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

May 22, 2015

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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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26 comments:

  1. What did you think of The Following?

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  2. Told you Mike will live.I'm never wrong.LOL!
    On a serious note,it was an amazing finale.The ending was clever,open-ended yet surprisingly satisfactory.Mike-Max got their happy ending,Ryan made the ultimate sacrifice,Gwen and the baby was safe,Daisy & Theo got killed,Lisa got what she deserved and more.I wish Ryan ended Eliza too by the episode.What else?Oh,Gina also survived.
    Perfect ending for me.R.I.P The Following-You will be missed!

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  3. Ended in probably the only real way a show like The Following could - with total insanity, bizarre plot points and quite a bit of death.


    I mean, Theo surviving the shot to the head? Come on. But the ending itself was actually pretty intriguing. Actually somewhat disappointed that we aren't getting another season purely because I'd love to see what Ryan does as a 'dead' man.


    Anyway, been a fun show to watch (and joke about on the podcast) and I'll miss it somewhat.

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  4. Ha, you were right. I wasn't really counting on myself being right anyway


    I liked the ending too, I'm just glad it didn't end on a cliffhanger, or at least a big one anyway. Whilst could have been some interesting storylines in Season 4 relating to Eliza, the finale was satisfying.


    I'm glad all the "good guys" survived in the end, especially Gwen. I liked her, and it's a shame her and Ryan didn't get the good ending they deserved. I'm sure the writers would have given Ryan an ending where he's with Gwen if they knew the show wasn't going to get a Season 4, but oh well. I'll miss the show greatly, but I can live with the ending.

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  5. It was a jam packed finale, so many things happening at once. I'm glad the finale didn't end on a huge cliffhanger, I mean I can live with the ending Season 3 gave. Sure, there are some questions relating to Eliza that we will never know, but since we didn't know her too well I'm not really bothered by it.


    You know, I did think he got shot in the head, but I thought, surely not since he's still able to get back up. That was crazy, I thought for sure I missed something, because how on earth did he survive that?

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  6. I wouldn't say never. LOL You were wrong about Gwen. LOL

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  7. Ya,that was a bit surprising for me.I never thought she would turn out to be innocent in the end.

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  8. Yep, wish we would have gotten more about Eliza. There was more to explore there I think.


    It made no sense to me as to how he survived. It was ridiculous.

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  9. Yep, I think there was more to explore, such as who was Eliza's "boss."


    Also, I would have liked to have seen "dead" Ryan in Season 4 , and what affect it would have on Mike, Max and everyone else, him being dead. Whether they would continue to work with the FBI or not.



    It could have been interesting. Shame.

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  10. Didn't everyone suspect Gwen of being bad at one point? I know I did.

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  11. WoW! Just had time to watch the finale 2 eps.
    Didn't really like the finale hours but was so blown away by the way the show ended. Ryan is such a strong character and his finale sacrifice was so true to his character.


    Theo was a pushover and died that way. Glad it's over.
    Gwen, Mike and Max are a sweet family. Sadly we won't get a 4th season to see how they will put things together.

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  12. I didn't. I never did.

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  13. I told you from the beginning. But you didn't want to believe me. Tisk tisk. (Waves finger at you) LOL

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  14. I'll let you have this one.You were pretty convinced about Gwen from the very beginning even though everyone else thought otherwise.

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  15. You're the first person I know who didn't suspect Gwen at one point, so great job there!


    Gwen looked innocent, but for me she just looked too innocent, always asking Ryan about his work. I don't know it made me think that she might of had another agenda, but I'm glad she didn't in the end.

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  16. You saw Theo get shot in the head too, right? How did he survive that. Crazy.


    I would have liked a fourth season to see how everyone copes with Ryan's absence, and knowledge of his "death." Also, to see what Eliza was really up to as well as seeing Ryan "play dead" It would have changed the show I think, but sadly we will never know.

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  17. Ever heard of Russian Roulette? Not every shot to the head has to be fatal, but yeah quite the long stretch.
    They should've done this at the end of S02. It would raise the stake so much + imagine Joe handle Ryan's death and making his moves.
    Eliza was a pawn and would've been nice to see how that storyline would fall through. No matter what,it was anice closure for us and let me close this chapter for now.

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  18. I have heard of it, but am not too familiar with it.


    That would have been really good had they done this ending for Season 2, would have changed the entire show,for the better. I liked this season, but some episodes weren't great, and had they used "Ryan's death" to carry this season, it probably would have been far more enjoyable.

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  19. I'm not that familiar either. But no matter that the human brain is an unknown place and there can be residual movment and thinking after a head wound, depending what the bullet hit, especially one high on Adrenalin.

    I don't know what it was with The Following and live watching. The show had decent DVR improvments hitting mostly 2.0s. Showing that people still cared but not enough to watch live.
    This season was decent, Kevin Bacon was carrying the show once more with his performance.

    They made a mistake by carrying the whole story from S02 into S03 instead of starting with a clean slate like S04 would be.

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  20. Ha! You weren't the only one that kept saying, "why does she keep asking all these questions, blah blah blah." Everytime i came across that I just laughed. lol. Everyone was so paranoid (which is understandable) i just kept saying "relax!" I actually felt bad for her b/c no one liked her and if they did like her, they didn't trust her. I seriously felt like the only one who did both like her and trust her. I guess i'll just chuck that up to my very strong women's intuition. = )

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  21. I have to say this last few episodes felt a little convoluted,but it does make sense since they probably knew they had to wrap some stories up. The scene where Ryan tells Max he, for a second, had thought the world was going to pay him the happyness he was owed, and his realization that that is not the kind of world he lived in was utterly heartbreaking.
    I did love the ending and, even if it's a scenario I would've love to see, I'm kind of ok with it being left to the viewers' imagination, and I'm not usually the kind of person who's ok with open endings.
    Overall, with its highs and lows, The Following was an amazing ride.

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  22. After getting way behind on a number of shows (including this one) I finally got around to watching the finale... and even with some of the uneveness and huuuuge stretches (Theo and his somewhat bullet resistant brain), I really enjoyed the action and the tie up and the set up for the season that we will never get to see. It really would've been nice to at least get a short season to tie everything up and really go out with a bang, but I'm satisfied enough where this left things. RIP The Following, a great ride overall for me.

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  23. The ending was bad, I mean it could have been a lot more open, it wasn't entirely closed, but it's better than having one major cliffhanger. I'll miss The Following, it's not had the best storylines over the years, but it was one of the few shows I kept coming back to watch.

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  24. That Theo bit was crazy, I was shocked to see that, but someone explains below a possible reason for that.

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  25. I did not know the show was cancelled. I thought they chose it end it because of bad ratings or whatever. So unfortunate that the show ended with a lot of story left to tell. Especially because they had a potentially really interesting story to tell if they came back.

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