‘The Following’ Series Finale Recap: Who Died? Who Lived?

Mike survived and Ryan Hardy was declared dead by the FBI in the series finale of FOX’s The Following.

The Following Series Finale “The Reckoning”

After a season-long chase, Ryan (Kevin Bacon) finally came face to face with Theo (Michael Ealy) for an epic standoff. Theo kidnaps Ryan and locks him in a dungeon. The secret organization trying to employ Theo wants Ryan alive, but Theo isn’t interested in deals anymore. He’s keeping Ryan for himself – he wants revenge for the death of his sister. Theo is about to kill Ryan when the mystery woman – Eliza (Annet Mahendru) – bursts through the door. She wants Ryan Hardy, and she put a tracker on him.

While Theo tortures Ryan, Max (Jessica Stroup) visits Mike (Shawn Ashmore) in the hospital. He’s still recovering from his stab wounds, but he’s going to pull through. With Mike awake, Max takes her work to the hospital to get his help tracking Ryan and Theo.

While reviewing security footage, Max realizes there’s a few frames missing from the video the FBI gave her and hacks into the original feed, discovering where Theo might have taken Ryan. When she calls FBI Agent Lisa Campbell (Diane Neal) to relay her findings, we discover that Agent Lisa Campbell is actually working for Eliza and the ‘Organization.’ Max thinks she’s meeting Campbell to go rescue Ryan, but she’s really walking into a trap!

Ryan isn’t faring much better with Eliza, who threatens to hurt Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson) and his unborn child. She wants to know who Ryan talked to about his suspicions about her real agenda, and Ryan is able to stall her long enough to get the upper hand, break free of his bindings and tackle Annie. Theo, of course, uses the commotion to escape his own torture and finds the ultrasound photo Eliza used to intimidate Ryan.

Change of plans: Theo takes Gwen captive. Lucky for Gwen, Ryan isn’t going down without a fight, and he wants to protect Gwen and the baby at all costs. He shoots Theo in the head, and it looks like Ryan, Gwen and the baby will be safe and sound, until a not-so-dead Theo stands up and tackles Ryan. The two tumble over the side of a bridge as Gwen watches.

After his faceoff with Theo, both Ryan and the serial killer are declared dead by the FBI even though no bodies were found. But Ryan Hardy isn’t that easy to kill. He survived the fall, but fakes his death to allow for his family’s safety while he begins a solo mission to investigate the mysterious organization pulling all the murderous strings. First order of business: get any and all information out of Agent Campbell, who was shot in the chaos of the episode and is recovering in the hospital. During the episode, Ryan realized Campbell was working for the enemy, so he questions her, kills her and walks out of the hospital in disguise, ready to take on this new mysterious threat.

RIP The Following.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.