Wait… Ryan Hardy can smile?!?
This shocking piece of information was revealed on The Following Season 3 Episode 1, as we picked up about a year after events that concluded The Following Season 2 and we were stunned to witness a very happy Kevin Bacon.
Of course, this joyful mood didn’t last for long, despite the fact that Joe Carrol is behind bars.
We first see Ryan dancing with his new girlfriend, Gwen, at the wedding of his FBI superior, Gina Mendez.
We also learn that Mike has been in the field chasing Mark Gray and that Max is now dating a hostage rescue dude named Tom.
So, what interrupts this festive atmosphere? A waiter throwing blood on Ryan and calling him a “liar.” The man cries that hie child was killed during an FBI raid on the Corbin compound; he says her blood is on Ryan’s hands.
Ryan can’t help but look into this incident the next day, but the girl’s actual father looks nothing like his attacker from the wedding. How weird!
Turns out, the waiter is in cahoots with two young psychopaths named Kyle and Daisy, the latter of whom poses as a prostitute to lure a horny couple to its death.
Hardy and company eventually find their way to this murder scene and find the couple rigged up to a tableau along with the words "Ryan Hardy Lies."
It’s nearly identical to the scene at another location that reads “Max Hardy Lies.” Wait… The culprits are recreating moments that the FBI murdered members of the Carroll-Gray House of Crazies.
“Mark is behind this,” Mike says.
It’s true: the surviving Gray brother is behind this influx of death. His squad is comprised of the waiter (real name: Andrew), Daisy and Kyle… and Luke, who now apparently just exists in Mark’s messed up brain.
The FBI fortunately intercepts the group prior to its next killing spree, but they can only corral Andrew. Everyone else gets away AND kills another innocent, just as Ryan interrogates Andrew and we learn that he drove the getaway car the night Luke died.
Finally, the premiere concludes with the FBI unit at a loss: Max is drinking… Ryan is admitting he needs Gwen… Kyle is telling Daisy they can’t leave Mark, who they may be secretly working against (at Joe’s behest, perhaps?)… and Mark/Luke is plotting to kill an FBI agent the next day.
Uh-oh!
Go ahead and watch The Following online if you need to catch up and then sound off: What did you think of this opener and all the new characters introduced?