The Following - Dead or Alive/The Reckoning (Series Finale) - Review: "Theo is a Threat to Everyone I Love"

The Following - Dead or Alive/The Reckoning - Review

Last Week on The Following, Ryan captured and tortured Theo's sister, Penny. Penny, who was later used to trade for Mike, who was brought to Mark and Theo by Tom, who got killed during the process. Ryan later kills Penny after she openly starts shooting at him. Also, Gwen reveals she's pregnant and Mike gets stabbed by Mark, who gets killed by Mike.

"Theo is a threat to everyone I love" Ryan

It was more than likely that Theo would seek revenge for the death of his sister, Penny. But Ryan, or us, didn't know who he would target, if anyone. Theo ended up targeting someone very unlikely, Gina Mendez, who was in witness protection. When Gina first left I was pleased she got away. I didn't want her to return, because I didn't want to see her end up dead, so to have her being dragged back into all of this, was a shock to me, I was nervous. Having her back though did show how well rounded the character is, she's strong, and courageous and showed that by denying Theo the satisfaction of getting to her, under her skin.

Capturing Gina was Theo's trap for Ryan. Ryan knew that but went anyway. For me, targeting Gina didn't make sense. Sure, she's probably the easiest to get to, but she hadn't been working the case for weeks so to have her call Ryan out of the blue, just beamed trap. It wasn't a well-concealed plan by Theo which is what we have come to expect from him, but ultimately for him, it wasn't about the planning, it was about luring Ryan in. Which in that regard, he succeeded.

Speaking of capturing people, Theo, after failing to kill Ryan through capturing Gina, goes after Gwen. I was never fond of Ryan's previous love interest, Claire, but Gwen is right for Ryan. He can, and has opened up to her. She isn't afraid of the things he tells her, even if they are monstrous events. She is was Ryan's rock and stability.

Theo does capture Gwen, which was devastating. Not because she died, because she didn't, but because it forced Ryan to make a sacrifice I don't think he wanted to make. Ryan made the choice of protecting his family, but the sacrifice of that was him dying, or at least to his friends and families knowledge. This wasn't only shattering, this was heart-breaking. Ryan was finally at a stage where he was happy and had something to look forward to only for that to be taken away by self-sacrifice. Sure, he could have gone to see them whilst they were at the hospital, but Ryan has lost so many friends, Debra, Jeffery, he didn't want to lose anymore. He's noble man for giving up everything to protect the ones he loves.

Theo's standoff with Ryan was stupid, as it was clever. Stupid because Ryan had a gun and had extremely good aim, but clever because it gave Ryan the perfect way to make his exit, to protect his family. In a way, Theo helped Ryan. Ryan would have wanted to stay with his family, but he knows, and we, with his job, you can't do it with a family to worry about.

Kevin Bacon did a tremendous job in that scene portraying Ryan's realization of the fact that he had to give up his family to prevent them from dying. His emotions shone through, and it was sad to see it. The music playing didn't help either, it made the scene harder to take in. Also, watching Max and the others come to terms with the loss of Ryan was heart-breaking, they were devastated. It's never easy losing someone, but losing someone as big as Ryan, their leader, their friend, their relative, was tough to accept.

"Two agents are dead because of you" Ryan

Elsewhere, Eliza, who was working with Theo, reveals her partner. It was, to my shock, Lisa Campbell. Even in the last episode of the series, the show manages to still shock me with its twists, something I'll miss. When Lisa first arrived, I was contemplating whether she'd turn out to be in with someone we knew, but she brilliantly concealed her identity so well that it made me overlook her.It was a cunning move, and a sneaky reveal that the writers put in, something, to this day, I'm still not entirely over.

Lisa though was only helping them for self-gain, but she still betrayed Ryan, and for Ryan that's unforgivable. Ryan values trust over everything else, he's careful. He only trusts people he believes in, so when someone breaks that trust, he can't see a way back from that. He killed Lisa. He didn't have too, but he wanted to. She betrayed him and for that it cost her life. Ryan's character has developed heavily, which was shown during the final few minutes. He used to accept surrender, but now he doesn't. He won't tolerate betrayal, and that got shown with Lisa. She was a threat to everyone he loved, and he had to eliminate it.

Daisy was also eliminated this episode. After weeks of her looking like a stray cat with nowhere to go she finally met her end, at the hands of Max. Daisy, for me, was an interesting character, I liked her. She's a survivor and showed that many times with her switching allegiances between Theo, Dr Strauss and Mark. She may not be the brightest character ever, but she wasn't stupid, and she also isn't heartless. She does care. She may not have done anything in fear for her life, but you could tell she didn't like what Theo did to Gina and her wife, she was uncomfortable. She didn't want to be there anymore than Gina did. In reality perhaps a bullet was the only way to end her struggle of trying to escape and move on.

Mike, to my surprise, awoke this episode. I'd originally saw him dying during the episode, but I'm glad he didn't. With Mike just being in the hospital, it was enough incentive for both Max and Ryan to pursuit Theo to the point of his capture or in this case death. I thought him dying would give them that, not just him being hospitalized. If one character deserves a happy ending, it's Mike. He has been through so much, nearly on the level Ryan has. He has been in near-death situations a couple of times now so it's a miracle that he's still standing. He is though a strong and trustworthy man who doesn't seek revenge, but justice and for that deserves happiness with Max, who he loves.

Summary
As much as I would have liked to see the show continue, I was satisfied with the ending. It's not too open, and it's not entirely closed, but I can live with that. The two-hour instalment was a solid way to end the show; it ended on a high note, in my opinion. The two hours were action packed, shocking, revealing and provided us with some heart-breaking and shattering scenes as well, which made the episodes emotional, as well as intense. Overall, this was a finale I'll never forget, and a show I'll always remember. Goodbye The Following, you will be missed.

As always, thank you for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought of "Dead or Alive/The Reckoning"

About the Author - Robert Fruin

Robert is a sixth form student from the United Kingdom, who is currently studying IT, Media and Business Studies. Robert is a huge fan of the ended ABC series LOST, he has seen it many times over and has even visited some of the filming locations for it. Robert mainly watches drama series such as Game Of Thrones and Person of Interest, but has a soft spot for the comedy The Middle. Some other shows he watches are Grey's Anatomy, The Walking Dead and The 100. Some other interests include Cycling, Kayaking and Photography.Robert is currently reviewing Aquarius, Black Sails, Helix, Intruders and Z Nation. Feel free to connect with him on any of these social media sites.

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