Spoilers if you aren’t caught up on The Following through Season 1! And if you aren’t caught up, watch it on Netflix!
Joe Carroll is dead. Or is he? The first season of The Following left off with James Purefoy’s character dying in a fire after facing off with Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy. His remains were supposedly found in the wreckage, leading us to believe that the charming and murderous cult leader was gone. Or so he wants us to think. The teaser for the series’ second season offers a pretty obvious hint that Mr. Carroll may not be as dead as he’d like people to believe.
“The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he did not exist,” is the phrase that’s stuck in Ryan Hardy’s mind. There’s a speck of doubt that maybe, just maybe, Joe’s still out there. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s exactly the kind of guy who would stage his own death, and he has more than enough supporters to help him do it and offer him a place to crash while the FBI moves on. Meanwhile, Joe would be able to continue to build his numbers and perhaps stage something even bigger and more terrifying — and more deliciously melodramatic for our viewing pleasure — for the future.
The teaser isn’t the only appetizer Fox offered up a couple of months ahead of the series’ return. We also have this poster, which shows Hardy’s face set behind a bloody handprint, and the words “Obsession is a killer.” in neat print just below:
It’s interesting to note that Purefoy’s name and face aren’t on the poster, so it doesn't look like Fox wants to do much more than tease the possibility of Joe Carroll's return. We only get Bacon. But there is the assurance that the series will return in January, which really isn’t so far away.
Here’s the official synopsis for Season 2 of The Following:
Heading into its intense, spellbinding second season, hit psychological thriller THE FOLLOWING will catch up with RYAN HARDY (Golden Globe Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Kevin Bacon) in the wake of a horrific new murder spree. The FBI calls on Ryan and MIKE WESTON (Shawn Ashmore) to speak with the lone survivor, LILY (Connie Nielsen, “Boss,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), in order to help them solve the case. Ryan is reluctant to re-engage with the FBI, but finds a valuable ally in his niece, MAX (Jessica Stroup, “90210”), an NYPD cop working in the Intel Division. As the investigation proceeds, Ryan crosses paths with several complicated individuals, including LUKE (Sam Underwood, “Dexter”) and MANDY LANG (Tiffany Boone, “Beautiful Creatures”), which furthers his suspicion that JOE CARROLL's (James Purefoy) reign of terror is far from over.
The mystery resumes! And I’ll go on resuming not trusting Mike Weston. He's been through some stuff, but he still strikes me as a prime candidate for double agent duty.
