so suddenly no one knows what it could really mean.
So, the overall consensus: although this episode was just subpar, I think it’s prepping for something bigger next week, and I don’t mean Joe trying to convince Claire to love him again ... that has been done in way to many movies and TV shows already, not even his accent is enough to make that plot thread interesting. We all know it won’t work. No, what I am interested to know (and why I’ll be watching next week) is to see if the friction between Carroll and Roderick will finally reach a boiling point and to see how the new and improved Jacob plays with others and maybe what the FBI is up to, seeing as how they have now managed to lose the entire Carroll clan; that can’t be going well at headquarters.
