The Following – For Joe S2E2
Episode 2; and as they say, the plot thickens.
But first – I need to correct myself from my last recap (S2E1). First, Max is not another sister, but Ryan’s niece. Also, I believe Ryan is teaching Criminology, not Forensics. I missed that in the translation somewhere, and I offer my most humble apologies.
Back to the story at hand… Joe is living in the woods with a hooker named Judy and her daughter, Mandy. Judy is pretty, but not exactly Joe’s cup of tea, I’d think. Mandy refers to Joe as “Uncle Daryl” since he’s pretending to be Judy’s brother. Both Judy and Mandy know he’s Joe Carroll, but Judy thinks she can “fix” him. That’s why she wrote to him in prison. He tells her she’s right, and that’s all behind him. He’s even convinced the local Reverend (who doesn’t mind paying to sleep with Judy either) that he’s a war hero from Afghanistan.
After what happens later in the episode with the Reverend, I have to wonder what’s going to happen with Mandy, most of all. Is she a new follower in the making? Or will she and Judy be killed off as unnecessary burdens at this point?
Meanwhile, Ryan has Googled Lily Gray, the subway survivor and art dealer in SoHo. He goes to see her. Unbeknownst to him, a couple of cops watch him go in. Is the FBI having him followed, or are they members of Joe’s cult? After all, somebody in the Coroner’s office may have been one of Joe’s followers and falsified the DNA findings. It will be interesting to see where they take this story line next, although I think it’s pretty clear that they want to set up a Ryan/Lily relationship.
The main action of the night follows those creepy twins, Luke and Mark. Mark delivers flowers to a lady, gets in, and beats her up. Luke knocks out her husband, then tells Mark to go upstairs to “take care of” their little boy. There’s no surprise that they kill the couple, cook a meal, and sit down to eat with the two dead people strapped into their chairs. They talk about Heather, the girl they killed in episode one. I’d almost like to believe that they’re simply being facetious, pretending that these situations are real when they know it isn’t real at all. But then I look at Luke, and I think damn, he is way out there! Crazy as a bedbug, as my mom likes to say.
The real intention of the twins is revealed once Luke calls Ryan (which he does several times that evening; Mark calls too, at least once). The title of the episode, “For Joe”, comes from a comment Ryan makes to Luke. He knows that these murders are “all for Joe”, and asks if he’s trying to get Joe to come out of hiding. Not that Luke would tell him, but Ryan is getting pretty good at playing mind games.
The twins keep Ryan busy finding the dead couple’s little boy while they take off to find Lily. Now, think of how fast the FBI could have been there if Ryan had a trace on his phone. Too bad he’s not being honest with them. Yet. By the time it’s all over, Weston is yelling at Ryan for being reckless, and Ryan is apologizing to Lily for taking chances with her safety. He knows he should have called the FBI sooner. I think he’ll be opening up to them pretty soon here. He tries to tell Mike that they are looking for twins, but Mike cuts him off. He’s done with Ryan. For now, at least. I have a feeling they’ll kiss and make up before too long.
And speaking of those twins – did you know they’re both played by the same actor? I find that kind of awesome.
One last little tidbit is the phone call between Emma and Carlos. If she didn’t know that Joe was still alive before that, I’m pretty sure she knows now. I predict that she and Joe will be reunited very soon. Poor Judy, I wonder how she’ll take it? I can see Emma and Mandy becoming best friends, though. Mandy is younger, but Emma isn’t exactly all grown up either. If Judy’s out of the picture, then Emma could easily fill a “big sister” type role. Mandy is definitely on my list of potential future followers.