The Following - Season 1 Episode 8 - Recap and Review - Welcome Home
Recap and review of The Following - Season 1 Episode 8 - Welcome Home:
The Following really is rather exhausting, when you get down to it. Not necessarily in a wearying, exasperating way, though it certainly is -- no, The Following is exhausting in its excessive, heightened drama. Everyone is in danger at all times, and the audience is held in constant suspension, as people are killed needlessly left and right, and the dead are rarely ever the bad guys. "Welcome Home" changes up that formula a bit, providing an episode that explores the framework of Carroll's following, and some of the more dangerous, precise personalities in evidence within the group. By being less overt in its attempts to get us to sympathize with these horrible people, the show actually somewhat succeeds towards the end in eliciting emotions other than disgust.
Credit: David Giesbrecht/FOX
Pity might not be the optimal emotion to inspire in one's audience, but it works for what the show is trying to do in its climax, as follower Charlie (Tom Lipinski) offers himself as a sacrifice for his dual failures of both allowing Claire (Natalie Zea) to escape and proving incapable of ascertaining where the FBI is keeping her. It's pretty moving to see Charlie tearfully pleading with Carroll to punish him, rationalizing that he wants his life to have meaning, since he's spent so long feeling as though no one really cares about him. Carroll (James Purefoy) guts him with the knife while solemn music plays and a fire roars in the hearth, and lays him to rest on a sheet of plastic to be wrapped for disposal, but not before telling Charlie that he will always matter. It's as close as the show has ever come to being emotionally resonant, and it deserves credit for wringing that kind of drama out of someone for whom we shouldn't necessarily be feeling any sympathy at all. "Welcome Home" is a substantial improvement over the last several weeks for the series, but I'm still not sure that this turnaround is enough to inspire confidence in the show's direction. At least not yet.
The new person in charge of the Carroll investigation is a man named Nick Donovan (Mike Colter), and he wants Ryan (Kevin Bacon) scaled back to the consulting role for which he was initially brought on. However, first, the two men have a sit-down with David (Arian Moayed), the follower whom Ryan shot in the leg last week. David brags about the length and reach of the following, and states that more people will soon be dead at their hands. He then ingests a suicide pill hidden in his mouth, killing himself and taking whatever secrets remain with him to the grave. Making matters worse, Donovan sends Mike (Shawn Ashmore) home after it's discovered he helped Ryan hack his email, and the resulting dismissal leaves Mike vulnerable for the followers' plans: they abduct the agent and subject him to a brutal round of questioning that involves Mike having to fight Charlie in several rounds. The fight is initially hand-to-hand, but for each time Mike refuses to tell them where the FBI has stashed Claire, a new weapon is introduced into the proceedings: first a lead pipe, and then a knife. When Mike refuses to give up Claire's location, as he insists he doesn't actually know, they stab him in the ribs. As he's about to have his throat cut by the remaining followers, Ryan, having ascertained Mike's whereabouts after he disappeared off the map, comes to his rescue. Finally scoring one in the "win" column for the FBI, Ryan shoots five of Carroll's followers dead, while the remaining criminals escape. Mike is placed into an ambulance before his injuries can become life-threatening, and Ryan can at least rest easy knowing that Carroll's following is a little smaller than it was when the day started.
Credit: David Giesbrecht/FOX
Of course, what he doesn't know is that the one in command, Carroll's right-hand man, Roderick, is the sheriff of the local town where Carroll's mansion, which the followers are using as their headquarters, is located. Roderick is a twisted individual in his own right, as Carroll explains to Emma (Valorie Curry). Turns out Roderick was his very first follower, or "student", and he essentially showed Roderick the ropes. Ultimately, Roderick would go on to kill two women -- murders for which Carroll took the rap, cementing Roderick's unfailing loyalty. And now, in the present, Roderick seems even more dangerously unhinged than Carroll. After Charlie gives his life for having failed Carroll, Roderick lashes out at Louise (Annika Boras), his lover and fellow follower, nearly choking her to death when she comes onto him playfully.
But since every person on this show is as twisted as the person before him, Louise's fury at Roderick quickly gives way to passion, as sadism becomes foreplay, and the two are on the road to yet another night "ruining the headboard." Meanwhile, despite his constant pleas that he wishes to remain faithful to Claire ("I love my wife"), Carroll finally succumbs to Emma's seductions, and they have their own twisted bout of love-making. I'm not really sure what his angle even is anymore, since he finally has his son back yet, when Joey (Kyle Catlett) expresses fear at the sight of his father, Carroll doesn't really make any great plays to alleviate that fear. I really hope that, where this is going, it actually comes together in a meaningful way. There's nothing worse than when a story ignores the foundations it's laid and simply jumps to a conclusion without properly setting it up.
Credit: David Giesbrecht/FOX
Ryan remains at the hospital, keeping watch over Mike because no one can really be trusted -- and also because he claims to know how much hospitals suck, and wants to be there for his friend when he awakens. As Ryan keeps silent vigil over Mike, I find myself wondering if the FBI is ever going to be depicted in a more competent fashion going forward. I'd like to think the show wants us to be uncertain of the FBI's capabilities, but at this point, it's just old hat to see them constantly making a botch of things. Hopefully, Ryan's determination in the wake of Mike's assault will bear fruit, in terms of portraying the FBI as more capable crime fighters.
