The Following Recap: “Love Hurts”

The Following Recap: “Love Hurts”
Original Air Date (Fox): Monday March 18, 2013
Season 1 Episode 9

by Julianne Snow:

“Love Hurts” is the title of The Following’s ninth episode. It opens with Ryan and Parker being questioned and lambasted by the different agencies for the FBI’s massive failings thus far. All they can tell the brass is that they have no idea where Carroll’s cult is headquartered or how many members he may have recruited.

At the compound, Carroll is asking his members what inspires them. Ultimately, he’s looking for ways they can help him tell the next part of the story he is writing. A nervous young woman, Amanda comes forward to present her chapter to Carroll. She has decided that she wants her chapter to have a happy ending. In a flashback, viewers learn that she visited Carroll after writing him letters explaining what her husband was doing behind her back. When she finally visits him in prison, it’s to tell him that she has killed him and the woman he was sleeping with. Worried about DNA evidence and her potential capture, Carroll sets her up with Roderick.

Donovan tells Parker that the main investigation is being moved to D.C. He tells her that she can keep her team in Virginia but instructs her that the brass want her to hold Hardy’s hand and report back to them.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the country a woman comes through the door of what appears to be a cottage. Coming around the corner in the living room, she comes face to face with Jacob and an injured Paul. The woman is Jacob’s mother and she is surprised to see him. His mother has seen the news reports and knows he’s connected with the cult. Jacob, however, is adamant that he’s never killed anyone.

Ryan gets a call from Carroll who asks about Weston. Carroll also asks him if he misses Claire and asks why love is full of punishment. He asks Ryan how much “hurt” a single man can take before he breaks.

At a diner in Richmond, a pair of women sit down to lunch. When one of them gets up to use the washroom, Amanda sits down across from her. Fiddling under the table, she asks the woman to give Ryan a message; she wants her to tell him that “sometimes love hurts”. When the woman’s friend returns to the table, Amanda reveals that she has a spear gun under the table and releases it while it’s aimed at the second woman.

When Ryan and Parker arrive at the diner, he figures out the woman killed was named Claire Matthews. Ryan tells Donovan that he needs to make sure Claire has no access to the media and then tells Parker that Carroll may be targeting women with her same name.

Jacob’s mother, a former nurse, takes a look at Paul while Jacob tries to get a hold of Emma again. In a flashback, viewers witness a scene between Emma, Paul and Jacob where Emma tells Paul that she has chosen a woman for him to kill. Taking Jacob with him, it’s the moment where Paul learns that Jacob has never actually killed anyone.

While watching the news, Carroll tells Emma he’s impressed with Amanda’s work. When Emma tries to get physically close to him, Carroll tells her that he doesn’t think they should behave that way in public, a rebuff that Roderick notices.

At the cottage, Jacob’s mother tells her son that Paul will die if he’s not taken to a hospital. She warns him that his father is coming and that they have to leave because he will call the police. Once again she calls him a murderer and Jacob responds by getting indignant. He asks Paul to confirm he’s never killed anyone and Paul reveals to Jacob’s mother that Jacob is telling the truth.

At the prison, Donovan tells the team about Amanda and her crime. Knowing that she is hunting anyone named Claire Matthews in an attempt to draw the real Claire out, the track down three other women named Claire Matthews in Richmond and rush to find them before Amanda can. Posing as a police officer, Amanda goes to the high-rise apartment of one of the other Claire Matthews and throws her out the window. Donovan informs the media about the situation, hoping to get the Claire Matthews to check in and stay safe. With one Claire left in the area unaccounted for, Ryan is worried that if Claire hears what is happening she’s give herself up to stop the murders.

Emma and Roderick are talking about she asks him how he came to be the Sheriff in town. He tells her a little about his family and how he got to be the sheriff. Roderick explains that everyone has their contradictions using Carroll sleeping with her as an example. He brings up the fact she has a boyfriend, wondering aloud if she even cares about Jacob. Somehow he knows she hasn’t returned any of Jacob’s messages…

Ryan tells Donovan that he thinks Carroll is trying to lure Claire out of custody. The talk about the final unaccounted for Claire who is a college student at a local festival without her cellphone.

Jacob receives an email from Roderick which has a meeting place for him and Paul to be collected from. Paul tells Jacob to go without him, knowing that he cannot be safely moved. Paul knows that his time is up and so does Jacob. In a heartfelt moment, Jacob smothers Paul with a pillow, killing for the first time.

At the festival, a young man approaches the final Claire and tells her that the police have been looking for her. Together, they go to find an officer when Amanda heads them off. She kills the young man and chases after Claire. With Ryan in pursuit, Claire finds an officer who radios for assistance. Louise appears and shoots the officer which prompts Claire to run away. Amanda follows her just as Ryan comes upon the scene. Ryan tells Louise to drop her weapon and when she doesn’t, he kills her. Ryan follows Amanda and Claire into a construction site of some kind where Amanda picks up a nail gun and shoots him in the arm. After a game of cat and mouse, Amanda grabs Claire and points the nail gun to her head. Amanda asks Ryan about his relationship with Carroll’s wife, giving Ryan time to distract her and take away the gun. Amanda is taken into custody and the last Claire survives.

Back at the compound, Roderick tells Carroll about Louise’s death and Amanda’s capture. He also reveals that he has good news: they have managed to track down the real Claire’s general location via a nearby cell tower after Donovan checked in on her. Carroll’s ex-wife is being held in Huntington Country PA.

Parker tells Ryan that Amanda has been taken to D.C. as Donovan thinks it’s “twisted” that Ryan is in love with Carroll’s wife. They will have no access to her and what she knows.

Back at the compound, Roderick seeks out Emma, telling her that someone is there to see her. When she walks downstairs, she finds Jacob standing in the doorway with a menacing look upon his face. Sometime tells me that he might be a little angry…

DarkMedia contributor Julianne Snow was first lulled into the horror genre by her parents during an ill-advised viewing of Alien when she was only 4 years old. Since that date, it’s been a given that Julianne will watch and read anything that is horror related. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies from Sirens Call Publications and Open Casket Press, as well as The Sirens Call and various other websites showcasing short fiction. She is the author of the Days with the Undead series, which can be found on her website dayswiththeundead.com. Her first novel, Days with the Undead: Book One was published in early 2012 and is based on her popular web serial. Find her on Twitter @CdnZmbiRytr.