3.2 Boxed In There’s a plan in place, and that plan involves a recently purchased electric chair. Apparently you can just buy those after the state executioner decommissions them, and all you need is a giant scary bald sociopath to bring it back to life. However, just because you have the chair, that doesn’t mean you get to use it. For the first time in The Following‘s career, the FBI does some actual police work and doesn’t just get to the scene of the crime a moment too late, but right on time to disrupt the plot and nearly catch the fugitive Mark and his crepe hair beard. While near-misses with the villain are something of a Following hallmark, the FBI has never seemed this competent. Perhaps Ryan Hardy and company are making the New York office better, or perhaps all the dead weight has been murdered by now and replaced with stone-cold veteran officers who know what they’re doing. Either way, it’s a nice little action scene, but it means that Mark, Daisy, and Kyle have to turn to plan B: Neil (Glenn Fleshler). Why is Neil plan B? Well, he makes Daisy and Kyle nervous, which means that he’s something of a next level murderer with a real artistic streak, and it’s the unfortunate Agent Jeffrey Clarke (the underrated Felix Solis) who is going to learn just what this flesh artist is capable of, if Ryan doesn’t confess his crimes to the nation. It’s a bit of a sucker punch from writer Barry O’Brien, but the visual really works, and they set it up pretty well by establishing that the FBI was getting better at this last minute rescue sort of stuff only to have the rug yanked away at the last moment, despite Clarke’s confession that Ryan covered up Lily Gray’s execution. The big secret is out, but it clearly didn’t save poor Agent Clarke’s life, judging from the stunned, horrified reactions from, well, everyone in the FBI. But it’s not graphic, it’s restrained. In fact, restraint seems to be the watchword for this season of The Following thus far. After all, we’re two episodes in and no Joe Carroll. They’re building anticipation, and everyone knows at some point Ryan and Joe are going to be in the same room at the same time, but the fake-out involving Dr. Strauss (Clark Gregg) was a clever idea that worked well, and it’s only heightening the anticipation for Joe’s return. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, New Blood, here. 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.
