Matt Smith reviews episode 7 of The Following season 2…
The Following has, of late, been a tad uninspired. It seems fitting that ever since Joe Carroll admitted he was both a terrible writer and winging it, the show has been falling back on tired plot devices and shock tactics to provide what it thinks might be entertainment. What it needs is something new to ensure it doesn’t grind to a laborious halt.
With Lily Gray, the show was merely introducing a new Joe Carroll, except not better and not improved. Too similar to be interesting, but not any more dangerous to bring increased tension, it seems the show either doesn’t know what to do with her apart from using the character as a placeholder while Carroll finds his feet in more interesting circumstances.
This week, Carroll takes his only two followers (who have now become more like a family in a loving, deranged sort of way) to meet a new cult. They are not so eager to put Carroll at the top of the food chain, indeed going out of their way to show him he’s one of many as opposed to a leader amongst many.
So while Carroll is trying to find his place in the new world he’s discovered, Ryan Hardy has seemingly taken his place as the obsessed stalker killer. The only difference being the pleasure, or lack thereof in Hardy’s case, in the killing of others, the show has taken a tragic turn of some characters. Hardy and particularly Mike Weston have fallen on hard times of late, with more trauma coming to the fore this week.
Even Luke, serial killer extraordinaire and previous punching bag for Weston, has to remind Ryan Hardy that no one wants to be alone. Tragedy, thy name is Ryan Hardy. Handcuffed to a radiator, being laughed at by a murderer he had at gunpoint not long ago.
I’d warn about spoilers concerning Max’s abduction, but the lucky and tension-free escape provided by her captor is evidence that sometimes it’s just not worth building up hopes for an interesting sounding character who could mix things up. No sooner have you started getting into the story of another disturbed lunatic on their way to create havoc, does Ryan Hardy shoot you, or stab you, or otherwise terminate you as he sees fit. Though I shouldn’t have held up hope for a killer who doesn’t fall for the overused ‘massage the ego’ trick, but conveniently can’t use duct tape properly. And the amount of US television shows now using the motif of antlers and hunting within their murderer’s back-story or design is a little worrying for originality’s sake.
This episode is a return to good form though. The new cult has potential for an interesting, entertaining story and how Carroll will live in his new surroundings is a genuine mystery I’ll be hoping gets solved next week. Though the bizarre ritual that was shown did bring me to laughter at one point, which is never good. With the lesser elements of the show (Lily Gray and her family, gruesomeness for the sake of it) have been pushed away as far as possible, the better parts of the show can now shine brighter.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published March 9, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
