'The Following' Season 1, Episode 11: 'Whips & Regret' Recap

“The Following”, season 1, episode 11, “Whips & Regret”

At the mansion, Joe Carroll calls Ryan Hardy after his jog. He wakes Hardy out of a hungover sleep, and says he has called to gloat. Hardy tells him to go to hell and hangs up, so Carroll calls him back and informs him how he plans to win back Claire and his family.

Outside, Roderick arrives with Claire. Jacob greets her and she demands to see Joey. Jacob takes her to her room to freshen up instead.

Debra Parker visits Hardy at his apartment, expressing her concerns.

In the mansion, Molly (Hardy’s ex) brings Carroll all of her journals. She says that she’s lived next door to him since they broke up, and they still hook up once in a while.

Flashback to 2009, and Molly meets Carroll in prison for the first time. She says she works as a nurse as has killed more than Carroll, calling herself an angel of death in the terminal ward. Carroll asks her to follow Ryan Hardy.

Back to now, she gives Carroll all the videos she made, along with an index.

In Hardy’s apartment, Parker shows him the recruitment video, and she asks if he’s an alcoholic. He says he is, and she says he needs to pull himself together and that the Hardy she sees in the apartment isn’t the same man she’s been working with. She says he needs the case, and that the case needs him. She tells him to get in the shower and they have something to do downtown.

In the mansion, Roderick and Vince (the militia man) ask Carroll when they are going to start with their plans, since Carroll said they had to wait until his family was back together. Roderick says people are getting impatient, and Carroll shuts them up and sends them away.

In town, Hardy and Parker meet up with the FBI, who located the location where the website is hosted. It’s inside of a club named “Whips & Regret”, an S&M club. They enter, looking for Hayley Mercury. They ask a woman, but she runs. They follow her into the dungeon and eventually find her in the office, mass deleting files from the computer.

The FBI tech specialists determine that the machine is a ghost server, and it links to computers internationally, so they have no way of tracing anything. Carroll and Parker talk to Hayley, who says she’s not part of the cult and had no idea the server was being used for that site. She says that Vince, the militia guy, was a client of hers, and he helped her set up the server to deal with international users that liked hardcore illegal porn. He must have set up the website there as well. She said that she can deliver him to the FBI in exchange for a deal in terms of her sentencing.

In the mansion, Jacob brings Claire some clothes and instructs her to change into them, since Carroll wants her with him for dinner. She wants to see her son and makes a run for it. Jacob throws her to the ground, and tells her that Carroll says he can’t bruise her face, but he has permission to hurt her body. Outside the room, Emma confronts Jacob and says he’s been acting weird. He tells her that the Jacob she knew is no longer there.

In the S&M club, Hayley shows Parker and Hardy a package that was delivered for Vince. They open it and find explosives. Hayley says she sent Vince a message and he should arrive shortly.

In the mansion, Vince tells Roderick he needs to make a run and asks permission to leave. Roderick gives the go ahead. Vince tries to cheer Roderick up, but he flips and draws a gun on him. Vince draws his own gun, and they have a stare down. Vince walks away, and Roderick starts to crack.

At the club, the FBI wires up Hayley and instruct her to give him the package and make small talk. They give her a code word in case something goes wrong. They plan to wait outside and follow him.

In the mansion, Claire joins Carroll for dinner, terrified. She accepts a drink when he offers.

At the club, Vince arrives and heads inside. The FBI search his car in the meantime. Vince meets Hayley and picks up the package. He asks her to hold the door open for him, and she does. He carries it to his car and then asks Hayley to get in, since the FBI will likely follow her around. She keeps saying the code word, but Hardy prevents Parker for taking action. Vince draws his gun on Hayley and makes her get in the car. Parker tells the FBI to stand down, and just follow them.

In the car, Hayley asks Vince where they’re going, and he tells her they’ll be there soon. He keeps checking his mirrors, looking for cars that might be following them. Parker instructs the other agents to drop back and she and Hardy will keep on his tail, since he’s getting paranoid.

Vince takes Hayley to an old military armory in the woods to drop off his package. He gives her a flashlight and they head inside, navigating the tunnels. Vince tells Hayley that it’s used as a training place for killing, saying that they break people who need to be broken, and condition them so they can be trusted. He starts getting handsy with Hayley and finds that she’s wearing a wire. He flips out, knowing it’s from the FBI and Hardy, and yells into the wire that Hayley is a dead woman because of Ryan Hardy.

Hardy and Parker call for backup and rush inside, navigating the tunnels in effort to find her. Hayley is wheeled out on a chair, bound and gagged, but still alive. The rest of the team rush in, and Hayley is not too happy with them because she called out the code word repeatedly. She says they almost got her killed, and that the only reason she’s alive is because Vince said it would take longer to help a living person than a dead one.

Back in the mansion, Claire tries to get Carroll to explain things to her. She calls him crazy, but he says he only has a need to kill that will only intensify over time. She asks why he’d bring Claire and Joey into it, and he says it’s because he loves them, and will condition them to love him back. She asks to see Joey, but Carroll declines, saying that Joey is his last card to play, and he’ll need to save it for later. She storms out, saying that it will all be a charade until she sees her son.

In the military armory, Hardy believes it was used as a boot camp for new followers. An FBI man radios that they found 3 victims caged in the tunnels, and Hardy and Parker rush to meet them, warning him not to open the cage. He doesn’t hear it and opens it, and the people inside attack him. The rest of the team rush to find him, and follow the sound of gunfire. They split up, hoping to find he man. One of the followers jumps Parker in the dark, and Hardy saves her by killing the woman. Another runs at her, and he shoots him, too. They find the body of the FBI member.

In the mansion, Vince called Carroll and told them that the FBI found the web server and the camp, and that they should shut down the satellite communications. Carroll asks Roderick if he gave Vince permission to make the run, and when he doesn’t answer Carroll punches him in the face, saying he’s no longer allowed to make decisions.

In the military armory, three of the followers were killed, as well as two of the FBI.

In the mansion, Carroll visits Claire and tells her that she will love him again, and brings her Joey. They happily embrace.

In his office, Carroll watches Molly’s footage of her and Hardy in bed from 2011.

In Hardy’s apartment, he hears someone in his kitchen. He goes to investigate, gun in hand, and finds Molly. She apologizes for letting herself in. They embrace, and she asks how he’s been and says she’s been following the news.

Flashback to 2009, Molly agrees to spy on Hardy for Carroll, on one condition – she gets to kill him when the time comes.