The Following - Chapter Two

Previously on our little murder story, Joe Carroll busted out of jail to finish his murder streak from 14 years ago. Ryan Hardy tracked him down again and threw his ass back in jail. The detectives discovered that Jordy, one of Carroll's guards in prison, had become an accomplice and had been learning how to kill from Carroll and was now out on his own doing the dirty work. The "gay" neighbors and the nanny kidnapped Carroll's son, Joey from his ex-wife, Claire.

We last left Jordy at a sorority house where he weaseled his way in to the house with one of the girls saying he wanted to check the house for extra security. That would be tricky. I don't think I'd really be comfortable letting him in the house, but at the same time, he's wearing a uniform. Maybe if I had another gal pal with me...anyways. They go upstairs and Jordy is all kinds of sweaty and excited. He opens the window and pulls out a bag of some kind that's filled with his tools. He says he put it up there earlier. I don't know how or when, but ok. As soon as I saw a knife, my ass would out the door. He might chase me, but he's fatter, thus, slower. I'm out. Then again, I say that while I'm wrapped up snuggly in my blanket far away from men with knives. I'd probably just pee myself in actuality. Jordy says he's been planning this for a long time.

Next we see the police swarming Claire's house and Hardy comes in to comfort her. Hardy tells her that he suspects Denise, the nanny with the sassy pixie cut, is playing a part in the kidnapping, that she's one of Carroll's followers.

The three kidnappers pull up to a very nice looking home and Joey bursts out of the car screaming! One of the men chase him down and catch him and then Joey starts giggling. They tell him the house belongs to a friend of a friend. When Joey asks if he can call his mom now, Denise tells him that his mom told them not to call, and that they were on an adventure. He's pretty adorable.

It's becoming obvious that the "gays" aren't actually gay. The one with the quaffed hair keeps giving lustful glances at Denise. The other one tells Quaff that he everything about kids, and having Joey around is not his idea of enjoyment and that he'd rather snap the kid's neck. AND smooch between Quaff and Denise. Yup, not gay.

Back at headquarters we meet a very smart IT lady that tells Hardy that Denise isn't really her name, and the "gay" neighbors are really named Jacob and Paul. Jacob, being Quaff, and Paul being Anti-Kid. Hardy wanders over to find the lead of the team to hear a conversation about how he needs to be taken off this case before he cracks up like he did the last time. Then we see side-kick-friend-from-rom-coms Annie Parisse, playing Debra Parker, the new lead on the team.

Since Hardy was left alone with Carroll and broke 3 of his fingers, she's now the top bitch. Look out! Parker wants him to be helpful. Hardy wants to be deputized and wants a gun. Parker asks him a variety of questions, none of which Hardy wants to answer. When presented with a picture of Jordy, Hardy says that Carroll used the internet to create, "a following". YES!!! HE SAID IT! Did you guys hear? He said it! He said the title of the show. I can relax now. He also called them a cult. "Let's not use that word, people don't hear it well, " says Parker. They talk about the letter from the last episode. It comes out that Carroll knows that the two of them were boning.

At the sorority house, Jordy killed 3 girls. We find this poor girl.

She's hung up on her bookcase with the words "nevermore" written in blood above her. Hardy and Parker dispute over what words to call Jordy. The point is that these people worship Carroll as some sort of deity. Reily says that Carroll knows where Joey is. Even though he won't tell them where he is, maybe he'd tell his wife; he did ask to speak with her. Hardy doesn't like the idea of his ex-boning friend and her ex-husband being in the same room together. But they're gonna be anyways. Hardy tries to advice Claire on what to say, how to go about getting information.

She walks in the room and while he talks about how lovely she is and how his hands are shaking because she still has that effect on him, she opens with a, "where's my son?" So much for Hardy's advice. Carroll isn't having it. He talks about a vacation they went on a while ago. Then Claire remembers the advice and talks about all the books Joey's reading. Carroll's baiting her. He asks about the letter and wants answers to the questions. She keeps asking about Joey. Then she admits that yes she had an affair with Hardy, after the divorce. Carroll mocks her nobility by waiting til the divorce went through. "Only a proper diddle will do." Awesome. He asks if it was good, the sex. She defiantly says yes. Hardy gets panicky that everyone is hearing about all their sex, the sex he's been covering up for years from the FBI. We get to the last question and she says she doesn't know. "How could I love someone else after what you did," and then she starts slapping and going off.

I don't think this is how she anticipated this going. I can't tell if Carroll is pleased or not with the answers to the questions and how the interview went.

Joey is trying to pick his room. He finds his room because it's made identically to his room at his house. He asks again to call his mom. "Why is my dad such a bad man?" Aww! Poor little pumpkin! I'm sure there are kids out there that actually ask that question. So terrible. He's terrible, Joey, because he stabs out girls eyes, isn't really something you tell a kid. Then We get a glimpse of who "Denise" really is. She tries telling Joey that maybe his dad isn't terrible, maybe people just don't understand him.

Flashback!

2003 at a book signing of Carroll's book. Pixie has long hair, and is clearly infatuated.  She says her name is Emma and that she loved his book.  Specifically the how vivid the imagery was. Carroll then charmingly and super creeper-ly brushes back her hair so it's out of her face. That's only sexy if someone you know does it. Then again, she's got a raging boner for this guy already, so I guess that counts. He says her eyes are so lovely, that she shouldn't "deprive us of them". They discuss whether or not the main heroine of the story died after swimming towards the horizon. He asks her what she thinks and she goes on about how yes, it was beautiful and how only in death did she find hope. Carroll sees he's struck gold. Emma's mom pops in and it's clear she also suddenly has a boner for this guy, but purely based on his looks. I can't blame her. She flirts and says he looks nothing like an author, too handsome for that. A real charmer, this one. Emma is pissed. I'm sensing some tension.

Back at headquarters, they find footage through the prison video that the three kidnappers were in on things together long before they took Joey. They look back and see that "Denise" signed in as Emma the first time she visited Joe. They find her records and go to the house listed as her last known place of residence. They get there and the place is boarded up. Weston tells Hardy he can't try to break in the house, and Hardy says he can because he's not a cop. He busts in a back door and the place is pretty deserted. A couple of old Chinese food boxes on the counter, pizza boxes, but little else. Then he walks into the living room.

It's like Poe exploded onto the walls. Poe was always kind of goofy looking to me, but weirdly handsome as well; distinguished. But in reality his life was pretty thoroughly depressing. He walks into a bedroom that's also got Poe all over the walls. There are also these...

Creepy mask, bro. Hardy sees his book lying on the chair and then he stands up and we see in the mirror another mask, but this time it's attached to a body. "Poe" rushes him, says, "You're not supposed to be here. You know you're gonna die, but not today." Pistol whips him and then runs.

"Good news? No dead puppies!" Oh Weston, you're so cute. Parker starts describing the people that Carroll is using and how he's finding them. How the internet is creating a void in our society. She goes into pretty decent detail about what he makes these people feel. She says she runs the FBI's alternative religion department, that cults are her specialty.

The kidnappers get set up online and find out Jordy killed 3 girls. "Score for the village idiot." Emma asks Paul to go check on Joey in the other room and "be a good wing man". AKA we're gonna bone in here, so get out. She questions if Paul really is straight when he's gone. Jacob defends him by saying it's just been the two of them for a long time, he just needs time to adjust. "This is what Joe wanted." Flashback to Emma showing Carroll her now short hair, so as not to hide her eyes. Carroll tells her about a guy that she should go out with, who turns out to be Jacob. He gives her some ridiculously cheesy lines and eww it's gross.

"We got an update from Rick, the FBI found Emma's house, " Paul tells Jacob. So masked-Poe-guy was Rick. It's a blow to their plan that they found the house. Paul has his panties in a twist because he doesn't really know what the plan is, because Emma is in charge. They argue over Emma and Jacob's relationship. Paul tells Jacob that he's way out of her league. Hmm..perhaps Paul is gay, but was hiding it, while pretending to be gay? Emma hears all this and walks in.

Flashback to Emma and Jacob preparing dinner to have with Emma's cougar Mom. She flirts and hits on Jacob. She tells Emma she can't believe their dating and that Jacob would like the "plain Jane girls". Emma then picks up a knife and stabs her mom in the back with it.

But she was so nice to you! Jacob is proud that she finally did it. Emma watches her die and seems surprised that she could. This is why she's the leader of the gang.

At Emma's house they walk upstairs to find all the names and sketches of the women in Poe's life that had died. There's a picture of Sarah as well. There's also a picture of Emma's mom on the wall. Weston goes and pokes at the wall since there's a bit of discoloration. The panel falls down, and out comes Emma's mom.

Say hi! Hardy saying a body being buried in the walls is like The Black Cat and The Cask of Amontillado. Only, he actually pronounces the L's in Amontillado and it hurts my soul. They also spot a picture of Claire up on the wall. Since all these women have been killed they go to double check that she's safe. The cops swarm the house. They let Claire know about Emma and that she really was duped. That's gotta make you feel dumb! Clarie goes upstairs to go to bed. Before she does a cop checks out the room to make sure it's clear. I'm getting a feeling he's part of the following. The cops are confused about how someone with a low IQ like Jordy could just disappear. Then like a ninja, Jordy comes down from hiding up on the ceiling, behind the cop, and takes him out. So much for my theory about that one being part of the following.

Claire goes about brushing her teeth and then realizes, once Jordy closes the door behind him, that this is a bad situation.

"Can I spit first?" The cops outside are going over blueprints that had been drawn on Emma's walls. There's ones for the closet where they took Sarah out, the garage where the officer was killed, and then they see prints for Claire's basement. They bust in to see Jordy has Claire on a chair, with a gun pointed at her. Jordy is so pleased to see that it's Hardy. Negotiations time! Hardy is the only one allowed in the room. He asks if he can shut the door. Jordy agrees this is a good idea. He looks out into the hallway and Reily gives him a nod. As he closes the door behind him, Reily sneaks a gun into the back of his pants. Crafy!

"I have to kill her, and you have to watch. Those are the rules. Otherwise you have to kill me. And I'm not sure I'm ready to die." He's crying a bit. He says with pride and fear that Carroll picked him specifically to write this chapter and that he can do it anyway he wants to. Hardy suggests that they call Carroll and ask him if this is really what he wants. He tells Jordy there's a phone over by the bed. When he turns his head to look, like lighting fast hands, Hardy pulls the gun and shoots Jordy in the shoulder. Holy Sonic, man!

Parker refuses to let Hardy see Carroll alone, so he goes in with 4 guards instead. Is this going to be a pattern? Each episode ending with a one-on-one with Hardy and Carroll? I'm not sure how I like that. Parker is watching all this on the video in another room. Carroll says he likes to read before he goes to bed, because it helps him sleep, calms him down. Hardy challenges him on the fact that Claire almost died. Carroll says he wanted Hardy to save her, it helps cements the love story in the book. "I have so many surprises waiting for you." Carroll asks him how it feels to be victorious and to have killed the villain. Hardy tells him he didn't actually kill Jordy. Carroll is disappointed and admits this wasn't part of the plan. But it doesn't matter, because he never really knew anything, and he was just a waste anyways.

Hardy is trying to help Claire relax so she can sleep. Are you crazy? How would she ever be able to sleep without the help of some pills? She curls up with one of Joey's stuffed monkeys and just is gone. I guess the exhaustion would take hold after a while. Hardy takes off his jacket and settles in for a long night of watching Claire sleep. Switch to Joey actually sleeping with the same monkey and Paul is looking over him with hate in his eyes. Then he hears some noises down the hall and walks in to see Jacob and Emma doing the naughty. He doesn't say anything, he just sort of watches for a bit. Eww.

Parker walks down the hall with a very large book. A guard opens a window slot and a slot for her to put the book through. It turns out to be Carroll's cell. She hands him a book of the Complete Set of Poe Tales. WTF? He looks confused as well. Is she a follower? What's going on? Is she just messing with his head?

We see a guy standing in line outside a coffee cart when this monstrosity walks up behind him, pours gas all over him and sets him on fire. No one does anything. They just stand there and scream. No one tries to stop him from walking away. WTF people!? He didn't have a gun! Tackle the bastard! Good hell!


End credits. Man! So intense! Let's hope it keeps going this strong.

Til next week!