The Following Season 1 Finale: Doing and Dead

The Following concluded its first season with a suitably harrowing and ambiguous ending, and Ryan's denouncement not only of Joe - "those who can do, those who can't teach" (ouch!) - but of Poe, which shows that Ryan was mainly baiting Joe, i.e., not necessarily telling him what he really believed.  Good!

But the biggest tantalizing ambiguity we're left with is how many major characters died in the finale?

Debra, alas, yes.   Ryan and Mike just don't get there quite in time, and although Debra's head hasn't been blown off - the surest sign of death in a TV drama - she looked pretty lifeless as Ryan tried in vain to revive her.

Next, we have Joe himself.  He's blown to smithereens, but we don't see his body.  Remains are recovered in the water, but another guy also died in the explosion, and though the dental records and preliminary DNA say it's Joe, I'm thinking that's not quite a definitive ID.  I give Joe a 50/50 chance of showing up alive next season.

Of course, even if Joe is dead, all of his followers are not.  We see Emma near the end in Alabama, and the woman who has been sleeping with Ryan on and off, but is a follower, shows up as Ryan and Claire are about to have dinner, and badly stabs them both.

Ryan looks to be a little less wounded than Claire, and, let's face it, killing him would end the series, which is returning next season.

What about Claire?  The series could definitely go on without her, with Ryan grimly hunting Joe or his surviving followers if Joe is dead, but I'm thinking Claire has a chance of pulling through.

So, where does that leave us?   We'll definitely see Ryan alive and kicking next season, and I'm thinking Claire will pull through, and, you know what, I bet we'll see Joe afoot at some point next season, too - though whether he'll be the major villain as he was this year, it's hard to say.

Ok, enough speculating.  I'm going back to writing - doing - not teaching.  The spring semester is almost over.

See also The Following Begins ... The Following 1.2: Joe, Poe, and the Plan ... The Following 1.3: Bug in the Sun ... The Following 1.4: Off the Leash ... The Following 1.5:  The Lawyer and the Swap ... The Following 1.7: At Large ... The Following 1.9: All in a Name, Or, Metaphor in the Service of Murder ... The Following 1.13: At Last Something of a Day for the Good Guys