'The Following' Season 1, Episode 10: 'Guilt' Recap

“The Following”, season 1, episode 10, “Guilt”

In the cult mansion, Jacob is woken by the sounds of someone in the shower. He sees Paul walk out. Confused, mainly because he killed Paul in the last episode, he walks into the bathroom and sees the shower smeared with blood. He pulls open the curtain to find a bloodied, dead Emma. He screams and wakes himself up.

In headquarters, the FBI fails to get anything useful out of the recently captures Amanda Porter. Hardy tells Parker that he needs to be there to question her, but she says it’s in the FBI’s hands since they took over. When Donovan comes in, Hardy tries asking him, and he says that if the FBI can’t crack her, he’ll see about getting him a chance.

Then Donovan reveals that their systems were hacked and that Carroll and his followers likely know where Claire Matthews is. Hardy says he needs to see her. Donovan isn’t so sure about it, since he’s not an agent.

In the Mansion, two followers give Carroll a rundown of Claire’s location and the kind of security they’d face. Roderick says that the two “constitutional extremists” are the men for the job. Carroll tells him to take them and pick up Claire. While Roderick says he needs to work, Carroll reminds him that he’s failed him twice, and that he needs to go and make it right.

Elsewhere, Joey sees Jacob and is excited to see him. He asks about Paul, and he tells him that Paul didn’t come. Emma wants to take a moment to talk to him, but Jacob doesn’t want to talk and walks off with Joey.

In her protective custody hotel room, Hardy arrives and Claire is happy to see him. She wants answers from him, since no one is telling her the truth. She asks about her media blackout, and Hardy tells her. He informs her that he needs to get her somewhere safer.

As they talk, Carroll’s extremists enter the hotel. Hardy’s team is on high alert. Roderick takes out one of the guards and obtains the master key.

In Claire’s room, the Marshall in charge sends his team to do a walkthrough as Hardy prepares to move Claire. They run into the men in the hallway, and they quickly take out the men on Hardy’s team. They begin entering the rooms one by one, not finding them. The Marshall sends Hardy and Claire out the back as he stays to fight. He locks his door, but upon their arrival, they shoot through it.

Outside, Hardy and Claire run for their SUV, and one of Carroll’s men grabs Claire. He holds a gun to her head and tells Hardy to back off. Hardy points out that he can’t kill Claire. The man hesitates, and she elbows him in the stomach and breaks free. Hardy shoots him in the chest. They climb into the SUV and drive off. The man gets up and reveals his bulletproof vest.

Soon, Hardy pulls over and has Claire rip the SIM card out of his cellphone, and he disables the tracking unit on the SUV. He tells Claire they’re going someplace safe.

At headquarters, Donovan and Parker try to figure out where Hardy is heading. They hear that they’ve received footage from the hotel, and confirmed 4 dead, including the Marshall. Parker tells them to run facial recognition on Carroll’s men.

In Timblin, Pennsylvania, Hardy and Claire arrive at a house and are greeted by a man with a shotgun. Hardy walks up to the man, Tyson, and give him a hug. He ushers them inside.

Claire asks how they know each other, and Hardy reveals that they went to Quantico together, and that Tyson has been in Witness Protection for years. Tyson promises them that they’re safe there.

Flashback to 2005, and Tyson reads Hardy’s draft of his novel. He says that writing the book on Carroll is a bad idea, because he’ll be the “Joe Carroll” guy for the rest of his life. Hardy says he wants to write it because it will help him.

Back to now in the mansion, Jacob and Joey walk around, and Joey tells Jacob how much he misses his mom. Carroll walks in, and Joey walks away in fear. Carroll asks Joey to talk to Emma and to give her a chance to explain her side of the story. Carroll says that Emma was just doing what he asked her to do. He needs him to forgive her.

As Carroll walks away, Jacob hallucinates Paul, saying how Emma is a selfish bitch.

In the headquarters, they identify two of the followers, and hack into their email, hoping to find something.

In the mansion, Jacob talks to Emma. She apologizes, and says she loved Paul, too. Jacob scoffs. She says that it wasn’t her fault, and she just did what Carroll told her to do. She couldn’t go back for them. She says she loves him and wishes she could make things right.

At Tyson’s home, he and Claire have chat. He reveals that Claire is the closest woman that Hardy’s had. She asks about his other relationships, and Tyson says that Hardy always pushes them away, including his most recent one, Molly.

Flashback to 2009, Hardy and Molly chitchat at a party, and Tyson hugs her, glad to finally meet her. She asks him what Hardy’s deal is, and Tyson says for her to cut him loose and go with him. They laugh. And Molly and Hardy make out.

Back to now, Tyson says that Molly tried so hard, but there was no use. He says that if he couldn’t commit with Claire, then Molly never had a chance. He points out that he’s only ever been serious about Claire.

Hardy walks back in the room as Claire finds something in her sweater. A tracking chip, planted there by one of the guys in the hotel. Tyson and Hardy prepare themselves for a firefight. Claire apologizes to Tyson for bringing her problems to him.

Hardy did a perimeter check, but found no one. Tyson says they don’t have much ammo, but they have shot guns that’ll blast through any bullet proof vest they wear.

In the mansion, Joey starts asking questions about Carroll and why he’s not in jail anymore, and why so many people live there with him. She tells him to ask Carroll himself, and walks out of the room. Carroll walks in and prepares some S’mores, but Joey points out he’s making them wrong. Carroll asks if he’ll help him. He hesitantly agrees and then asks when he’ll see his mom again. Carroll says he’ll see her really really soon.

At Tyson’s, Hardy and Tyson stand guard. Hardy tells Claire to barricade herself upstairs as they cover downstairs. She asks if he’s okay, and then asks why he never called her. Then she asks what he’d say if she told him she loved him. He says that it would be a bad idea, but that he loves her to. They kiss.

Outside, Carroll’s men surround the house. One man approaches the back patio, looking to enter through the sliding door, but as he peers inside, he is shot in the chest by a shotgun. One down.

Hardy tells Tyson to guard the back as he checks on Claire, but he hears a noise and checks it out. It’s Claire. They hear gunshots outside, and from the other side of the front door, Roderick calls out for Claire, telling her that no one else needs to die and that he’ll take her to see Joey. A man taps on the window behind them, and Claire panics. Tyson runs in and checks on them, and then chases the man outside. He shoots into the dark. Hardy asks if he got him, and Tyson turns around to reveal a gunshot wound to his chest.

Hardy and Claire lay Tyson down on the floor and try to stop his bleeding. They hear a noise, and Hardy hands Claire a gun as he goes check. She runs outside, and sees two men waiting in a car. They get out and she draws her gun. Roderick promises to take her to see Joey, and she tosses her gun and gets into the car. Hardy runs up to them, but it’s too late. They drive off. He runs to get into his SUV, but finds all the tires slashed.

In the mansion that night, Emma pays Jacob another visit. She tells him that she wants to win back his trust and that she loves him. She kisses him, but he doesn’t fight it. He starts to strip down as his kisses get more and more aggressive.

At headquarters, the managed to decrypt the emails, which contained a password for a website. On the website, they find a hidden portal to another website, which leads to a man in a Poe mask, asking them to enter their email and saying someone will get back with them.

In the mansion, Jacob and Emma get hot and heavy, and he keeps hallucinating Paul watching over them. He excuses himself to the bathroom, where he confronts the dead Paul, who urges him to kill Emma. He yells at the hallucination and Emma overhears.

When Jacob walks out of the restroom, he tells Emma how he killed Paul. She tries to comfort him. He says he killed his best friend, all because of her. But he warns her that he has a taste for killing now, and she better watch her back. He walks out of the room, and she sits on the bed, stunned.

In a hospital, Hardy sits by Tyson, who seems to be unconscious. He gets a call from Carroll boasting and taunting him. He points out that Claire came to him willingly. Hardy tells him that he’s done, but Carroll says he can’t. He’s not done with him yet. Hardy tells him to go to hell, and he hangs up on him.

Flashback to 2009, Tyson tells Hardy to get over his alleged ‘death curse’ and to not push Molly away. He’s known Hardy for over 20 years, and he hasn’t died yet.

Back to now, Hardy laments at Tyson’s bedside.

At the cult mansion, a special visitor arrives. It’s Molly, very happy to see Carroll. They embrace happily.