TV RECAP: ‘The Following’ Episode 103 – ‘The Poet’s Fire’

This episode begins with Rick, performing on the street, complete with Poe mask. He sees a man walk by, and follows him. Rick douses the man in gasoline and sets him on fire.

Back at the jail, Hardy interrogates Jordy about the whereabouts of Joey. He tries to get Jordy to talk, but he refuses.

Fingerprint analysis points to Rick Hester as the “Poe Man”. The FBI goes to his house, but only his scared wife is home. At the station, she tells them that her and Rick are separated, and he tried to kill her two years ago.

The team finds out that the burn victim is a book critic that panned Carroll’s book. In talking with Carroll, Parker learns that Carroll had three professional nemeses. Hardy is able to determine that one of the others is a University Dean that denied tenure to Carroll. Before they can get there, Rick stabs the Dean to death.

Jacob is worried about Paul and Emma’s dissention. Paul tries to make piece, but Emma slices his arm with a knife. Paul takes off. He later picks up a girl at a local mini mart, and eventually kidnaps her, bringing her back to the safe house. He tells Emma and Jacob that he won’t be the third wheel anymore. A flashback is shown hinting that Jacob and Paul may not have been pretending to be lovers.

Parker visits Jordy at the jail, telling him that Carroll wants to see him. She will only let him see Carroll if he talks. Jordy does not know where Joey is, saying that no one person knew every part of the plan. That way if someone was caught, they couldn’t give the whole plan away. He tells Parker that Rick’s wife knows where Joey is being kept.

Riley is watching Rick’s wife (Maggie) at the house, while Weston and Hardy do surveillance outside. Parker calls Weston to tell him that Maggie is on the plan, but it is too late. Maggie has already stabbed Riley in the throat.

Hardy goes after Maggie and Rick, shooting Rick in the process. Maggie disappears. Hardy reenters the house to find that Riley has died.

Parker is mad at herself for being fooled by Maggie. Hardy tells Parker that Carroll fooled him in the past. It turns out that Hardy had enlisted the expertise of Carroll literature knowledge to help in the case. Hardy had no idea he was sharing details of the case with the killer.

Back at the jail, Jordy starts eating the gauze that is around his shoulder. He chokes on the gauze, and presumably dies.

Claire has received an email and shows it to Hardy. Joey is playing in a yard with Jacob and Emma. Jacob is showing Joey how to kill bugs with a magnifying glass. They want Joey to suffocate a mouse. Claire and Hardy realize that are trying to teach Joey how to kill, to make him a part of the cult.