02x00 - The Following Revisited

[bunniefuu]

Man: I know things didn't end well with the Bureau, but you caught Carroll.

Ryan Hardy: He didn't just eviscerate 14 female students.

He was making art.

Carroll's ex-wife, I'd like to speak to her.

I'm sorry I didn't call you.

It's been 8 years, Ryan. I got the hint.

He's scheduled to be ex*cuted.

He'll only talk to you.

I will be your friend, Ryan, even though you slept with my wife.

Man: Call it in! Signal 63!

Get some help now!

Man: We're gonna need you in Virginia, Ryan.

Mike Weston: 3 bodies were found m*rder*d in the last 6 hours.

Ryan: He's finding people to help him.

It's like they're his followers.

This is just the beginning.

The Following season one was all about FBI Agent Ryan Hardy as he faced off with his Nemesis Joe Carroll.

What's my sequel about, Joe?

We're gonna write this together, Ryan.

If this book ends with anything other than your death, you better plan on a rewrite.

And season one began with the escape of Joe Carroll from prison.

He'd been convicted of k*lling 14 female students at Winslow University, where he was a professor of literature.

Woman: No!

And it will bleed into your writing.

...prison early this morning.

Williamson: So they brought in the man responsible for apprehending him all those years ago.

I'm not an agent anymore.

As we meet Ryan Hardy, he's drinking too much, and he's got a bad heart, which we learn was due to being stabbed by Joe Carroll.

Have you heard from him?

Williamson: During the course of the search for Joe Carroll, Ryan hard goes to visit Claire Matthews, who is the ex-wife of Joe Carroll.

How does he know?

There was a past between Ryan and Claire Matthews.

During his first investigation, he met Claire.

You should talk to my husband.

You're married?

Yeah. Yes. I'm married, Agent Hardy.

Why? Are we flirting?

Williamson: Ryan and Claire had an affair.

When the FBI found out about us, that was difficult for you.

You deserve more.

Of course those feelings are reignited I like the flashback stuff.

It was fun stuff for me to play because it took me to a place when the character was lighter, happier, and just had his life sort of more together.

Shawn Ashmore: When Ryan comes back to the FBI, there's a lot of people that don't want him there.

He's disgraced the Bureau by writing a book and also having a relationship with Claire Matthews and having a serious drinking problem.

There's all these things that a lot of people don't really appreciate about Ryan Hardy.

By all means, if I've got it wrong, please correct me.

Joe Carroll was obsessed with the Romantic period, in particular his hero Edgar Allan Poe.

Ashmore: But I think he's like a rock star to Mike because Mike studied the Joe Carroll case.

Knowing everything about the Joe Carroll case, Ryan Hardy was the guy that put him away.

Man is a hero.

Williamson: Ryan Hardy quickly figures out that Joe Carroll had internet access while in prison and created this web site in which he could sort of attract people...

Ryan: This is how they recruit?

People who are groupies, people who are fans of serial K*llers, fringe people that might have some sort of damage in their life that just sort of makes them seek out someone like Joe Carroll.

The fun of the show is you don't know who is a follower and who isn't.

Carroll's gonna make a move.

He wants to finish what he started.

We have to get to Sarah Fuller.

Williamson: So Sarah Fuller was the only surviving victim.

Sarah!

Williamson: It's revealed that Fuller's neighbors are, in fact, followers of Joe Carroll and have abducted Sarah Fuller because Joe is gonna finish what he started.

I came alone, Joe!

Isn't that what you wanted?

Unh!

Where is she?

Aah!

I surrender.

Man on TV: Breaking news tonight.

Serial k*ller Joe Carroll has finally been caught.

The escaped convict was found at an abandoned...

Williamson: Then it also turns out that Claire Matthews' son's nanny is also a follower of Joe Carroll's, and she abducts Little Joey and takes him hostage.

Where's my son? Joey!

One thing leads to another, and you see that Joe Carroll has a plan in motion.

I need a strong protagonist...

He's gonna write a new book...

A flawed, broken man searching for redemption.

You are my flawed hero.

Starring Ryan Hardy.

I ensured that by k*lling Sarah.

Aah! Aah! Guards! Guards! Guards!

Williamson: Right after they realize the magnitude of this case, that they actually have sort of a cult of K*llers on their hands, they bring in a cult specialist Agent Deborah Parker.

The only way to truly live is to k*ll or some crap like that.

Williamson: She joins up with Ryan Hardy.

I run the Bureau's Alternative Religion Unit.

Cults-- my specialty.

They team up together and seek out the various followers of Joe Carroll.

Aah!

Hey! You can't run from me!

Ha, ha, ha!

Williamson: One of the fun things about this series is it's not just sort of an FBI procedural show.

Half the show is showing the other side of the story...

We're everywhere, man.

The followers.

That's the photo that they pick of me?

The fun of the first 6 episodes is watching the relationships unfold between Emma, Jacob, and Paul.

Jacob loves Emma, Paul loves Jacob, Emma loves both of them.

This is what Joe wanted.

It just sets the stage for a triangle of psychos in a house, and they've got Joey held in this farmhouse in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York, and little Joey quickly figures out he's not on a vacation, that he is 100% kidnapped, so when no one's looking, he steals a cell phone from one of them, and he calls his mother.

Hello.

Mom?

I want to go home. Why can't I come home?

I'm gonna come get you.

Aah! Mom!

Joey!

Williamson: And that phone call is what triggers the FBI, and they go charging up to upstate New York.

Ryan gets to the farmhouse and in a turn of events finds himself kidnapped just like Joey.

Now what?

That's Ryan.

Yeah. I know who he is.

Who else knows we're here?

Just me.

The Emma character and the gay couple, who ended up not being gay...

And the FBI, Local Police, State Police, US Marshals, SWAT.

Bacon: They were this terrible trio of beautiful K*llers.

None of you are making it out of here, not alive anyway.

Ryan's trapped in the farmhouse with the psychos...

Tie him up.

And watching him manipulate the situation and turn the tables made for a really fun episode.

What's wrong?

He's looking at me funny.

Do it.

Yeah, Jacob.

Do it.

Bacon: At one point, they had me tied into a chair, and it was a great opportunity to see that Ryan Hardy is not only dedicated and driven.

He also has a kind of street-smart ability to play mind games with people.

So Paul's in charge, huh?

No. Nobody's in charge.

Well, that would explain a lot.

Paul: Hey. You shouldn't be such a smartass with a g*n in your face.

Yeah, probably not.

Williamson: The property's completely surrounded, and Emma takes Joey and leaves Jacob and Paul sort of to fend for themselves.

We're in trouble!

Unh!

Mike is kind of getting along with this young deputy.

They're out in the field, and all of a sudden, Emma and Joey come running out of the woods, and Weston thinks he's ahead of the game and finally he's gonna get Joey, and Ava turns around and sh**t Weston.

Let's go. Come on!

I think that's the episode where we start to realize that it's not just civilians.

[g*nf*re]

Williamson: And then when a couple of other people show up dressed as SWAT guys, we realize, "Oh, wow!

This is a lot bigger than we ever thought."

This isn't about 5 little people sort of kidnapping a kid.

This is huge.

Just give me the time to speak with the Justice Department, find a better alternative.

It's too late for that. Excuse me.

And I'd suggest you do something about this man before he does more damage.

Williamson: When they get back to Virginia, they find out that Carroll has manipulated his way into a transfer to another prison.

Good-bye, Ryan.

Ryan Hardy instantly realizes that something smells fishy, and before Ryan can stop it, Joe Carroll escapes from prison.

Ashmore: We end up following him through an office building, where people are escorting him through, taking him to the roof, all while we're scrambling, and the two of us are trying to find out what's going on.

We have only just concluded the first part of our novel. Yes.

I'll be in touch.

Williamson: There is a big sh**t, and Joe escapes via helicopter.

He is taken to a mansion in the middle of nowhere, where 30-40 people spill out, and you realize, "Oh, my God.

This is so much bigger."

There is a house now full of psychos, and now Joe Carroll's free.

Not only that, he's reunited with his son Joey.

I know you. You're my dad.

Yeah, I'm your dad.

Williamson: As Joe Carroll is reunited with all of his followers...

Good morning, everybody.

We start to see the bigger goal at play.

Yes, he wants to finish his second novel, but more importantly, he wants to reunite his family.

I have an idea how where can find her.

One of the byproducts of Joe Carroll escaping prison is Claire Matthews has to go into Witness Protection because she clearly is now a target.

So Joe's free...

Claire.

And now I get locked up.

Williamson: In order to find Claire, Joe Carroll makes his first strike, and it's aimed at Mike Weston.

Where's Claire Matthews?

She's in protective custody.

No one knows where she is.

Tell us where Claire is.

Roderick, I don't know anything.

Ashmore: Mike sacrificed himself for Claire.

That's what that scene was about, having the fortitude and the strength and the guts to stand up to the following, which he did, and he was willing to put his life on the line.

Williamson: He's beaten to a pulp, but Ryan saves him.

Ashmore: And I think Ryan starts to see him in a different light, starts to trust him.

I didn't tell them, Ryan, anything.

Williamson: But through a mole within the FBI, Joe Carroll does, in fact, find where Claire is, and he sends out two of his followers to bring Claire home.

Once Ryan Hardy figures that out, they go on the run.

When the followers catch up with them, Claire is actually placed in a position where she must make a choice.

Does she stay free, or does she go with the followers?

Take me to my son.

This brings Claire to the cult house, where it actually reunites Claire with her ex-husband Joe Carroll.

Hi, Joe.

May I get you a drink?

Williamson: Joe wines and dines her and sort of promises her a beautiful future...

You will love me again.

And of course she goes along with it...

Please let me see Joey.

Until she can figure out how to save her son and save herself.

Mom!

Oh, my God! Oh, my God, Joey.

If Joe Carroll had placed a nanny in Claire's house to be next to Joey, then it would make sense that he would have put someone in Ryan Hardy's life, and that person came in the form of Molly.

Hey, neighbor.

She was an angel of death, who was a nurse.

The fun of her character is that she agreed to help Joe Carroll on one condition.

When it comes time to k*ll him, I get to do it.

How you feeling?

It only hurts when I walk or talk, breathe.

Ashmore: Mike comes back with a bit of chip on his shoulder, and we soon find out that it's not the Mike that knew in the first half of the season.

Ryan: What a you doing?

That's breaking and entering.

Thought this was Ryan Hardy approved.

Williamson: The search for the cult house and for Claire and Joey leads them to this militia connection that they hope they can find Joe Carroll.

I have nothing to do with Joe Carroll and his house of psychos.

House? What house?

Somebody's down here.

Williamson: And once again, it puts Mike Weston in the hot seat.

Ashmore: I end up in a room with Joe Carroll behind bulletproof glass, and it was a great scene because he's grilling Ryan for the details of why he puts himself in these positions, why he's always around death.

It was electric. That's the magic of the show is when these two guys are together.

We are so alike, Ryan.

It is through death that we both live.

Williamson: So this death curse, this sort of thing that's been following Ryan Hardy around, comes front and center, but Joe Carroll escapes again.

This is Sheriff Nelson of Havenport.

Ashmore: Roderick, Joe Carroll's number two, to find out that he is the sheriff...

Excuse me, Sheriff.

Yeah.

...was kind of incredible.

You need to put your hands up.

That's not gonna happen.

Hey, hey!

Ashmore: And I have to react quickly, and he runs out, and I'm arrested because I'm this crazy FBI agent running around in a sheriff's station accusing the Sheriff of being a m*rder*r.

We're federal agents!

We have an escape plan.

Williamson: The cult starts to fracture a bit as Roderick starts to realize that Joe Carroll is using them.

I'm the one that's out there every day watching things for us while you sit here writing a book, wining and dining a wife that's never gonna want you.

Williamson: Which leads to Roderick snatching Joey.

Joey: Mom!

Aah! Mom!

Roderick can't get out of town, so he goes to Ryan Hardy and cuts a deal--

"You get me out of here, and I'll give you Little Joey."

You take me to Joey, I cut you loose.

It's okay.

Williamson: Joe sends Jacob to grab Little Joey, and he ends in a showdown in this little bitty cabin in the woods where Roderick is, in fact, k*lled, Jacob gets away, and takes Little Joey, but Ryan Hardy saves him.

He's just a kid, man.

Let him go.

Ashmore: It's one of my favorite scenes actually when Joey says to Ryan, like, "You're Ryan Hardy, right?"

And knows immediately that that's somebody he can trust.

It was a really great moment.

Joe!

Williamson: Claire realizes Joe is off the deep end...

I want to make a deal.

And this sort of notion that he's gonna reunite his family is kind of a joke.

I loved you once, Joe.

And she actually takes a Kn*fe and stabs Joe, trying to k*ll him.

She doesn't quite succeed, making Joe realize he's never, ever going to turn Claire around.

He basically locks Claire up.

He contacts Ryan Hardy and says, "We have entered the final chapter."

It has transpired that Claire is no longer our leading lady.

No. She will not be riding off into the sunset with me.

Williamson: "You better come save her because she's gonna be dead real soon."

By now, the FBI has descended upon this small town, so Joe Carroll sets his final plan into motion.

Today is the most special of days.

Williamson: The FBI has set up a community center outreach so that people can go there until this case comes to an end, and of course, that is exactly what Joe Carroll targets in his attempt to get out of town.

Ashmore: We deduce that if there was gonna be an event it would probably be in this community center, so we show up ready to deal with the situation, but we have no idea that it's gonna be an all-out m*ssacre.

[Woman screams]

Williamson: Meanwhile, Joe and Emma have taken Claire...

All aboard.

And they've found the one way out of this town is by boat.

Jacob says to Emma, "We don't have to go with him.

Let's go on our own."

I don't want to die.

But that's our purpose.

I don't want you to die either.

Williamson: Unfortunately, the only person Emma loves more than Jacob is Joe Carroll, which leads her to taking matters into her own hands, and she kills Jacob.

Ashmore: In the community center within the melee of all that happening, Parker gets taken, and we don't realize until after the fact.

Williamson: It's one of the more scary, horrific moments in our show when they take her and she's placed into a box and buried alive, and that's our ticking clock, which leads us into the season finale.

No!

Phone number.

Now the race is on to find Deborah Parker.

She's left in this coffin with this cell phone.

She's got a few hours left maybe to live.

With the stakes so big...

You need to start talking.

You're FBI. You can't do--

Williamson: Ryan Hardy has been driven to the end.

He'll do anything it takes, any means necessary to get to this woman.

If you're lying, I will k*ll you.

Williamson: Of course, it works.

They get to the spot, they find her, they dig her up.

Unfortunately, they're just a little too late.

Bacon: All the stuff leading up to and the death of Parker was just great stuff to play, tragic and terrible.

Just a little too late. Bummer.

Williamson: In one of his more antihero moments, Ryan pulls a Joe Carroll and takes out a follower in cold blood.

Bacon: I loved the opportunity to look up and see that guy who put my dear partner in a box and sh**t him in the head.

Heh, heh.

You know, as an actor, it was a really satisfying thing to do.

Williamson: Also in the coffin along with Deborah Parker was Joe Carroll's completed manuscript.

Ryan pulls it out and reads that Joe Carroll's final plan is to play out the chapter of his book.

How would he know exactly what as gonna happen?

He doesn't. In this story, you're dead.

So we can still change the story.

Williamson: It leads him to where the final chapter's meant to take place.

If you want to see Claire again, this is the only way.

Joe Carroll's final plan is to play out the chapter of his book, so when Ryan wakes up, he is in a lighthouse with Claire and Joe.

Joe: How's it going to end, Ryan?

Williamson: The final moment involves Ryan watching...

You got to k*ll me.

Joe k*ll Claire.

It's the best ending!

I'm the hero. You can let her go, but I have got to die!

Williamson: Can Ryan rewrite...

It's-- it's overkill!

These last few moments of the book?

I'm so bored with you and Edgar Allan Poe.

Aah! No!

Williamson: And he does. He manages to save Claire.

He chases Joe into the boathouse.

There is a series of g*nshots.

The boathouse catches fire, and Ryan barely gets out before it just blows up.

Joe Carroll for all intents and purposes is dead.

You have to be sure it's him. Are you sure?

Williamson: Claire's been saved, Joey's been taken into protective custody, and Ryan and Claire stop in in New York.

We see them profess their love for each other.

Lo and behold, there was one loose end, his next-door neighbor and follower of Joe Carroll's Molly, and in the final moment of the season, she stabs Ryan.

Ryan! No! No!

No! No!

Season two, Ryan Hardy is in a brand-new place.

We have our returning characters and a whole slew of new, exciting characters.

It's gonna be a thriller, roller coaster ride, and here's a look at season two.

Man: A new book hits the stands this week.

"The True Story Of Joe Carroll."

Woman: This week, marks the anniversary of Joe Carroll's death.

Resurrection!

Resurrection!

Resurrection!

Resurrection!

Aah!

Man: 5 are confirmed dead.

Are these your cult boys or a new fan club?

Could be both.

Woman on TV: Law enforcement officials...

Looks like there's a new cult.

Who are they?

Mike: They're trying to resurrect his legacy.

Ryan: Yeah, probably.

You're walking away?

I want no part of this Mike. This is over for me.

You act like you're over it, but you're here because you care.

Now would be the time to tell the FBI this information.

They'll figure it out.

Where is he?

Mike: This is a very specific message.

Joe is dead.