THE FOLLOWING: Marcos Siega Previews the Impact of Claire’s Return, What Scene Has Him Excited, and More

THE FOLLOWING’s Ryan Hardy had his world rocked when his off-on love, Claire (who was also the ex-wife of Ryan’s foe, Joe Carroll), was killed by a member of Joe’s cult with a grudge against Ryan.

Of course, what viewers learned recently was that Claire wasn’t dead at all — she was hiding in WITSEC with her son and mother. And at the end of last week’s episode, “Freedom,” she talked her way into being allowed to see Ryan, and the duo finally came face-to-face. But after a year-plus of thinking she’s been dead, how is Ryan going to react to this news?

“It’s going to mean — I mean, look, what is he going to do?” THE FOLLOWING executive producer Marcos Siega pointed out. “There’s Carrie Cooke in his life. It’s a big deal [for Claire to return].”

“We always knew, the plan was always to bring Claire back,” he continued. “We had to get to the moment, to the right time. And part of that right time was that [THE FOLLOWING creator] Kevin Williamson really wanted to get to a place where Ryan Hardy could potentially be over [Claire’s death]. And then whammo. There she is. I think we accomplished that. It was really fun to see the fan reaction to her return.”

But whether Ryan reacts well to the reunion — and the revelation that Mike lied to him for an entire year — remains to be seen.

“I think this coming week, they finally get to talk and we start to understand what she’s doing and her agenda,” Siega teased. “It’s going to effect Ryan in a huge way. She was the motivation for all of last season, and here she is. It’s hard to say [more] without spoiling.”

Siega was able to say a little bit more about whether learning Claire was alive might relieve Ryan a little bit from the “death curse” he has convinced himself that he is doomed with.

“I think it has emotional implications for him, character-wise,” Siega pointed out. “A part of the fun set-up is here you have Mike Weston, who had this secret he had to keep. Ryan is still very focused on the endgame, and he’s clearly never let up his obsession to get Joe Carroll. Claire’s arrival, her return, or resurrection, whatever you want to call it, is going to give him pause emotionally, character-wise, but I don’t think…it changes the course of how he may want to do things. But it doesn’t stop him from wanting to do the things he’s always wanted to do.”

As for what else is ahead, Siega lamented that he “want[s] to say so much,” but after all the care they’ve taken to keep the upcoming twists quiet, almost everything is a spoiler landmine.

“I watch the cuts, and I’m excited about what’s coming up,” he explained. “There’s a lot of big twists and turns, and I’m really enjoying this season….I like this season better than I liked season 1. And part of it is that I think it opened up so much story. The hardest part for us, for people making the show, is we have to squeeze it all in, and now we have to try and wrap it all up in this neat little bow. It’s tough to do. But the good thing about being renewed is we can have some questions in there that will be fun things to carry into a season 3.”

So in the interest of keeping it vague, a few more teases about what’s to come…

How will Mike’s lie about Claire impact the Ryan/Mike relationship?

“Do you want me to tell you what episode 13 is?” Siega laughed. “Because that’ll answer it.”

Will Joe and Ryan’s feud escalate?

Due to the storytelling of season 1, Joe and Ryan were able to spend a decent amount of time in more direct contact as they taunted — and tortured — each other. But this season, because the scope of the show has been greater (and since Lily has been a formidable foe), the duo’s interaction has been limited. So as the year winds down, I was curious if Joe and Ryan would start to become more directly involved in each other’s storylines, or whether outside influences would cause distractions from their main goals.

“Yes,” Siega teased. “To all of those things.”

And what’s more, Siega previewed that more of Joe’s own motivations/plans will become more apparent in upcoming weeks, too.

How will Mandy’s betrayal play out?

Mandy got in over her head this season, but while Joe took her under his wing, if/when he finds out that she reached out to get help from Lily and the twins, it probably won’t end well.

“Mandy is this person that Joe clearly has these feelings for,” Siega pointed out. “And Joe having those feelings is, I think, interesting…She has a big episode coming up.”

“I liked the Mandy character,” he continued. “I think she’s been a nice anchor to have in the background, and now we’re going to pull it forward and pay it off.”

Can Emma stay loyal to Joe?

Emma’s loyalty to Joe has been tested in the past — especially after he kept her in the dark for a year about being alive — but now that some of the new followers are starting to doubt Joe’s leadership, could Emma be swayed as well?

“I think Emma’s always going to be devoted to Joe,” Siega said. “It’s really about how her journey. What questions she has, what doubts she has, and how does Joe deal with that. That’s been a constant through even season 1: she questions Joe, she has her doubts. But at the end of the day, she has this blind devotion to him. It’s his charm, his charisma, it’s this pull he has over people, to get people to do what he wants. With Emma, it’s special. I don’t think she could ever break free from that.”

What has Siega excited?

With so many things Siega couldn’t reveal, I was curious what he could tease about what was coming up that was exciting.

“I’m really excited about the last scene in the finale,” he previewed. (The only additional tease I can share about the final scene? Kevin Bacon’s Ryan is in it. But you probably figured that might be the case.)

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THE FOLLOWING airs Mondays at 9 PM on Fox.

Related:

THE FOLLOWING: ‘Freedom’ Photo Preview
THE FOLLOWING: ‘Teacher’s Pet’ Photo Preview
THE FOLLOWING Post-Mortem: Shawn Ashmore on the Mike Twist in ‘Sacrifice’

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