The Following S03E11 "Demons" Review

I never thought I'd see the day when Joe Carroll was executed but, it happened. Kudos to the writing team for having the guts to kill off such an important character and while his presence is still there in some capacity, he's not around physically to cause his own joyous and sarcastic brand of mayhem. Granted, having Joe around, the writers would have to think of more convoluted ways to keep Joe alive and they'd have been less and less believable as the series went on, so Joe's death was necessary. Now Theo's taking hold as the main villain but will The Bret Hart of serial killers last? Let's get to the action!

So following the death of Joe Carroll, Ryan really hit the skids. He's back on the bottle, he cheated on Gwen (who's pregnant with his baby) and he's making mistakes by being led by Ghost Joe. But Joe left Ryan with a parting gift, the origins of Theo Noble now revealed to be Terrance Jackson of Philadelphia. This episode was another stepping stone and what with the 2 hours events we have next episodes (which will firmly put us in episode 14), a lot needs to happen. Since we're on the topic, let's discuss Theo. I've mentioned time and time again that despite being a techno genius, he hasn't shown much in the way of showcasing exactly why he's Strasuss' best student. I think we've just seen Strasuss' best student and it ain't Theo.

Well hello, beautiful.

I seriously have to start safeguarding my ideas about (I won't elaborate on that, but let's just say the writers of "The Following" owe me and the writers of "Hostel" some money). Theo & his sister Penny just walked into a serial killer's dream house. Theo believes that the owner of what I'm calling The Murder House can give him back is anonymity, because Eliza has money. This raises the question about where exactly does Theo's money come from? I mean he has a house and an apartment and he's been living separate lives. It wouldn't strike me as odd if Theo was moving around cyber money and hiding it under shell corporations and such. Also, how does Theo think Eliza could help him? He's already been exposed. He maybe able to escape off the grid, but The FBI knows his face and once he vanishes, they'll be able to get his face all over the news and elsewhere, and if he tampers with it cybernetically, the FBI can put a trace on the signal. Theo's kinda screwed.

But whatever, Theo makes a deal to deliver Ryan Hardy to Dr. Strasuss REAL Best Student...and I'm failing to see exactly how she benefits from having an FBI agent on her chopping block. In an episode of "The Blacklist", The King Family was running a covert auction for criminals, auctioning off stolen goods, mafia snitches and Black Ops info, but this is all for financial gain, Eliza isn't doing this money, I have a feeling she's doing this for her own enjoyment and financial gain is just an added bonus. Unless killing a law enforcement agent is in high demand among her clientele, I fail to see how she comes out on top. But perhaps maybe her introduction is setting her up to be the main villain of Season 4? Maybe, maybe not, still a few episodes left. We'll see.

More interesting is Mark & Daisy and they're part in parcel of what makes this show so interesting, but we'll get to that. While I liked Daisy & Kyle as what Jacob & Emma could have potentially been, teaming up Mark & Daisy really makes Mark a much more enjoyable villain as we're getting to know a bit more about him and the exact nature of his psychosis. He was solely defined by Luke and without Luke, he has no clue who he is. Now he's solely defined by his revenge against Mike Weston and Daisy said something very interesting; "There has to be more than revenge.". The fact that Daisy is willing to move forward and leave her life of serial killing behind (after all she was working a straight job until Mark showed up).

I like these two.

This show is interesting as it's working more towards humanizing the villains than it does the heroes. It seems like this show is showcasing where the heroes fail, the villains succeed and vice versa. Case in point, The heroes are disorganized and have trouble trusting each other, Ryan is an alcoholic and can't hold down a relationship, meanwhile Theo is protective of his sister, highly organized and so far doesn't have any vices...ya know...aside from killing people. Mike & Mark motivation for vengeance is a theme through this show along with being defined by another person. Although, in this episode Mike hasn't been much in the way of obsessing over Mark, and that's probably because it almost cost him Max. Mike is not Ryan Hardy and he's able to kill Mark without having to care about him, like Joe. Ryan and Joe actually started out as friends, Mike & Mark are nothing but enemies.

But with Mark potentially teaming up with Theo and The Gray Family being considerably wealthy, maybe Theo won't need Eliza are her connections. I'm hoping this topic comes up because Mark does indeed have money and a network he can travel under. This union of villains really streamlines the story. Mark wants Mike, Daisy & Theo want Ryan Hardy and they both have a way to get to what they want, Max Hardy. It'll be interesting to see what they do together and we're nearing the end of this Season, rather quickly I might add. It's getting down to crunch time and I can't say for certain who'll be left standing.

What I can say for certain is that once again this show proves that Tom & Max are toxic together. Why the writers felt the need to pair them up is beyond me, but I'm starting to think this has less to do with the writers and maybe more to do with the actor in question. That being said, Tom has now been exposed as having the laptop and before he could explain himself, he accidently shot Agent uh....er...what's her name (despite not knowing her name, I actually liked her). It was only a matter of time before Tom's with holding of evidence bit him in the ass and I suppose this was a way to blackmail him (of course, with holding evidence is more than enough). Will Theo and his crew get their claws on him and get Max's location out of him? Mark and Daisy can still access the camera feed, they don't exactly need the laptop to do so.

The thing is, this should have had more of an impact than it did. You see Tom is Max's current boyfriend, of course you wouldn't know that considering the writers have done EVERYTHING they possibly could to make 100% certain that those two characters never appear on screen together for longer than 2 seconds. I'm guessing they figured out that these two have no chemistry together and rather than looking like a couple, they look like two people who can't stand each other and are awkwardly standing around and getting along for the sake of something else. I can't think of a single moment where they've had concern for each other any longing glances or moments of comfort, and that's the point. Tom is an after thought. Ryan and Gwen, you can tell they're a couple. Max & Tom, hell, Max was really angry with Mike at the beginning of the season and now they're back holding hands. At any point watching this season you'd never get the impression that Max & Tom were really together. So ultimately Tom's folly doesn't have the same impact it should if he were Max's boyfriend...which he isn't.

Oh Tom, you're screwed and no one cares about you.

In conclusion, things are very interesting this Season, the heroes and villains have grouped together and they're ready to strike. Tom is screwed and no one cares and Ghost Joe is leading Ryan down a rabbit of booze, bad decisions and eventually murder. What will come of Ryan's baby? Will Gwen tell him? Will she even live to tell him? What's next for Season Four? I'm very interested to see where everything goes after this. Until next time, kids!