By Robbie Jones
It’s the second series of hit US murder drama The Following, telling the story of Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), a retired FBI agent who is brought back in to help capture the escaped serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a former literature professor who bases his murders on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. However, Joe is not alone, as he developed a cult following during his time in prison, who serve him loyally and cause trauma for Hardy, along with Joe’s wife Claire (Natalie Zea). So before we get started with the review, let’s remind ourselves where we left off at the end of season 1.
It’s the second series of hit US murder drama The Following, telling the story of Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), a retired FBI agent who is brought back in to help capture the escaped serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a former literature professor who bases his murders on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. However, Joe is not alone, as he developed a cult following during his time in prison, who serve him loyally and cause trauma for Hardy, along with Joe’s wife Claire (Natalie Zea). So before we get started with the review, let’s remind ourselves where we left off at the end of season 1.
So after a hectic 14 episodes of cat and mouse chases, deception, traps, bloody murder, indecision, broken heroes and tough enemies, it all came to a close as Carroll pulled the devastating move of burying Special Agent Debra Parker (Anna Parisse) in a coffin underground and, in one of the most ballsiest and possibly heartbreaking TV moments of the past few years, Hardy and Agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) fail to make it in time, and she dies in front of them. Hardy tracks Carroll to a beach house in Havenport, where they have their final showdown as Joe prepares to take Claire’s life. However, Hardy and Claire come out whilst Joe perishes in a fire. Moving on from the incident and settling down together, Hardy and Claire are both attacked and severely wounded by an ex girlfriend of Ryan’s hired by Carroll, leaving us with the devastating cliff-hanger of what happens next.
Season 2 picks up one year on, and it’s the anniversary of Carroll’s death. Ryan, now completely clean of his alcohol addiction, attending AA meetings, and teaching at a college, is asked back to the FBI as three people wearing Joe Carroll (Much like the Edgar Allan Poe masks worn in Season 1) ambush a train, killing 6 people and chanting “Resurrection” claiming Joe will be resurrected and not even Ryan Hardy can stop it. Once again, our broken hero must step up to the plate to delve deep into the cult.
What made Season 1 so great was the dark tone of the show; it wasn’t necessarily the violence that did it but watching these dark, twisted characters each episode turned The Following from being an alright show to a pretty damn good one. Plus, the shock value was immense, especially the cliffhangers throughout the season.
Season 2 picks up one year on, and it’s the anniversary of Carroll’s death. Ryan, now completely clean of his alcohol addiction, attending AA meetings, and teaching at a college, is asked back to the FBI as three people wearing Joe Carroll (Much like the Edgar Allan Poe masks worn in Season 1) ambush a train, killing 6 people and chanting “Resurrection” claiming Joe will be resurrected and not even Ryan Hardy can stop it. Once again, our broken hero must step up to the plate to delve deep into the cult.
What made Season 1 so great was the dark tone of the show; it wasn’t necessarily the violence that did it but watching these dark, twisted characters each episode turned The Following from being an alright show to a pretty damn good one. Plus, the shock value was immense, especially the cliffhangers throughout the season.
This first episode switches between taking it slow and moving quite fast, but nothing really moves forward. The change of pace makes it a little hard to watch, and some of the dialogue in this episode is pretty bad too. Nevertheless, Following fans will warmly welcome the new season as it holds lots of promise, if the events of this first episode are anything to go by.
We catch up with the characters, and even meet some new ones, including eerily scary identical twins Mark and Luke (Sam Underwood), who for sure will be taking up a villain mantle this season. We’re also introduced to NYPD cop and Hardy’s nephew Max (Jessica Stroup), a beautiful young girl who’s certainly quite smart too. One story of note is that of Emma Hill (Valorie Curry). Emma was one of Joe’s most loyal followers, and at one point his lover. Of all the characters in the show, she ended up being one of the creepiest, and brilliantly played by Curry. Now, she’s made a radical change since her following days
Now, let’s be honest; we all knew Carroll wasn’t dead. Fans of the show knew straight away that there would be no show without James Purefoy’s charming, mesmerising villain, who is scary enough to challenge the likes of Hannibal Lecter. If Bacon and Purefoy’s chemistry is even nearly as good as it was in Season 1, we’re in for a treat.
Overall, it’s probably not the best start to a season ever, but it’s enough to keep us intrigued as to what happens next.
We catch up with the characters, and even meet some new ones, including eerily scary identical twins Mark and Luke (Sam Underwood), who for sure will be taking up a villain mantle this season. We’re also introduced to NYPD cop and Hardy’s nephew Max (Jessica Stroup), a beautiful young girl who’s certainly quite smart too. One story of note is that of Emma Hill (Valorie Curry). Emma was one of Joe’s most loyal followers, and at one point his lover. Of all the characters in the show, she ended up being one of the creepiest, and brilliantly played by Curry. Now, she’s made a radical change since her following days
Now, let’s be honest; we all knew Carroll wasn’t dead. Fans of the show knew straight away that there would be no show without James Purefoy’s charming, mesmerising villain, who is scary enough to challenge the likes of Hannibal Lecter. If Bacon and Purefoy’s chemistry is even nearly as good as it was in Season 1, we’re in for a treat.
Overall, it’s probably not the best start to a season ever, but it’s enough to keep us intrigued as to what happens next.
RSS Feed
