Season three of “The Following” premiered Monday night with a one year jump into the future from the end of season two with notorious killer, Joe Carroll, awaiting execution.
The show opens with a whole lot of love thanks to Agent Gina Mendez’s wedding celebration with her new wife, and Ryan Hardy even has a new love interest named Gwen, but in the show’s classic style, the happiness doesn’t last long.
In a flashback, viewers are shown Mike Weston and Max Hardy, who shared a moment at the end of season two, are no longer a couple after Mike chose to leave to hunt down the other Gray twin, Mark. Max killed his brother, Luke, last season, and Mike killed their mother, Lily Gray, in an effort to avenge his father’s murder.
And of course, “The Following” wouldn’t be “The Following” without suspicious and uninvited wedding guests lurking in the background, including one rogue man in attendance who throws blood on Ryan and the happy couple while shouting that Ryan killed his daughter, who was a member of the Korban cult.
As Ryan returns to the FBI, he feels bad about the encounter at the wedding and sets out to find the girl’s family to apologize. As it turns out, the wedding crasher isn’t really her father, but a member of a somewhat new cult in town — Mark’s cult.
After suffering the loss of his brother and mother, Mark is back with a vengeance, and a new blonde hairdo. He has this new killing strategy where he’s recreating the murders of his family from last season.
The first murder happens when Daisy, a new follower of Mark’s, played by Ruth Kearney, pretends to be a hooker and seduces a couple celebrating their second wedding anniversary. She brutally murders them in their hotel room. Her partner, and boyfriend, Kyle, who’s played by Hunter Parrish, helps stage an elaborate murder scene leaving the bodies strategically strung about the room like puppets with the message, “Ryan Hardy Lies.” Between these two new followers and the wedding crasher, Mark has created a dangerous trio to do his bidding for him.
The second murder scene recreates the murder of Luke Gray, meaning the new trio killed people to fulfill the roles of Max, Mike and Luke from last season’s killing. This scene’s message was “Max Hardy Lies.”
The third and final scene of the show recreates the death of Mark’s mother, Lily. Mark joins his trio on the journey to find a Lily look-alike. They kidnap a woman at a party, and Mark drives her out into the woods to set the scene. Ryan Hardy manages to arrest a third of the trio and takes him in for questioning, but he’s not willing to give up any worthwhile information.
Hardy and the FBI find the third scene in the woods, complete with “Mike” shooting “Lily.” The message left here poses a threat for what’s to come in the following episodes — “While You Lie, More Die.”
The episode ends with Mark having a conversation with his twin, which he’s recreated with a mirror strapped to a mannequin, who sits across from him at the dinner table. He provides the dialogue for both parts of the conversation, in his usual nervous style.
Ryan, who’s still struggling with his feelings, invites Gwen over to his apartment, but he’ll most likely push her away as the season continues and the drama ensues.