The Following, episode 14, The End is Near
Here goes Carroll watching more Hardy porn. As we are watching the full-fledged spiraling descent of what little sanity Carroll had left, we are also seeing him hanging on with a gossamer thin thread to what remains of his beloved followers. He may be dying with that gut wound, and now he comes back to Emma, begging for forgiveness, needing her help, wanting her trust, but I think we all know that she definitely can’t be trusted.
With Joey’s description of the house, Hardy and the FBI are narrowing down the possibilities. Meanwhile, Carroll’s creepy cult is doing death chants while holding hands in a circle. Weird. If that’s all of the followers he has left, say, less than twenty, the odds aren’t looking too good for him. Carroll’s says today’s the day their story will finally be heard. Jacob takes Emma to the side, questioning Carroll’s plan. He thinks Carroll may be planning on leaving them, and considering what Emma did to him, who can blame him for being paranoid, but the ball of warmth that Emma is just tells him to ‘suck it up’. Carroll goes to tell Claire that her character dies in his rewrite, and she can clearly see the crazy in his eyes as he has her dragged out of her room.
Hardy thinks he’s found the house, and all of the FBI and backups storm the residence, finding only one of Joe’s followers hanging in an empty room. They’ve missed him.
Emma and Jacob enter a couple’s house with Carroll waiting inside. Carroll and his followers are so unhinged and desperate. It’s a dangerous combination.
Hardy finds a book with a handwritten note from Carroll inside. Parker and him hash out what Carroll’s plans are. Carroll wants Hardy to witness Claire’s death.
Carroll ties up the couple and tries to have small talk with them. It’s ridiculous and once again highlights his detachment from reality.
Jacob admits his doubts about the cult, and he tells Emma that the reason he joined was because he thought it was going to be just the two of them. That’s like the old Jacob we used to know.
At an outside press gathering, one of the followers starts spouting a bunch of craziness and stabs a reporter, right in front of Hardy, leaving him wrestling the girl who did it and letting an unknown follower walk right past him.
In custody, Carroll’s follower that stabbed the reporter is still quoting Poe, saying her name is Annabell Lee. This one is a perfect example of how mentally unstable these people are that worship Carroll. She tells him that the reporter’s death was meant for him. Hardy gets rough with ol’ Annabell and she tells him that Claire must die so that Hardy can be reborn.
Carroll prepares the couple a pasta dinner and continues the façade. Emma actually shows remorse for screwing up Jacob’s life, with tears and all, but I can’t help thinking she’s planning on killing him since he’s a weak link for the cult.
Claire eyeballs the wine tool and offers her help in using it when Carroll is obviously in pain. He lets her do it and begins a conversation about trust and love between his hostages. He then goes on to lecture Claire on marriage vows then tells her to enjoy her food because it will be her last supper. He’s really something. Two police officers knock on the door and Emma shoots them when they question who lives at the house. Claire sees her opportunity when Carroll turns to leave the table and bashes him over the head with a wine bottle, stabs him again and kicks him for good measure. Claire and the couple leave the house running and Carroll sends both Emma and Jacob to find her. He says he plans to call Alex and meet up with them later.
Parker and Hardy discern that Carroll may be targeting the evacuation center. The FBI canvases the center and tries to look for any suspicious individuals that might be in the cult. Hardy remembers seeing Alex outside when the reporter was attacked. He approaches him and Alex raises his arms, the lights go out, and people start attacking with hatchets. Shots are fired, and the place turns to chaos.
Claire and the couple are running through the woods in the dark, and Emma and
Jacob catch up to them, pinning Claire down. They let the couple run away, but bring Claire with them.
In the evacuation center it’s like a real life fun house with the FBI moving slowly through the darkened hallways and rooms. This seems to be a preferred trope with this show as Parker and Hardy are often prowling around dark places with crazy cult members waiting behind every corner. Alex captures Parker and another follower approaches her with a bloody knife.
Jacob and Emma bring Claire to Carroll at a dock. We see him taking the boat out as Jacob and Emma drive away to meet Alex. Jacob tells Emma they can just leave instead. He’s really made up his mind to leave and as the two of them confess their love to each other, Emma tells him that she loves Carroll, too, as she kills him. I guess he really did see his fate coming after all. I can’t help but missing his character.
At the evacuation center there have been five civilian fatalities, and nine cult members dead, along with a missing Parker. We soon find out that Parker’s been carried out to the woods and is being buried alive. The show ends with Parker’s pitiful sobs. Insert chills here.
There’s a lot on the line for the season finale next week as we hopefully get to see what happens with Claire and Parker, as well as Carroll and Emma. Let’s not leave out Ryan Hardy. He’s the star of the show, for us and for Carroll. It all revolves around him. Will he be able to save the day? And I’m really wondering what will be in store for a season two.
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Posted by Amber Keller
on Monday, April 22nd, 2013. Filed under Dark TV, Headline, Images.
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Tags: claire, fox, jacob, joe carroll, kevin bacon, parker, ryan hardy, the following
