“The Messenger” begins with Mike’s father’s funeral, with somber Max and Ryan in attendance. The earlier rift between Mike and Ryan has all but disappeared as the writers have slowly made them more and more similar since the premiere. Though they’re inching forward like two slugs trekking through molasses, Max and Mike have the chemistry that could make them a really intriguing couple…not that couples have too great a history on The Following. Emma is truly scared this episode, and can we blame her? But we are under the impression that Emma is a bloodthirsty, sociopathic, brutal murderer. By portraying her as a wounded fawn, jittery and afraid, are the writers trying to reveal her true self, or trying to show us (in a bit of overkill) just how strange these people are? If it’s the latter, it’s unnecessary; we the normal people don’t think the road to salvation is through sin-cleansing blood consumption in the effort to get to “The Ninth Planet” behind Neptune. I do think that Micah and Julia’s cult is much more believable than Joe’s ever was, though. Micah enlists Joe’s help because he wants to start killing, almost right after Julia tells Joe, “Micah is our leader, but I run things.” The writers are definitely loading up the cannons for something big. There are so many characters with a bone to pick with someone that at any moment, the plot could tumble into avalanche mode. Also, I know every show needs advertising revenue to survive, but I have one thing to ask the creators of The Following: please…stop…the Windows operating system plugs. Every single episode, a character turns on a phone, or a computer, or a tablet, and the unmistakable Windows display takes center stage. There has to be another, less exploitative way to do it that’s not so noticeable. In other news, journalist Carrie Cooke (Sprague Grayden, Paranormal Activity 2) who wrote The Havenport Tragedy accosts Ryan, and we glean that she took advantage of his drunken stupor eleven months prior to gain information about Joe Carroll for said book. She believes that Joe is alive as well, and she’s—unfortunately—yet another pawn that could bring the whole plot tumbling down, vowing to not rest until all is said and done. Some weeks, I think: “Hey, this show isn’t too bad. I’ll keep tuning in.” Other weeks—like this one—I throw up my hands helplessly, without a clue what to make of it. The plot seems to be shifting in an entirely different direction, even from the Lily story earlier this season. It’s not that it isn’t vexing, but week after week, there are fewer questions answered than there are raised.
