Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon The Following - New Blood - Advance Preview


    Enable Dark Mode!

  • What's HOT
  • Premiere Calendar
  • Ratings News
  • Movies
  • YouTube Channel
  • Submit Scoop
  • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Privacy Policy
Support SpoilerTV
SpoilerTV.com is now available ad-free to for all premium subscribers. Thank you for considering becoming a SpoilerTV premium member!

SpoilerTV - TV Spoilers

The Following - New Blood - Advance Preview

2 Mar 2015

Share on Reddit


The shadow of Joe Carroll still looms large over “The Following,” but as the title of the third season premiere suggests, the show is also ready for some “New Blood.”

It’s been a year since the events of the season finale and, to emphasize that period of peace, the central characters are first seen gathered for the wedding of one of their own. Ryan has found happiness with Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson, “Lost”), a doctor who seems to have helped bring down some of his walls. Max is now a full-fledged FBI agent. Mike is the most outwardly damaged by last year’s events, his obsession with catching Mark Gray having made a mess of his relationship with Max, but even he is all smiles for the bride on her wedding day. And with Joe’s network of followers dismantled and his execution scheduled, they all seem ready to close that chapter once and for all.


But you’re not watching “The Following” for feel-good warm fuzzies. So with a splash of blood, it all starts falling apart. Soon, the Ryan/Mike/Max trinity find themselves faced with two brutally murdered victims, elaborately arranged in a familiar tableau. They’re being taunted by someone who wants them to pay for their perceived sins (a flashback reveals that the trio concealed the darker truths about their actions during the manhunt for Joe, particularly Mike’s cold-blooded execution of Lily Gray) and who has no problem hurting innocent people until they confess.

The premiere makes really effective use of misdirection. The incident at the wedding – which the promos have been teasing and the show does a nice job of building the tension to in the opening minutes – swerves in an unexpected direction, but still packs a punch. When a young woman is approached in a bar, it’s hard to tell who is the predator and who is the prey. And I liked the beat the show plays of Ryan reflecting on all the needless loss of life his and Joe’s pursuit of each other left in its wake and how that ends up tying into the bigger story.


Unsurprisingly, Mark Gray – driven further into madness by the deaths of his mother and brother – is pulling some of the strings. As someone who thought Sam Underwood’s performances as the deranged twins were one of last season’s undisputed highlights, I was so bummed that the hilariously snarky Luke was killed off. But, without spoiling the exact circumstances, the show continues to play that dynamic (there’s another creepy family dinner scene) and Underwood is as fantastic as ever.

Naturally, “New Blood” also introduces new followers. There’s Andrew (Michael Irby, “True Detective”), who has an eerie gift for mimicking emotions. And more entertainingly, there’s Kyle (Hunter Parrish, “Weeds”) and Daisy (Ruth Kearney, “Primeval”), a true Bonnie and Clyde whose lust for killing is second only to their lust for each other. But you can’t have new followers without a new leader and Daisy hints that their games with Mark are only a cover for the real master plan (see you soon, Michael Ealy!).

The third season premiere of “The Following” airs Monday March 2nd on FOX. Until then, follow me over to the comments section.

18 comments:

  1. Thanks for the preview! I really liked the premiere episodes. I think we will see Joe again at some point in the season, I don't think there done with him just yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the preview! Super excited for the new season although I honestly have no idea how the show will feel like sans Joe. But I am happy with the new direction and I like that they are starting the premiere in a place of happiness, at least! Bring it on!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the preview Chris. Looking forward to this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the preview you gave us. Looking forward to pack my schedule up a bit more, cause like I don't have enough trouble sleeping..
    Just tell me, is this preview for the 1st episode or the double hour?

    ReplyDelete
  5. If my memory serves me well, everything mentioned was in the first episode.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just the first episode. Originally, it was going to be a two-hour season premiere, but FOX decided to split it up. I'll post a preview of the second episode before it airs.


    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I did too, the show felt recharged.

    ReplyDelete
  8. They split it up? Really? Good news! Think a 2hour premier was a bit to ambitious.
    Thanks for the preview, made me look forward to new eps.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very excited by this preview. Sounds great. Cant wait for to see the team again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Andy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. And thank you for reading! I think the show actually benefits from Joe's physical absence at this point, even as his presence lingers.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really like the dynamics of the Ryan/Mike/Max trinity.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Someone said they saw the credits on some Fox release which still had James Purefoy as a regular.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You don't understand how EXCITED I am!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the preview! I'm glad Max is in the FBI now, hopefully she'll be more involved in everything this year. Not too happy about them splitting up Max and Mike, though. We waited an entire season for them to kiss, ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome! Can't wait. Re-watched S1&2 yesterday & today, so I'm ready!

    ReplyDelete
  17. http://media.tumblr.com/cb94f25be2a9727e4cef108bb6dc957a/tumblr_inline_mtqkp7tbSC1s74dwl.gif

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm so ready for this premiere.

    ReplyDelete

NOTE: Name-calling, personal attacks, spamming, excessive self-promotion, condescending pomposity, general assiness, racism, sexism, any-other-ism, homophobia, acrophobia, and destructive (versus constructive) criticism will get you BANNED from the party.