The Following (2013)

Pilot

Infamous serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) escapes from prison and Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), a retired F.B.I. agent responsible for capturing Carroll is pulled back into the field to assist the manhunt. The police secure both Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea), Carroll's ex-wife (and mother of his son Joey) with whom Hardy had an affair, and Sarah Fuller (Maggie Grace), the only one of Carroll's victims to survive. Assisted by fellow agents Debra Parker (Annie Parisse) and Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore), Hardy attempts to track down a prison guard who helped Carroll escape and is now being taught how to be a serial killer. When a young woman commits suicide in front of Hardy at Carroll's request, Hardy begins to suspect that Carroll has used the internet to create a following of disciples he uses to carry out his plans. Sarah is kidnapped by two such followers (men posing as her gay neighbors) and is tortured and killed by Carroll. Hardy is too late to save her, but Carroll allows himself to be taken back into custody, where he tells Hardy that this is only the beginning. Another of Carroll's followers, pretending to be a babysitter for Claire, kidnaps Joey and hands him over to the two men who kidnapped Sarah.

Chapter Two

Special Agent Debra Parker (Annie Parisse), an expert on alternative religions, joins the case as the hunt for Carroll's son intensifies. Carroll's prison guard protege Jordy (Steve Monroe) makes his first kill, slaughtering three college girls in their sorority house. Claire tries to discover Joey's whereabouts from Carroll, but the interview only serves to reveal her prior relationship with Hardy to everyone. Joey's babysitter-turned-kidnapper Emma Hill (Valorie Curry), having convinced him that he's on an adventure, takes him to an isolated house, along with Sarah Fuller's fake neighbors Paul Torres (Adan Canto) and Jacob Wells (Nico Tortorella). Tensions begin to rise between the three as Paul, having pretended to be Jacob's lover for years, is now jealous of the intimate relationship between Jacob and Emma. Hardy is attacked by a mysterious masked man while investigating Emma's old residence. Jordy attacks Claire in her home, but Hardy wounds him and he is arrested. Parker delivers a book of Poe's works to Carroll in prison, which results in a short but noticeable unspoken communication between the two of them. The next day, the masked man picks someone off the street and lights him on fire.

The Poet's Fire

Ryan Hardy and his team obtain video footage of the immolation incident and he recognizes the victim as a literary critic who gave Joe Carroll's book a scathing review, leading Hardy to believe Carroll is killing those he holds a grudge against. Hardy also thinks back to his first encounter with Caroll, who enthralled everyone with his way with words. Meanwhile, Emma, Paul and Jacob continue to keep Joey at the house, but Paul confronts Emma about her relationship with Jacob, and she cuts his arm. He leaves the house and later picks up a convenience store worker, attempting to kill her first before holding her hostage at the house. All of this is incorporated with scenes of Emma trying to convince Paul and Jacob to act as a gay couple in order to fool Sarah Fuller. Another follower is also uncovered - Rick Kester. His wife, Maggie, goes to Hardy and his team, saying he was abusive, having stabbed her on a previous ocassion. He also killed the dean at the college where Caroll worked, as he denied him tenure. Maggie returns home under police surveillance, and soon receives a text message, which Agent Reilly reads. He's fatally stabbed by her and Rick shows up, ready to flee. Hardy shoots him but Maggie escapes. Special Agent Parker also tells Jordy she will allow him to meet Carroll if he confesses to Joey's whereabouts. He does but soon realizes she lied to him, so he eventually kills himself. Claire Matthews receiving a disturbing video of Joey being goaded into killing small animals by Jacob. Emma tells him to say hello to Hardy.

Mad Love

The Siege

Joey gets his hand on the hidden phone, while Emma, Paul and Jacob leisures in the bedroom. He manage to have informative conversation with Claire, before Paul pulls him away from the phone. Caroll's attorney, Olivia Warren (Renee Elise Goldsberry) are seen in the department, while Paul continues to convince Jacob to kill Megan. Warren addresses Caroll's "The Following" allegation by quoting Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" in his press conference that triggers a follower to start his mission. Special Agent Parker deputized Hardy. Emma reveals one of the followers, Charlie Mead (Tom Lipinski). Warren meets Claire and informs her of Caroll's instruction in order for her to see Joey. Joey escapes from the house, stumbles upon a nearby male neighbor, and leads him to his house after Joey requested to borrow his house phone. Emma finds Joey and convinces him that she will lend her phone if he comes along with her. Paul breaks into the neighbor's house after being told by Emma with a shovel shortly after the couple notifies the police. Hardy rushes to the location with a police officer. Claire escapes from an FBI agent, Marshall Turner (John Lafayette) who is watching her having lunch with her friend. Emma locks Joey in the bedroom, and finds a man sent by Charlie, Hank Flynn (Josh Segarra) to move them out of the house. Hardy arrives at the neighbor's home, only to find that they are both murdered. He tracks the nearby path and sees Jacob and Paul. Hank fatally shoots the police officer, and Hardy later kills Hank. Claire arrives at the location instructed by Warren and follows Charlie. Joey successfully breaks the door and sees Hardy downstairs. Paul finds both of them and holds Hardy at gunpoint.

The Fall

While being held captive with Megan, Hardy is able to cause dissension among Emma, Paul and Jacob. Emma sneaks Joey away while Paul and Jacob scuffle with Hardy. She is caught by Weston, who is shot by a local policewoman later revealed to be the mysterious "Roderick". Paul and Jacob are able to escape with the help of followers disguised as FBI agents. Meanwhile, Claire is also being held by an insane follower who was supposed to take her to see her son. At a remote warehouse, he mentions that Carroll wants her to survive and reveals an attraction for her after years of surveilling her. It is also revealed that Agent Parker's parents were in a cult, leading to her expert knowledge of the subject.

Let Me Go

Having successfully escaped from the farmhouse, Emma and Joey make their way to a warehouse where Emma meets her newest contact, Bo. Joey goes off to the bathroom but isn't ready for the woman he finds locked up in a cage. Things get out of control when Joey helps the woman escape, which Bo doesn't take kindly to. At the prison, Joe Carroll and his lawyer Olivia Warren meet with prison officials where Warren claims her client's 8th Amendment rights have been violated as a result of prison abuse. It relates to Ryan assaulting him during their first interview and ...

Welcome Home

Distracted by the search for Joey and unable to find any leads in Carroll's escape, the FBI lose faith in Hardy's ability to catch him and his followers and usher in a new agent to oversee the investigation. As Hardy and Parker become frustrated with having to play office politics whilst conducting a manhunt, Carroll's plans escalate even further as he puts its next stage into action.

Love Hurts

Joe calls Ryan and asks him how much pain one man can stand. One of Joe's followers, Amanda Porter, has a plan to reunite him with his wife Claire and a stranger with the same name is soon killed in a restaurant. It's clear to Ryan that Joe is trying to break him and another woman named Claire Matthews is killed. At the house, Emma doesn't seem to be taking Joe's rejections very well. Roderick's constant needling doesn't help. Jacob and Paul have taken refuge at a country house owned by Jacob's parents when his mother arrives unexpectedly. Paul is seriously ill and ...

Guilt

Knowing that it is only a matter of time before Carroll finds her, Hardy must outsmart a group of followers and move Claire to a safe place. Jacob and Emma are reunited, but the meeting turns sour.

Whips & Regret

After giving herself up, Claire Matthews' abductors take to the house. There she meets Joe and he explains his desire to rekindle their relationship and start over again as a family. She is incredulous but realizes a bit or role-playing may be to her advantage. For his part, Joe makes it clear that killing people give him great pleasure. Meanwhile, the FBI manage to trace the embedded video they found in an email to servers in Manhattan. They're located in an S&M club called Whips & Regret and the club manager points the finger at Vince McKinley who set up her ...

The Curse

Weston returns to active duty under a cloud of unease as his co-workers begin to wonder about the long-term effects of chasing the cult on his psyche. Meanwhile, Hardy and Parker begin trying to turn a follower's allegiance and convince him to lead them to Carroll.

Havenport

Mike Weston recognizes Roderick as one of the men who beat him up. He gets away but the FBI lock down the local sheriff's office until they figure out just who they can trust. Agent in charge Nick Donovan orders an information blackout but Ryan holds a press conference offering immunity from prosecution to any member of the cult who wants to turn Joe in. Roderick, in a panic, tells Joe what has happened and begins to realize just to what extent Joe has taken advantage of them. He goes on the run - and takes Joey with him. When Roderick is apprehended, Ryan goes out on...

The End Is Near

Frustrated with his writing, drinking heavily and bleeding from an open wound courtesy of Claire, Carroll becomes increasingly unstable, and his erratic behaviour destroys morale within The Following. As Hardy and the FBI launch a raid on their compound, the cult refuses to go quietly and retaliates with a massacre of the residents of Havenport, giving Carroll the chance to escape. Emma recaptures Claire and murders Jacob when he tries to turn himself in as a sign of her devotion to Carroll, convincing him to see his plans through to the very end. With her help, Carroll spirits Claire away, and by the end of the episode, he and Emma are all that remain of The Following. As Hardy relentlessly pursues them, Agent Parker is abducted and buried alive.

The Final Chapter

Ryan manages to speak to Debra by cellphone and the search to find where they've buried her begins. When they find the car Joe's followers used, they walk into a trap. The clock is ticking down and Debra is running out of oxygen. Claire meanwhile wakes up in a house by the ocean. Joe is waiting for Ryan to show up so his story can come to an end. He shows her what it's really like to kill someone and be responsible for a death. Ryan and Joe have their final confrontation. There is one of Joe's followers who is off the radar however.