Elena Butler
Staff Writer
On this week’s episode of The Following, Emma described death as just “silence,” unaware that she was in fact foreshadowing the events that would transpire later in the episode—a death that will likely drive Carroll to new levels of insanity and make Claire a clear target. And while the team dealt with trying to stop Carroll from massacring a church full of people, Mark and Luke made a promise that makes them sound like forces to be reckoned with—that is, if they don’t meet their end in the season finale. Let’s break down it down and see what else happened on the penultimate episode of the season.
“Silence” picks up with Mark and Luke as they’re driving down a desolate highway with the dead owner of the car on the passenger side. Luke is finding it hard to accept Lily is dead but makes a vow to make everyone pay for her death. Following the title card, we head over to Korban where the FBI is conducting their latest investigation. Ryan finds out Claire delivered a message to Carroll through Carrie. Later, Claire tells him it’s a poem she wrote with Carroll and something only they knew about. Ryan begs her to go home and stop her search for Carroll. She ends up escaping from the Marshals on the way to her house.
Carroll and his followers head to their new location and he sends one of his followers on a suicide mission. At the Tanner residence, Kingston receives a call from Carroll who tells him he’ll give him directions that will lead him to his son. The follower sets herself on fire as a sign for Tanner to follow through with Carroll’s instructions. He escapes from his own home and tells one of his bodyguards that he needs to go on the mission alone. Meanwhile, Carroll knows that Claire wants to meet him at the Inn where he proposed to her. He wants to use her as leverage and sends Emma and Robert to the Inn. Before they leave, he asks Emma not to endanger herself, promising that when they die and are immortalized in history, the world will know she was the woman behind the man.
Back at Tanner’s house, the bodyguard tells Ryan and Mike that he put a tracker on Tanner. Meanwhile, Carroll and his followers take a whole church hostage and begin live streaming their stunt. The men arrive with Tanner in tow and Max alerts Ryan and Mike of his whereabouts. The whole team heads to the church. Mike and Ryan break in through a window and watch everything through video cameras as they wait for the FBI’s signal. Preston is reunited with Tanner and Carroll shows the video of Preston being convinced to murder one of Carroll’s followers. Later, he reveals his plan to pit son against father and hands them each a knife. One must kill the other in order to survive or he’ll kill them both if they refuse. Tanner asks God for forgiveness and tells his son he loves him before slitting his own throat, sacrificing himself for Preston.
Emma and Robert arrive at the Inn and begin their surveillance. When night falls, they spot Claire going inside and Emma decides not to follow Carroll’s plans, opting to find Claire and kill her instead. Claire searches for Carroll inside but instead comes face to face with Emma. Claire points a gun at her but is taken down by Robert. Emma reveals her plans to lie to Carroll about what really happened and shoots Robert, planning to blame Claire for everything. Claire hides and then takes Emma by surprise. They engage in a scuffle and Claire ends up throwing her out of a window. Claire runs outside and takes Emma’s keys but to her surprise, she’s still alive. Unable to reach for the gun, Claire takes a piece of jagged wood and stabs Emma in the chest, killing her. As she’s getting ready to leave, she runs into Mark and Luke. And Mark’s not happy to see she killed Emma.
At the church, Mike tries to convince Ryan that they can’t wait for the FBI to give them the green light and they need to take a shot at Carroll themselves. Mike is seen by one of Carroll’s followers who alerts him they’re not alone in the church. Carroll points a gun at Preston and asks whoever is there to show themselves or he’ll shoot him. Mike comes out and asks Carroll to kill him instead. The episode ends with Carroll pointing a gun at Mike’s head and the screen goes black as we hear a shot being fired.
Emma is dead. It feels oddly sad and at the same time satisfying to see Claire finally take charge. If anyone deserved to put an end to Emma, it was her. It will be interesting to see how Carroll takes it, especially after admitting that Emma’s always been the one for him. And come on, Mike Weston isn’t dead. You’re not fooling anyone, The Following! You can’t give me cute Mike and Max moments and then just take it all away.
So, what did you guys think of “Silence?” Were you surprised to see Emma finally meet her end? What do you think is going to happen to Claire now that Luke and Mark have her? Will they be around next season or will their story wrap in the next episode?
Leave us a comment below and tells us what you’re expecting from the sure-to-be-epic finale.
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