The Following: Season 1, Episode 15: 'The Final Chapter' Recap

“The Following”, season 1, episode 15, “The Final Chapter”

Still recovering for the evac center attack, the FBI goes over surveillance footage from the area, hoping to get some hint as to where Parker was taken. They see one of the followers, Alex, shoving her into the trunk of his car, but they have no indication of where he took her.

Outside of the sheriff’s office, a young boy wearing an Edgar Allen Poe mask approaches. Hardy goes out to meet him, but Weston stops him and talks to the boy instead. He takes off the mask and says that a girl gave him $20 to put on the mask and walk to them. He says her name was Emma. The FBI immediately starts searching for Emma, but Hardy notices a phone number written inside the mask. Hardy and Weston rush inside to call the number.

Inside the coffin, a cellphone starts ringing. Parker answers it. Hardy and Weston are relieved to hear her, and ask where she is. She tells them that she’s been buried and she doesn’t know where she is. She tries to keep track, but she blacked out during the trip. She just knows she’s in the woods, and that they passed some railroad tracks.

Weston speculates that she has 3 to 5 hours of air left.

One of the agents interrupts and says that they have found Alex’s car abandoned out in the woods. The team rushes to it.

Meanwhile, Claire wakes up inside a strange house. She rushes outside and sees that she’s at a lighthouse. Joe Carroll is outside and pulls a gun on her, telling her to get back inside. She can’t believe that Carroll would bring her to a lighthouse; she points out how predictable it is for his book. He argues that it’s a nice bookend. She tells him that he’s a lousy writer, and he threatens to kill her, and she eggs him on, saying he’s going to kill her anyway, so get it over with. He throws her in a room instead. A man appears behind her.

The FBI team arrives at the abandoned car. Hardy notices that the tires are slashed and realizes that the car was a plant, and Carroll wanted them to find it. As he’s talking, Alex is in the woods with a sniper rifle and tries to take out Weston, but an agent got in the way. The FBI opens fire on Alex, and Hardy runs into the woods to find him. He catches him, and demands to know where Parker is. Alex laughs and doesn’t say anything. Hardy punches him, and another agent cuffs him. They take him to the cruiser, but Hardy and Weston volunteer to take Alex in. The other agents nod in understanding.

In the lighthouse, the man introduces himself to Claire. He says his name is Neil and that a couple of kids hired him to drive a boat to the lighthouse. They broke his ankle in the process so he couldn’t run, and they locked him in the room. Claire says that the man who did it was Joe Carroll, and Neil realizes that it means he’s going to die.

Weston and Hardy arrive at an abandoned factory and begin beating the hell out of Alex, demanding answers from him. Alex finally spills after Hardy nearly digs his eyes out of his skull. He gives them Parker’s location, and they load him into the vehicle with them. They warn him that if he’s lying, they’re going to kill him.

In the lighthouse, Carroll retrieves Claire from the room, saying that he’s lonely. Claire tries to get Carroll to let Neil go, but that just angers Carroll even more. Claire asks what they’re waiting for, and Carroll says they’re waiting for Hardy.

In the car, Hardy and Weston talk to Parker on the phone. She is weak and can barely speak. They reassure her that they’re coming. She tells them to tell her sister that she loves her, and for her sister to tell her parents. And she tells Hardy that he needs to know that her impending death is not his fault, and that she knew what she was getting into when she signed on for the job.

They arrive at the scene in the woods, and they rush to the coffin. They frantically dig up the dirt and finally find the cover to it. They open it up and realize Parker is not breathing. They pull her out, and Hardy performs CPR on her, but it doesn’t work. She’s dead. Alex taunts them, so Hardy walks over to him and shoots him in the head.

Hardy notices an envelope in the coffin and pulls it out. It’s Carroll’s manuscript, which chronicles all the events so far, and even covers Parker’s death. It also tells Hardy where he needs to go next. Weston says he’ll go with him, but Hardy refuses to let him come. He draws a gun on him and demands he stay there. He drives off, alone.

In the lighthouse, Carroll begins to ask Claire a series of questions about their relationship, and when she first realized that Carroll liked killing. She said she didn’t know until Hardy told her about it. Claire starts to cry, feeling guilty about not seeing the signs sooner, saying that she was responsible for the deaths of all the college girls. This infuriates Carroll. He storms off into the room and drags Neil out. He stabs Neil to death in front of Claire and says that that is what killing is. He tells her that she can’t take responsibility for his achievements in killing.

Hardy arrives at his next destination, and he sees Emma waiting for him. She instructs him to leave his phone and his gun behind. He walks towards her, and she tells him to put his hands on his head. He refuses, and she says that she has permission to shoot him. He isn’t scared. But a large man appears behind him, and pins him, injecting a sedative into his neck. She smiles as he blacks out.

Hardy wakes up in the lighthouse with Claire and Carroll watching him. Carroll asks Hardy when he first knew he loved Claire and when he first knew that Carroll was a killer. Hardy says that he followed Claire and hoped that she would lead him to Carroll, and that he inevitably fell in love with her. Carroll wants to get the show on the road, the final chapter to his book, so he grabs an ice pick and goes to stab Claire in the eye, but Hardy stops him. He says that it would be too predictable, and that he needs to kill him. Carroll says that that would just be bad storytelling. Hardy points out that Poe was an awful writer, just like Carroll.

Hardy lunges at him, and knocks him down. He manages to grab a gun, and Carroll makes a run for it. Claire tells Hardy to kill him.

Hardy chases him into the boathouse, and Carroll surprises him and they struggle for control of the gun. They accidentally shoot one of the barrels of chemicals which begins to spill everywhere. They struggle some more and manage to ignite the chemicals. After one final struggle, Hardy knocks Carroll into the flames. He begins to cry out in pain, but Hardy runs out of the boathouse, and it explodes behind him.

The next morning, the FBI arrives, and the scan the area for any pieces of Carroll that they can find. They found enough of him to identify his remains by dental records, but they needed to wait for DNA tests to confirm for certain. They tell Hardy that they have 7 of the followers in custody so far.

An agent interrupts, and says there’s a call for Claire. She answers it, and it’s Joey. She’s excited to hear from him finally. Hardy tells the agent that Claire will be staying with him for a few days until she can be taken to see Joey. He says he’ll supply some extra men.

Hardy asks Weston if he’s okay, and he simply answers no.

Back at Hardy’s apartment, he tells Claire that the DNA of the remains matched Carroll’s, and that he’s dead. They kiss in celebration.

In a diner in Alabama, Emma, in disguise, watches the news about Carroll’s death. She cries, and quickly leaves the restaurant.

Back in his apartment, Hardy orders take-out while Claire freshens up. He answers the door and takes the food. He carries it to the counter in his kitchen. He hears a noise and goes back to check the door. There’s no one here. He locks it this time and heads back in the kitchen. The knife he was using is missing. A woman appears behind him.

It’s Molly. He turns around, and she stabs him in the stomach, saying that Hardy’s death was supposed to be her chapter, and that Carroll promised it. The water shuts off, and Claire walks out of the bathroom. She sees Hardy on the floor and rushes to him. He tries to stop her, but it’s too late. Molly ambushes her and stabs her in the back.