Matt Smith reviews episode 12 of The Following season 2…
Faith is what keeps us coming back for more, even if things get terrible. Sometimes we even feel betrayed, but we get up, brush ourselves off and come back for more in the hope that things will get better. It seems The Following is following that outline to a tee. Last week, The Following revealed it’s religious leaning in regards to its storytelling. Biblical quotes, a feeling of a war being bought about by groups with different beliefs and even the positioning of one of its main characters as a God-like persona with Joe Carroll now at the head of a cult.
This week, the religious war takes on a more overt nature. The introduction of a pastor, Kingston Tanner (played by Tom Cavanagh), gets the attention of Joe Carroll, shaming his cult on television. In a nice touch, Carroll responds by saying he hates Tanner as he is taking Carroll’s name in vein. Meanwhile, Mandy places herself way out of her own depth by going over to Lily Gray’s group and trying to find a place in the world. Like the character within the show, Mandy has been in the background and has struggled in finding her own place but this week promised to come to the fore. Lily greets her like she would a niece, bringing up the burning question of what will Mandy’s actions cause?
The plot steamrolls ahead once again, all pushing towards an inevitable finale that worked well in the previous season and seems to follow the classic route of these sorts of shows. A shocking introduction with a huge build up, which ends with some shocking actions and events we as an audience couldn’t see coming. It’s a little cookie cutter in that respect, but the producers of The Following have kept it as fresh as possible while maintaining high quality storytelling for most of the season. It’s had its ups and downs but for the most part, especially with the juggling of multiple storylines, it’s kept up the reputation of being tension-filled and exciting, with all the twists and turns that naturally come with a series like this.
Joe Carroll, despite being deemed the Anti-Christ this week, is by far the most charismatic and eye-drawing character within the ensemble. There have been many examples of this before, whether it’s actors playing the villainous Dracula or even recently with The Dark Knight’s Heath Ledger’s demanding screen presence. Perhaps an audience enjoys the time watching someone who’s unafraid to do what they want no matter the consequences, or maybe it is, like a cult leader, just down to who has been picked to deliver the lines but there’s a definite feeling of choosing your side when it comes to which murderous group you’d want to win the war.
There’s even a parallel that runs between Carroll and the pastor. Does either of them believe anything they say while performing? Or is it all calculated? Carroll hates Tanner for it, and perhaps that’s why he’s doing it himself as a form of ironic, violent protest. This series’ Joe Carroll would’ve made a better writer than the first series’.
With Ryan Hardy literally running out on the problem of his reintroduction to Claire Matthews, I have to live in hope that the series does something with the new dynamic as opposed to resetting the relationship to what it once was. There is the promise of that, with Hardy not exactly jumping for joy when he sees her, and hopefully the series takes his actions from this week and, once again, does something with them dramatically.
All the signs are pointing towards an inevitably epic conclusion, with more and more being put at stake and emotions spiralling in every direction. With what they did in the previous season being so similar, it doesn’t seem that the producers of The Following will lose their way. I just hope that there’s something different in the mix to keep it fresh as well.
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