The Following: Family Affair (2×04)
Synopsis: As Ryan and Max follow up a lead to the whereabouts of Lily Gray, Joe is finally back in civilization.
Rating: ★★★★☆
I am so late on this recap, so I just have three points to address.
1. How much I absolutely do not like the new Emma.
2. How much I adore Max Hardy and her team up with Ryan.
3. How crazy I think Lily Gray is.
So, Emma. I loved her in season one, I thought she was scary yet I found myself empathizing with her. This season, she is desperate. The way she clings to Joe doesn’t make me think she’ll last long with the new crazy mansion.
Even if she’s on Mark’s good side right now.
Obviously Emma isn’t someone who evolves with changes. She’s been lamenting Joe for the past year. She shows her hand almost immediately when she gets the call from Joe. Her reaction to seeing Joe again shows just how deeply she’s fallen under Joe’s spell. Like, sometimes I just want to shake her and tell her just how much Joe cares about her.
As in, not at all.
One might say that Mandy has fallen under the same spell, but I don’t believe that she and Emma have the same relationship with Joe. Taking Mandy with him was a huge liability problem, and yet he did it anyways. Joe’s paternal instinct is still there with Mandy.
Ok, the Hardy family. Max and Ryan working together could have the potential to be my most favorite pair on television right now (maybe only overshadowed by Rust and Marty from True Detective).
The fact that the death curse extends to Max really brings the two together on Ryan’s quest against Joe. Of course we finally get a scene between Max and Mike (which I have been anticipating since we met Max). Mike doesn’t really play it too smoothly, by dropping a line about the Hardy Death Curse. Oh Mike, don’t you know not to pull on a girl’s pigtails?
But seriously, Max and Ryan’s relationship is so great. Although half of the time they don’t seem like uncle and niece, it’s little things that show just how much Ryan cares about her.
Ok now, Lily Gray.
First off, I am so glad she’s evil. As much as I love Natalie Zea, Clare was such a problem in the first season. Now we have Lily, who is probably ten times as crazy as Joe. Joe’s been killing people for what, like 5 years? Lily’s been doing it for way longer. She’s accumulated a crazy cult family just like Joe, but she’s been able to sustain it past a year.
Not to mention she’s clearly luring Joe into one lusty trap with that great hair.
Her multicultural family is one part adorable and three parts creepy-crazy.
Her relationship with Luke and Mark are as unhealthy as I expected, with Mark being coddled and Luke being… well, I don’t want to say seduced…
But seriously, did no one get the feeling that Luke and his mom have boned at some point? This is some Jimmy Darmondy shit.
Still no idea how Giselle is related to the family, but I’m going to just assume she was adopted like the others given her inclination towards the French language.
Speaking of Giselle, can we talk about how absurd her getaway was? She goes and cracks some guy’s neck, attacks him in a subway station, and no one freaks out? It only takes her announcing that Ryan has a gun for them to actually do something. And Ryan, could you not have yelled “I’m a federal agent” like 20 seconds earlier?
Plus, is anyone happy that Agent Mendez is getting a storyline? I don’t like her at all so far, and I desperately miss Agent Parker, but I guess we can’t revive the dead. I’m going to guess and say she has no idea that her ex is actually a follower, though being an FBI agent, she’s probably going to be kicking herself when she finds out.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZzcoCdGn2g]
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