The Following - Season 1 Episode 9 - Recap and Review - Love Hurts
Recap and review of The Following - Season 1 Episode 9 - Love Hurts:
The Following is no less troubling now than it was before, but "Love Hurts" tells an interesting enough story to justify investing time in it. Kevin Bacon remains the best reason to watch the show, and tonight's episode gives him a showcase for his considerable talents, as he hunts a newly-introduced follower of Carroll's who is more unhinged than any we've met so far, a woman by the name of Amanda Porter (Marin Ireland). Given that Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea) is off in federal relocation somewhere, Amanda is tasked with killing every woman in the area who is unfortunate enough to have the name "Claire Matthews," as part of some twisted metaphor meant to torture Ryan for engaging in an affair with the wife Carroll (James Purefoy) still loves so ardently (hook-up with Emma last week, notwithstanding). The race to capture Amanda before she's offed every Claire Matthews in the tri-county area gives the episode a much-needed boost of momentum, along with a goal the FBI can actually achieve within the context of the story, as so much of this series is about delayed gratification, since the nature of Carroll's novel-like approach means that nothing can happen until he says it does. But beyond all that, the episode provides the audience with a villain that is abjectly terrifying in her cavalier approach to murder. Amanda Porter doesn't care who sees her face, doesn't care how many people are around to get caught in any potential crossfire, and doesn't care that a standoff with police could spell death for her. She's singularly dedicated to her mission and, as we've learned over the last eight episodes, dedication can be a truly dangerous thing.
Credit: Giovanni Rufino/FOX
Part of what makes Amanda so unnerving is in how each of her murders escalate in violence. She initially kills one Claire Matthews at a diner by using a gun to launch a small spear through her abdomen. She then kills the next Claire Matthews by strangling her and then throwing the woman out of the window of her apartment complex, from which she falls several stories to her death, splattering on the pavement in a gruesome scene of blood and broken glass. She tracks down the last Claire Matthews to an outdoor celebration in town, and Ryan is there to stop Amanda from putting the final nail in the coffin: in a literal sense, as she holds the 22-year-old Claire hostage by putting a nail gun to her head. Ryan feebly offers himself in Claire's place, as if going for some kind of record for how many times he can offer to let the bad guys kill him in one season, while Amanda reiterates to Ryan that the systematic hunting and killing of the multiple Claire Matthews is simply a metaphor meant to punish him. Amanda demands to know why Ryan pursued Claire romantically, knowing that it was Joe Carroll's wife, to which Ryan replies, "Because I love her.” It's a wonderfully understated moment for Kevin Bacon, as he communicates Ryan's pathos and his desperation not to fail, all without directly addressing either issue. It's a great episode for him, as Ryan puts another one in his "win" column, disarming Amanda before she can kill the young Claire Matthews, totaling two followers he brings down this week, the other being Louise (Annika Boras), whose bluff he calls during a standoff at gunpoint. She's convinced that straitlaced Ryan won't shoot her. Oh how wrong she is -- and it's one of the best moments of the episode for how it deals out a measure of like retribution against Carroll's crew.
Credit: FOX
Speaking of Carroll's crew, though he's able to weave his oratory magic with the den full of followers under his control, he's less eloquent when it comes to brushing off Emma (Valorie Curry) following their hookup last week, telling her that he doesn't want anyone to find out about their "indiscretion," which doesn't seem to sit well with Emma at all. Worse for Carroll, it seems that the individual personalities of his followers are beginning to substantially conflict with one another, leading to some unsettling dissension within the ranks as Roderick (Warren Kole) and Emma antagonize one another throughout the episode. He teases Emma about the voicemails Jacob (Nico Tortorella) left on Emma's phone, mockingly reenacting her ex-lover's desperate pleas, while she denigrates his position as Sheriff, wondering how someone like him could have become Sheriff of anything. Roderick warns her that he has a surprise for her at the end of the episode, and he opens the door to the crazy house to reveal Jacob, looking like hell on Earth. And rightfully so. He's just had his first kill -- his best friend.
Jacob takes the injured Paul (Adan Canto) to his mother's house, since she was once a registered nurse. She's able to stitch him up, but she insists that he needs to go to a hospital if he's going to live. Jacob's mother (Jayne Atkinson) knows that her son is wanted for kidnapping and murder, but she can't bring herself to turn him in, and while this should feel hollow (given that Jacob is a terrible person, whether he's killed anyone or not), it ultimately manages to be somewhat resonant, emotionally. Jacob's mother seems to understand that her son has been brainwashed, every bit as much as Jacob recognizes that he won't actually be able to explain to his mother how his life came to be this way. He didn't have the messed up family relationship that, say, Emma had, as his mother seems to genuinely love him. They cry together over the mess he's made for himself, before she urges him to leave while he still can, since Jacob's father will soon be home from work, and he won't be nearly as understanding. Paul recognizes that Jacob has no hope of escape if he has to lug around a useless, injured companion, and he gives Jacob the okay to go on without him. However, as flashbacks detail, Jacob and Paul have a history of understanding. Paul was the first person to discover Jacob's inability to kill, and though he could have used it for leverage, he protected Jacob's secret until only recently. We're given the sense that these are two people who have always been there for one another, and so there is a slight sense of poignancy when Jacob lowers the pillow over Paul's face and smothers him. Jacob has successfully made his first kill, and though I'm not the least bit sad to see Paul go, I am interested in how this first kill will shape and change Jacob as a person, going forward.
Credit: FOX
"Love Hurts" is an okay way to spend your night, even if I could think of a million better ways. That said, within the context of the last few episodes, this was perfectly acceptable television, without the needless morbidity of the show's worst moments, nor the sense of inertia that keeps the show from ever feeling as if we're making any real progress in the story. For once, it feels like we might actually be getting somewhere, at some point, and I suppose my morbid fascination with the show will compel me to see where the narrative takes us, even if I might not like the conclusion.
