'The Following' Recap: Joe Rediscovers The Art Of Killing With Lily's Help; Ryan And Max Hunt Down Gisele

by uInterviewFebruary 18, 2014, 12:00 amNews >

“Reflection” found Ryan and Max going rogue to hunt down Gisele and Lily Gray while Joe Carroll settled into his new life with Lily and Emma in The Following.

Joe And Emma Adjust To Their New Family

After being reassured by Emma (Valorie Curry) that Lily Gray’s family of killers is safe, or safe enough, Joe (James Purefoy) is finally reunited with his most loyal Follower, but while she’s happy to see him, Emma is also furious. She wastes no time in asking Lily (Connie Nielsen) for a moment alone with Joe, which does not bode well for her chances of survival in the Lily Gray household. Once alone, Emma cuts to the chase, demanding to know why Joe let her think he was dead for a year. He left her all alone, she says, and that is the worst crime of all. Joe apologizes and says that he was embarrassed for his failure to beat Ryan Hardy. Emma lets it go, but she is clearly still upset and suspicious of their new company. The next day, when Joe corners Emma outside, she expresses her suspicions of the Grey family. They’re crazy, she says, not realizing that she and Joe might be a bit crazy themselves.

Lily watches them from the house. She is not pleased with Emma’s presence and resents her relationship with Joe. She has been waiting to be with Joe for a long time, and Emma was never part of her plan. Mark (Sam Underwood), the shy twin who has developed a crush on Emma, can see that his mother is quickly becoming fed up with Emma and he begs his mother to give Emma more time – he knows she’ll kill Emma if she wants to. Lily asks Mark to occupy Emma for the day so that she can have some time alone with Joe.

Mark takes Emma to his mother’s art studio while Lily swoops in on Joe and takes him on a tour of the house. Mark charms Emma convincingly enough to get her to draw a portrait of him. Things go south when the two share a nice moment and Emma reaches out to touch Mark. He freaks out and jumps back from her. He doesn’t like to be touched without warning and his explicit permission. Emma doesn’t want to understand or be patient with him, she calls him crazy before trying to make a break for it. Turns out, they are locked inside the studio with no way out, as Lily intended. Eventually Mark falls asleep and Emma finishes her portrait, with Joe’s head placed firmly on Mark’s body.

Joe and Lily have an equally rocky day. Joe is impressed with Lily’s collection of killer kids and he doesn’t mind her attempt to procure him Ryan Hardy. It’s later, when she shows him the studio that she has prepared for him, that he becomes angry. The small room looks like a toolshed at first glance, with a long metal table sitting in the middle of the room of white tile walls and big, open windows. In the back corner is a writing desk, for Joe to get back to his story telling, and in the other corner sits a tall cage. Lily reveals to Joe his special present, Wanda, a sedated young woman sitting sadly at the bottom of the cage. The room is for him to get back to work. Joe is a little bit insulted, but mostly furious. He feels that Lily is trying to control him, though she says all she wants to do is give him all that he desires. Later, after his anger has subsided, Joe returns to the room and kills Wanda, leaving her an artful and bloody mess. He then goes straight to Lily’s room where the two make love.

Ryan And Max Capture Gisele

Meanwhile, Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) and his niece Max (Jessica Stroup) have their hands full with Gisele. Max follows her off the train to a small town, where Gisele has arranged to rendezvous with Luke (Underwood). Ryan and Max work together to capture her, knock her out and then drag her to a local motel. Ryan uses his particular brand of aggressive interrogation technique and gets her to reveal the location of a warehouse. She claims it’s where Lily is, but the audience knows it’s actually her meet up place with Luke. Ryan goes to check it out while Max stays with Gisele. Neither have contacted the FBI.

Ryan inspects the warehouse and has a run in with Luke and one of his killer brothers. The brother dies in the shootout, but Ryan doesn’t get a chance to lay his hands on Luke before Gisele shows up. She broke her own wrist to escape the handcuffs the Hardy team had placed on her and she knocked Max out before running to the factory. Both Gisele and Luke swear to get revenge on Hardy, but Luke seems satisfied that Gisele is okay. Ryan is hurt, he got shot in the abdomen, and he runs off into the woods, stopping at a house to patch himself up. He is now operating far outside the law, so when one of the inhabitants of the house catches him, he ties her up and puts a blindfold on her. She is convinced he’s going to kill her, but he assures her that she will be fine. Luke and Gisele follow a trail of blood to the house and strike. Ryan starts fighting Gisele, who lies and tells him that she killed Max. Ryan, overcome with fury and grief, stabs Gisele and runs out. Luke is devastated.

Ryan returns to the hotel to find Max alive and well. He gives her a big hug, while Luke swears to avenge Gisele’s death.

Over at the FBI, things continue to move slowly. Judy’s body has been discovered, and she was flagged by the FBI as one of Carroll’s pen pals from prison. Looking into her death, they find one suspect, the local preacher and trace his car to a gas station a few towns away. Surveillance video of the gas station shows Mandy (Tiffany Boone) with a mysterious man (Joe), presumably the man that had been staying with them pretending to be Judy’s brother. Joe’s thick beard and baseball cap hide his identity from the cameras, but looking at the picture, Mike (Shawn Ashmore) recognizes him straight away.

The Following airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on FOX.