'The Following' Season 1, Episode 6: 'The Fall' Recap

‘The Following’, season 1, episode 6, ‘The Fall’

Continuing from the last episode, Paul holds his gun to Ryan Hardy’s head. Joey panics and they both tell him to go back to his room. Jacob and Emma arrive and see Ryan. Emma draws her gun and asks who knows they’re there. Hardy nonchalantly informs that that the FBI, local law enforcement, etc., etc., all know they are there. He tells them it’s the end.

Claire is escorted to a large abandoned warehouse and herded into a large caged room by Charlie. She’s not too happy when he ignores her, and she has an outburst, demanding to talk to her son, as promised. Charlie chokes her into submission.

Mike Weston and other officers arrive outside the property and debate their next course of action.

Inside the farmhouse, Paul tells Jacob to tie up Hardy, but Jacob is nervous. Hardy informs him that if he comes close to him, he’ll snap his neck. Paul says he’ll shoot him if he does, but Hardy points out that Jacob will still be dead. Hardy’s cellphone begins to vibrate, and they take it away from him.

In the caged room, Claire asks when she’ll see her son, and Charlie gives a cryptic answer. She asks how he knows Joe Carroll, and he says they met through friends.

Flashback to 2010, Charlie meets with Joe Carroll, describing his military experience and computer expertise. Carroll questions why he was discharged, and he says he killed 9 people. 4 of which he just ‘wanted dead’. Carroll thinks he’ll be useful.

Back to now, Claire finds a folder of candid pictures of herself, and Charlie tries to take them from her. He says she has no reason to fear him and he’ll never hurt her because he’s his follower.

In the farmhouse, Jacob and Paul bicker, and Hardy begins to mess with their minds. Emma comes downstairs, angry that neither of them has tied him up yet. She says she gave Joey his “special milk”, and he’ll be asleep. Just then, a cop car arrives, and Hardy says they’re surrounded.

Hardy gets smug, saying they won’t get out alive. Emma says he won’t either, and he says he doesn’t care about that, because they will never hurt Joey and neither will the FBI, so the rest doesn’t matter. Emma pulls out a Taser and shocks Hardy, which disrupts his pacemaker. He is rendered useless as his heart goes haywire. Emma tells the boys to tie him up this time.

The FBI has set up camp outside the farmhouse, and Debra Parker finally arrives. Weston gives her an update, and manages to intercept an encrypted email that was currently being transmitted, but they can’t decipher it.

Inside the farmhouse, Emma tells Jacob that she just emailed Roderick and updated him about Hank’s death and that they need help. She fears that Roderick won’t send anyone else to help. Jacob reassures her that they’ll be fine.

In the federal detention center, Carroll’s lawyer Olivia gives him an update, Hardy being at the farm, and Claire vanishing. He laughs smugly. Olivia demands to know what she’s part of. Carroll asks if she really wants him to answer that, especially if she knew that the press message he had her deliver was actually a trigger to his followers to abduct his wife. It would have horrible consequences for her and her career. She retracts her demand.

In the farmhouse, Hardy finally comes to, actually tied up this time around. He eyes a knife on the table, but Emma appears and demands that he call the cops off, but Hardy says they won’t negotiate without any leverage. Emma has Jacob bring in poor Meghan, who has been tied and beaten in the basement. She Tasers Meghan, which pushes Hardy to make the call.

Hardy calls Weston. They both have their phones on speaker, and Hardy tells Weston that there are three people holding him there, along with Meghan, while Joey sleeps upstairs. Emma isn’t pleased at this and tries to shut up him, but Debra hears her and starts talking to her. Debra compliments Emma’s artwork, and says that most of the faces she draws represent her mother, and that she must miss her. Emma says she killed her mother, and Debra says she understands and wishes she had the strength to kill her own. Emma hangs up.

Emma goes back to check the email, while Hardy realizes that Jacob and Emma are sleeping together, but says he thought they were gay. They both get defensive and leave. Hardy eyes the knife, and then makes eye contact with Meghan.

In the FBI van, Weston asks what Debra was doing, and she explains that she was trying to get Emma to remember her humanity. She believes Emma feels guilty for killing her mother, and that parental influence is what defines us.

Flashback to Serenity Hills, (Church Rock, Iowa) in 2004. Debra pays a visit to some sort of commune after 15 years, hoping to see her family. She is greeted by Dale.

Flashback to 1989. An even younger Debra approaches Dale’s room in her nightgown. He has candles lit, setting the mood. He begins to touch her, but she panics and flees to her mother.

Flashforward to 2004, and Debra runs into her parents.

Back to the present, Debra looks sad.

In her caged room, Claire questions Charlie on what’s taking so long, and he says there’s been a delay. Claire wants to know what he meant by “follower”, and he says he’s been watching her and taking notes and videos for 2 years for Joe Carroll. She sees footage he filmed of her in her bed. She asks if the babysitter Emma knew about him, and he says she didn’t know him, but he knew her. They each have their own part to play, and his part is Claire.

In the farmhouse, Emma receives a reply from Roderick telling her to expect a call, as the email is no longer secure.

Outside, the police back off, and Emma takes Hardy’s phone, hoping to stall the FBI until Roderick calls.

Paul asks Emma how Jacob is handling everything between them, and Emma is obviously agitated since he asked in front of Hardy. She leaves, and Hardy immediately begins riffing, trying to get under Paul’s skin. He immediately realizes they had a three-way, but says that Emma is just doing it to control them both.

Emma calls Debra and tells her that she misses her mother. Debra sees through the ruse, and asks what’s happening. Emma ignores that and continues talking. She says that her mother was too controlling, which is why she killed her. Debra poses that Carroll is doing the same thing to her now, which caught Emma off-guard. Flustered, she tries to defend him and then hangs up.

Flashback to 2004, Debra tells her parents she missed them, and her mom says she never should have left. Her dad asks her why she came.

In the FBI van, Debra tells them that Emma’s just stalling.

In the farmhouse, Jacob comes downstairs asking about Emma, and Hardy asks him how the three-way actually works. This triggers him, and he ends up choking Meghan to prove a point. Hardy stands up, feigning trying to help, but he really grabs the knife he’s been eyeing. Paul calms Jacob, and Hardy shows Meghan the knife he grabbed.

In the FBI van, Weston decrypts the email, determining it to be about Claire. Then the SWAT team arrives, and Debra has them set up snipers.

In the caged room, Charlie calls Roderick saying he’s heard nothing from Hank. He asks what he’s supposed to do with Claire. As he walks away, Claire grabs the keys to the cage, and makes a break for it. She manages to get out and then hide in the dark. Charlie hunts her down, eventually grabbing her.

Outside the farmhouse at night, SWAT members surround the house.

Inside, Emma gets a call from Roderick. She takes the call in another room, and Hardy plants some seeds of doubt in Paul’s mind. She comes back in and tells them everything is going to be fine and that she’s going to check on Joey. Hardy continues to get on their nerves, so Paul punches him. Upstairs, Emma wakes up Joey.

In the caged room, Claire apologizes to Charlie for running. She asks why she can’t leave if Joey isn’t going to come. She asks who Roderick is, but Charlie can’t tell her. Claire says she knows Roderick is just an alias borrowed from a Poe story, so she asks why Charlie listens to Carroll. He tells her that Carroll is teaching him to feel his life.

Flashback to 2011, Charlie gives Carroll a complete rundown of Claire’s week. Carroll immediately realizes that Charlie has fallen for Claire. He’s okay with it, because he knows he can trust Charlie.

Back to now, Charlie steals a kiss from Claire and begins to berate himself. Literally. He bangs his head against a pipe for being so impure.

In the farmhouse, Paul has Jacob check what’s taking Emma so long as Hardy covertly begins sawing his hands free. Jacob comes downstairs to say Emma and Joey are gone. Hardy takes advantage of the moment of panic, and jumps up and stabs Paul in the stomach several times. He punches Jacob, and unties Meghan, telling her to run to the street and they’ll save her. Jacob goes to chase her but he stands in the doorway, and dozens of little red dots appear on his stomach, and he closes the door and drops to the floor in a panic.

Hardy grabs his phone and goes out the back, calling Weston. He tells them Emma and Joey are gone and on the run. Two SWAT officers are approached by a man, and they stop him at gunpoint. He distracts them as another man shoots them in the back. They take their clothes and weapons.

In the woods, Emma and Joey run, but Weston finds them and orders them to freeze. As he does, Marsden, the female cop who has been helping all along turns on him and shoots him. She tells Emma that she’s with Roderick. She tells them to follow her.

In the caged room, Charlie tells Claire he’s going to take her to Joey, but an alarm goes off. He says it means someone’s there. They check the monitors and see it’s the FBI. They ambush the room, and Charlie sets of a smoke bomb as the FBI grabs Claire. Charlie flees.

Outside the farmhouse, Debra gives SWAT the go ahead to take down Paul and Jacob.

Inside, Jacob tries to help Paul up, but the team opens fire on the house. They drop to the floor as two members come in and aim their weapons at them. Two more members come in from behind and shoot the two SWAT members. They tell Jacob and Paul that Roderick sent them, and to go out the back.

In the woods, Hardy runs to the sound of the gunshot and finds Weston. He tells Hardy that the cop was in on it the whole time. He chases after her and finds the two downed SWAT team members.

The double agent Marsden leads Emma and Joey to a waiting SUV, and tells them it has everything they need, but Hardy catches up. He draws his gun and tells them to freeze. Marsden goes for her gun, by Hardy shoots her. In a panic, Joey gets into the SUV with Emma, and they drive away. He wants to go after them, but his heart is going haywire.

In the road, Jacob flags down a car and attacks the driver. Paul climbs in, and they drive off together.

At the farmhouse, Hardy, Debra, and Weston go over their losses. Four SWAT members, and a double-crossing cop. Hardy walks away from the group, obviously overwhelmed by the reach of Carroll.

Weston asks Debra how Carroll has this kind of power. Debra tells him that cult mentality is human nature. Everyone needs to belong.

Flashback to 2004, Debra tells her parents that she missed them. Her mother misconstrues it to mean Debra feels guilty and wants their forgiveness for almost getting them exiled. She clarifies that she doesn’t want their forgiveness, but she came to forgive them and tell them she loves them. But she notices Dale standing behind her, and gets up to leave.

Flashback to 1989, and Debra’s mother forces the crying girl to go back into Dale’s room, telling her she has to. She closes the door behind them.

Back in the detention center, Olivia updates Carroll, saying all his people got out safely (except Marsden). He smiles and says that it’s now time for the next part of the story.

Olivia calls another press conference, stating that Carroll has been abused by the FBI, and they filed paperwork against them.

At her home, Claire is watching the conference, safe and sound. She is told that Hardy is there to see her.

She goes outside to meet him, and she gets violent with him, but he pulls her in for a hug.

In the prison, Carroll is laying in his cell, looking quite content.

In her office, Debra finds the amulet she wore while she was in her parents’ cult.

On the run, Jacob calls Emma, panicked. He asks her why she left them, but she doesn’t answer and hangs up on them. Jacob tries to comfort the still-bleeding Paul, and tells him that he’ll get him help somehow. Paul thanks him for not leaving him.