“The Following” Season Finale (Spoiler alert!)

The following article is for those of you who have been following the new crime drama “The Following”, broadcasted Mondays at 10:00 on Fox. The season one finale was shown this week and left a lot of questions concerning what will happen in season two.

Movie star Kevin Bacon brings three degrees and more to the small screen. He plays Ryan Hardy, a former FBI agent hell-bent on capturing an escaped serial killer (actor James Purefoy as bad guy Joe Carroll). In fact, no hero has been so obsessed with a mission since Kiefer Sutherland in “24”, (or for that matter, in “Touch”). The twist comes when we discover that not only is Carroll not working alone, he has also developed a network of serial killers and wannabes.

The premise brings forward the question, what if a significant number of the 400 serial killers the FBI estimates to currently be at large started networking? This dark cult of maniacs kidnapped their own leader’s son, Joey away from his estranged wife, Claire. Kyle Catlett plays Joey, Natalie Zea portrays Joey’s mom.

Week by week, the plan unfolds and we see that Carroll’s goal is to permanently escape justice, kill his former spouse, and ruin Hardy’s life for having caught him in the first place.

The show has pushed the boundaries of the amount and extent of bloody, creepy crime scenes, moving beyond what has been shown on “Criminal Minds” , “CSI”, and even the relatively tame “Mentalist”, in terms of gore. Executive Producer Kevin Williamson has said they try to balance the gore with sexy scenes, which they then use as negotiating chips, removing the risque to leave more risky horror elements.

Unexpected behavior by the heroes become a norm in the finale. The female lead and Hardy’s partner, agent Parker, is captured, buried alive, and dead before she can be found and dug up. While searching for her, Joe Carroll left a clue leading the unsuspecting FBI agents to a false location where snipers were waiting. They capture one of the snipers, severely beating him until the real location of Parker’s location is discovered. But when Parker is found dead, the captured sniper begins to laugh, leading the FBI agents to murder him in cold blood. Not exactly “Dragnet” procedure.

The ending scenes create a huge cliffhanger as the showdown takes place between the two protagonists. Carroll ends up trapped in a exploding, burning cabin, while Bacon escapes the fire. But WE NEVER SEE THE BODY! Look for the villain to return next season. Meanwhile, Hardy’s ex-girlfriend is revealed to belong to the cult, and stabs our hero in the stomach. Throwing in one last twist, the ex-wife, Claire, shows up to find Hardy critically wounded, only to get viciously stabbed in the back herself. Then we fade to black.. Until next season!