luke kalamar finds a safe haven …
Plot: Everything is falling apart for Joe Carroll (James Purefoy). Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) and the FBI are closing in on the house and Roderick’s (Warren Kole) identity is compromised after Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) recognizes him. In response, Carroll tries to regain control of the situation while Roderick goes off the rails and takes Joey Matthews (Kyle Catlett) for his own purposes.
Man, it sure is good to watch the FBI at the top of their game now. Carroll has retained control for so long that the ability for the FBI to accomplish anything was being questioned. While the FBI started getting into greater control in the past weeks, “Havenport” saw them becoming the true alpha dogs. Everything actually went right for once and, despite some obvious oversights by Weston himself, the FBI was able to accomplish its goals. Plus, this episode had so many shocking moments that I couldn’t help but stay at the edge of my seat. “Havenport” truly was a great episode and continues this growth of quality The Following has had in recent weeks.
Roderick, for the final time, took center stage this week as he panics in light of the FBI learning about who he is. That entire story arc with him was both exciting and unexpected, with plenty of twists that kept me hooked. Everything started off with Roderick blaming Carroll for everything that has happened as of late, which resulted in an aggressive fight between the two former allies. With no one at his back, Roderick takes desperate measures to guarantee his survival by taking Joey as a piece of insurance. Quite simply, if the FBI kills Roderick, they can never find Joey. I figured the FBI was going to get Joey eventually, but I definitely didn’t see Hardy tricking Roderick the way he did. Roderick walking out of the precinct as an FBI agent was a nice call back to how Carroll first escaped his imprisonment as well.
As for Roderick dying, I really wish that didn’t happen so soon. I liked his character a lot and the intensity he brought to both the FBI and Carroll. Some of the finest moments of the first season started when Roderick was introduced and his death will leave a huge hole for the show. I don’t know what the plans are to fill this void (if there are any), but I believe that Jacob (Nico Tortorella) will step up to become Carroll’s new second-in-command, depending on what happens in the next few episodes. His character is being groomed for this and it just makes sense. If there isn’t a suitable replacement for Roderick or even one at all, the show will definitely falter as his character’s role was too big to simply leave empty.
The scenes back at the house between Carroll and Claire (Natalie Zea) were much less exciting compared to the rest of the story, but everything changed thanks to a twist at the ending. For the majority of the episode, all these scenes had were Carroll trying to remain as calm as possible based on events and Claire freaking out about Joey getting kidnapped. Honestly, it’s nothing that we haven’t already seen before, especially Claire freaking out. What was nice about these parts though were Carroll slapping Emma (Valorie Curry) and pointing out her painfully insatiable sexual appetite, and the surprise ending where Claire straight up stabs Carroll. I really didn’t see that coming! It’s been nice watching Claire become a much more aggressive character and I hope her violent actions this week don’t lead to permanent consequences.
The final sequence was completely ridiculous too and ended the episode on one jaw-dropping note. You see, at the beginning of the episode Hardy extended an olive branch to the members of Carroll’s cult. If one of them gave themselves in, the FBI would completely wipe their records clean. At the end, a woman named Melissa (Susannah Hart Jones) gave herself in with the premise of her siding with the FBI. Naturally, I totally fell for this and was completely shocked when she stabbed Nick Donovan (Mike Colter) in the eye. That exact moment is when the episode ends. That’s probably the best “holy shit” moment an episode could ever end with and I can’t wait to see the ramifications next week.
Now, if you recall I mentioned some oversights by Weston in tonight’s episode. Last week I absolutely loved this new, more aggressive persona he adopted in response to his recovery after Roderick and his crew beat him up. This week he seemed to have adopted a different persona that makes stupid decisions that almost have hugely dire consequences. The first is when he initially saw Roderick in the police station and pulled his gun on him. Despite everything that has happened between the two, Weston didn’t fire on Roderick and he was able to simply walk out of the building. Seriously Weston? Haven’t you already learned that if you don’t shoot nothing will go your way? At least shoot him in the leg so he doesn’t report to Carroll that their cover is almost blown. The second is Weston’s completely stupid decision of leaving the valuable Joey in an unlocked room alone while he was being attacked. Joey was obviously subsequently picked up by Jacob and was almost re-kidnapped. Hardy was able to fix Weston’s mistakes both times tonight, so at least he was capable this week. Get your shit together Weston.
Despite Weston’s seemingly best attempts to derail everything the FBI is trying to do, “Havenport” was a really great episode. It was exciting throughout the entire hour and it’s clear we’re in for some really action packed episodes as the first season winds down. If The Following can keep this momentum going, it can really end on a very positive note.
Rating: 9/10
It’s funny, in the absence of my other favorite show (Walking Dead) events from other series makes me miss it even more! All I was thinking in that scene with Claire was “Give him the greatest night of his life, get him to drop his guard. And then, when he’s sleeping, you can end this.”
Except Claire stabbed him in the stomach and failed to kill. And then poor Donovan got governor’d.
I kinda wish Weston would have been disposed for a few more weeks. So we build up the “cooperative” Sheriff Tim, until Weston comes back and reveals his true identity. I think Weston is still mentally unhinged and is prone to make bad judgement calls.
I DON’T think that Jacob will become the new second in command. I think he is eventually going to give up and turn himself in (with or without taking Joe with him first).