TVLINE | You shot multiple endings last season. Did you do it this year?
No, we didn’t do it this year. We felt very strongly that this was the ending we were driving towards. Whether he let go on that bridge on purpose or whether he slips is meant to be a little bit up in the air, but ultimately, when he comes out of that water, he knows what he has to do… It’s the ultimate sacrifice that Ryan is making. He’s sacrificing his own happiness, his own chance at a fulfilling life, for the people he loves — which is a very selfless act.
TVLINE | Mike nearly dies in these episodes. Did you ever think of killing him — or any other character — in the last few hours of the series?
Well, we killed a lot of people. We did. Our body count is pretty high. And it was because the storylines were coming to an end. Obviously Mark/Luke were two of the most compelling characters The Following has ever had. [Mark and Luke] — and Daisy felt the same way — they only know themselves as part of a pair. For Mark, what is life without Luke? …At the end, what is there after revenge? There is nothing after revenge. I don’t know if you noticed, but there is a little bit of a smile on Mark’s face when he dies because he feels like he killed Mike, and that’s what he really wanted.
With Mike, I keep saying it’s the meanest thing we’ve ever done on the show, to have that moment between Mike and Max and then stab the s—t out of him. But I feel like that’s the show, right? You’re never gonna see it coming… You do go out of the finale knowing that Mike and Max are now forever together. They weathered the storm and now true love has come through.
TVLINE | There’s no Joe Carroll in these last few episodes. Why?
Originally, when we were planning out the end of the season, we had this idea which I think was pretty compelling that after Joe dies, he becomes Ryan’s manifestation of the devil on his shoulder. Joe encourages him to do things which are self-destructive… But we wanted him to go down the dark path and then come out of it. We didn’t want to take that through all the way to the end. I’ll be honest: After we shot Episode 10, where Joe died and it was so compelling, I was a little unsure whether we should abandon ship on the he-sees-Joe-afterwards. It was such a powerful ending. But I feel like, especially in Episode 12 where Ryan was really going off the deep end with the waterboarding of Penny, and Joe was there, I felt like it was really powerful in and of itself. And you know, endings are tough. How do you have Joe leave without it seeming goofy? I felt like Ryan needed to make a choice to be the better man, to fight to be a better man, as Gwen said.
No, we didn’t do it this year. We felt very strongly that this was the ending we were driving towards. Whether he let go on that bridge on purpose or whether he slips is meant to be a little bit up in the air, but ultimately, when he comes out of that water, he knows what he has to do… It’s the ultimate sacrifice that Ryan is making. He’s sacrificing his own happiness, his own chance at a fulfilling life, for the people he loves — which is a very selfless act.
TVLINE | Mike nearly dies in these episodes. Did you ever think of killing him — or any other character — in the last few hours of the series?
Well, we killed a lot of people. We did. Our body count is pretty high. And it was because the storylines were coming to an end. Obviously Mark/Luke were two of the most compelling characters The Following has ever had. [Mark and Luke] — and Daisy felt the same way — they only know themselves as part of a pair. For Mark, what is life without Luke? …At the end, what is there after revenge? There is nothing after revenge. I don’t know if you noticed, but there is a little bit of a smile on Mark’s face when he dies because he feels like he killed Mike, and that’s what he really wanted.
With Mike, I keep saying it’s the meanest thing we’ve ever done on the show, to have that moment between Mike and Max and then stab the s—t out of him. But I feel like that’s the show, right? You’re never gonna see it coming… You do go out of the finale knowing that Mike and Max are now forever together. They weathered the storm and now true love has come through.
TVLINE | There’s no Joe Carroll in these last few episodes. Why?
Originally, when we were planning out the end of the season, we had this idea which I think was pretty compelling that after Joe dies, he becomes Ryan’s manifestation of the devil on his shoulder. Joe encourages him to do things which are self-destructive… But we wanted him to go down the dark path and then come out of it. We didn’t want to take that through all the way to the end. I’ll be honest: After we shot Episode 10, where Joe died and it was so compelling, I was a little unsure whether we should abandon ship on the he-sees-Joe-afterwards. It was such a powerful ending. But I feel like, especially in Episode 12 where Ryan was really going off the deep end with the waterboarding of Penny, and Joe was there, I felt like it was really powerful in and of itself. And you know, endings are tough. How do you have Joe leave without it seeming goofy? I felt like Ryan needed to make a choice to be the better man, to fight to be a better man, as Gwen said.
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