The Following 2.14: Twists and Deaths

Well, you have to hand it to The Following: they packed this season with so many characters, good and bad, that there's always room for a shocking death of a major player, and a bad guy somewhere getting an upper hand.

Last week, we saw Lilly killed.   But her twin sons are still alive and deadly kicking, and in tonight's episode 2.14, they get the drop on Claire, who has against all odds managed to survive a confrontation with Emma.

Indeed, Claire has killed Emma, and with her death, The Following loses one of its big-time sicko villains.  As Emma reminds Claire and us before she dies, Claire had been Joey's nanny for two years, becoming a de facto crucial part of Claire's family.  So it was only poetic justice that Claire offs Emma, as Emma tries to kill Claire.

But that's not the most shocking death in tonight's episode - assuming it was a death, and not a swift-of-hand misdirection.  The screen goes to black with Mike presumably shot by Joe, and, in the coming attractions for next week's season finale, we see no sign of Mike.   Of course, the shot ringing out could have come from Ryan, aiming at Joe (but not apparently hitting him), or anyone else.  Or, the shot could have been from Joe, but over Mike's head, or wounding Mike, or nowhere near Mike, for whatever reason.

I certainly hope it's one of those Mike-not-dead things.   Mike is usually my favorite character, the most human in many ways.  Yeah, I get that he in some way self-destructed when he gave into his impulse and killed Lilly.  But it would be mawkish, obvious television to punish him now with a fatal bullet from Joe.

So we'll see what happened to Mike next week, with the psycho twins and Claire converging on the cathedral with Joe and Ryan and the whole world looking via live streaming in the narrative, and millions looking at the narrative via television and web and however we watch our screens at 9pm on a Monday night these days.

See also The Following Is Back for Its Second Season ... The Following 2.2: Rediscovering Oneself ... The Following 2.3: Coalescing ... The Following 2.4: Psycho Families and Trains ... The Following 2.5: Turning Tides ... The Following 2.8: Coalescing? ... The Following 2.9: The Book Signing ... The Following 2.11: Lily not Joe ... The Following 2.13: The Downfall of Mike

And see also The Following Begins ... The Following 1.2: Joe, Poe, and the Plan ... The Following 1.3: Bug in the Sun ... The Following 1.4: Off the Leash ... The Following 1.5:  The Lawyer and the Swap ... The Following 1.7: At Large ... 
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