3.1 New Blood It’s a lovely wedding for Gina Mendez (Valerie Cruz) and her partner, capped off by a very sweet toast from one Ryan Hardy (the infamous Kevin Bacon). He’s got a lovely new girlfriend named Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson), Max (Jessica Stroup) has a functional relationship with her new man Tom (Gbenga Akinnagbe), and Mike (Shawn Ashmore) is… well, Mike is enjoying his work. Joe Carroll is on death row, Mark (Sam Underwood) has fled the country, and all appears to be well until a wedding guest walks up to Ryan and throws blood on his face in the middle of a toast. As we find out, that grieving father isn’t really a grieving father, but a sociopath named Andrew (Michael Irby). It turns out, Mark is back and looking for revenge. Step one in that plan is to make sure everyone knows that Ryan Hardy is a liar. The blood splash is step one. Step two through the rest of the season is to brutally butcher random innocents and string them up in compromising positions. Like, say, reenacting Mike’s execution of Lily Gray, with the warning that you lie, people die. Another interesting development is seeing Kevin Bacon actually smile while on set. Ryan Hardy has love interests, but not someone serious enough to sleep over that isn’t also the wife of the guy who spent the bulk of the last two years trying to kill him. The way the characters have moved on, courtesy of the script from Alexi Hawley and Brett Mahoney, makes sense. Mike’s obsession with Mark makes sense, echoing Ryan’s obsession with Joe. Ryan’s ability to finally move on makes sense knowing his adversary is on his way to actual final death. And, of course, Mark’s deranged double persona makes as much sense as anything involving a crazy person would (thought I imagine Sam Underwood is glad to not have to do double wardrobe work anymore). So this season looks like the supremely crazy Mark and his new group of followers (who have familiar beats to the first season’s group, minus the shower threesomes and with more threatened murder courtesy of Mark) versus Ryan and the FBI, with a little involvement from one Joe Carroll. Of course, whether or not that remains will be seen soon enough, but so far I like where things are headed. I look forward to the show doing something absolutely insane to completely redirect things in about three episodes. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is always glad to see Bacon. And also bacon. The actor and the breakfast meat can’t be beat. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
