Take Three: The Following

The Following: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Poet’s Fire” (B+)

The relationship that we’re seeing fleshed out between Ryan and Joe prior to Joe’s arrest is remarkably similar to that between Agent Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter in the first chilling scene of “Red Dragon,” where the investigator is completely unaware that the intellectual he has been turning to for advice on catching a killer is in fact the very suspect he’s hunting. There’s a devilish vindictiveness to this game that Joe has orchestrated, however, illustrated emphatically in the episode’s final moment, where Emma tells Joey to wave to the camera and say “Hi, Ryan,” taunting him and letting him know that he can’t escape his involvement in what is to come. Emma’s violent past has already been explored, and cutting Paul’s arm to shock him into submission triggered something in him that has now involved a poor young woman who is most certainly doomed to a violent and unpleasant death. Jordy’s suicide was immensely disturbing, and it represents just the latest unfortunate development. Debra learning that Maggie was a member of the cult was a chilling revelation, and one that came too late for Troy, whose grisly demise is a shame since he was such a great character. I am liking Debra more and more, and I think that her energy here – she recently appeared as Kara Stanton on “Person of Interest” too – is extremely appropriate and just the right balance of forceful and sarcastic to contrast the deeply unhealthy state in which Ryan currently finds himself, subject to supervision by the excitable and talkative Mike.