
It was only a matter of time before Joe’s blood-lust returned. At the end of last week’s episode, we saw him as full-bearded Darryl living in the outbacks, but after this week, it’s obvious that he’s not all that different from the clean cut Joe of season one.
Sure he’s living in a trailer, talking with a southern twang (or at least attempting to do so) and helping a teenage girl with her homework, but inside, he’s still ruthless, fearless and living to kill. And after witnessing the uproar surrounding the latest killings, it’s clear that he knows it too. However, it isn’t until the Rev catches on to Joe’s ruse that his urge to kill is given its time to shine.
Joe: “You have presented us a great conundrum, Reverend. As they say, you’ve forced my hand.”
Reverend: “Dear God, it’s really you”
Joe: “See, the trouble is I just don’t know what to do. I bet you’d know what to do with me. I’ve been stuck in the dystopian squalor for what, a year now. In fact, I’m rather off my game. Granted, it has been good to have the time to…to reflect, but what I’ve been doing is hiding my failures by wallowing in a pit of clinical depression. Best laid plans and all that….see, I failed. Yeah. I failed as a writer, I failed as a husband….and I failed as a father. These are not easy things for me to admit to you, Reverend. You said you’d…you would listen to me. You said you would help me….now is the time. Now is the time. Help me. What am I to do, Rev? Am I going to kill you or not?”
Joe has always been so deep and insightful and he even manages to make a threat such as this sound like prose. He’s clearly taken his “failures” to heart (which is something I have no doubt Ryan will prey on in the future, just as Joe will point out Ryan’s failure to save Claire) and regardless if you’re a killer or not, anyone can understand the toll that can take on a person. So yes, like the rest of us, Joe is human. But unlike most, these failures haven’t exactly forced him to re-evaluate himself or his life in the way he expected. If season one taught us anything, it’s that Joe is who he is and he is perfectly at peace with that. He has no problem admitting or facing his murderous tendencies and for that reason, Joe’s question was clearly more rhetorical than literal.
Reverend: “Human beings can rise above their instincts, Joe. The fact that you’re struggling with your choices is proof of your humanity, your goodness.”
Joe: “Except there is no struggle. It’s patience, rather. I’m rapidly running out of that.”
Reverend: “You may not be a religious man, but you’re an intelligent one. A philosophical one. Socrates tells us that we cannot be better than seeking to become better.”
Joe: “He also tells us that death may be the greatest of all human blessings. You see the trouble is, I thought I was going to be reborn, that I could start a new, the reality is that I am inevitable.”
You may be able to take the man away from the murder, but you can’t take the murder out of the man. Joe unceremoniously stabs the Reverend with a look that tells us that his taste for blood has returned and it’s only a matter of time before he’s back on the streets. But Joe isn’t the only one commanding killings and beholden to his blood-lust this year.

Photo Credit: Michael Lavine/FOX

Photo Credit: Michael Lavine/FOX
Last week we watched as the creepy twins danced with a dead girl and this week, they took it one step further by playing house with a dead couple. Even going so far as to cook them a gourmet meal (which they obviously would not eat), give them silverware (which they obviously would not use) and pour them wine (that they obviously would not drink). But the visual recreation still wasn’t enough, they also formulated extremely disturbing conversation about their latest lady-friend, which in any other context (say a real family sitting down to dinner where everyone is alive) would actually seem normal. I honestly don’t know what to say about these two…they are obviously extremely brazen and enjoy toying with their subjects (as we witnessed when they willingly showed their faces and came within inches of Ryan at the fundraiser), which makes them both terrifying and formidable.
Sure, last year we saw a man go up in flames, a daughter brutally kill her mother and a woman get harpooned in a diner all at the behest of Joe, but this year, it’s the subtlety in these “staged murders” FOR Joe that has me more creeped out than ever. However, as with all the characters in this show, they also have their weak-spots. As Ryan pointed out and as we saw in Luke’s final “farewell” to the dead husband, their troubles are likely rooted in daddy issues and they are aiming to get Joe’s attention in order to get his approval.
Luke: “How’d it go at the crime scene? Did they find lots of prints and DNA?”
Ryan: “Does it matter, Luke? They won’t identify you because you don’t exist, do you? I saw what you did to that family. The gothic sea symbolism was a bit obvious, but it goes deeper than that. Â You’re lonely. And you’re searching for an identity, am I warm? You think if you lure Joe out of hiding, he will magically become the father that you never had.”
I didn’t think I would see a killer creepier than Joe and his season one cult, but after this episode, these boys just may be at the top of my most-likely-to-give-me-nightmares list. And for a show in its sophomore year, a year when most shows suffer the aptly named “sophomore slump,” that’s a real accomplishment.
The Following airs Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.
Related posts
Classics
George R. Olson, Tim Rozon, and Sarah Levy Talk the SurrealEstate S2 Finale
[Spoilers for the SurrealEstate Season 2 finale.] How’s everyone doing after the finale? As we close out the second season of SurrealEstate, some of our merry band of misfits are scattering to the winds–Zooey to law school, Phil to the Vatican, and Augie back to his think tank with Rochelle,…
Previewing SurrealEstate Season 2 Finale + Revisiting the Season with George R. Olson
[Warning; General spoilers ahead.] Strap in, SurrealEstate fam, because we’ve arrived at the Season 2 finale, and it’s a doozy. As we saw in the closing moments of last week’s episode, Susan is back. But because we have one more episode left, it’s not as simple as all that, as…
Tyler Hynes Talks Through His Eight-Film Hallmark Holiday Library
Things you realize when you have to re-record your shows on a new DVR – just how many Hallmark movies your people have done. Fan favorite – and one of ours – Tyler Hynes has done eight Christmas movies for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries since 2018. Alongside…
Spencer Creaghan Talks About Creating SurrealEstate’s Signature Sound
SurrealEstate is winding down its second season, with two episodes left, and just as in Season 1, Spencer Creaghan’s music continues to be a character unto itself. And every week, he shares tidbits with the fans via his s social media channels, something he started to help give them an…
Andrew Walker Talks Christmas Island and the Magical Hallmark Community
[Warning: Spoilers for Christmas Island.] Now that the Screen Actors Guild strike has been resolved, we’re able to resume regularly scheduled programming and interview our favorites and yours. Up first, earlier today, I spoke with Andrew Walker about Christmas Island, which premiered last weekend and encores tonight and through the…
George Olson and Danishka Esterhazy Talk SurrealEstate “I Put a Spell on You”
[Warning: Spoilers for the episode.] Tonight’s fun new SurrealEstate found Luke caught up in an especially bewitching woman, Kay, played by Tara Yelland, Susan trapped in her house, and Zooey learning the ropes. In the next part of my conversation with showrunner George R. Olson and producing director Danishka Esterhazy,…
Danishka Esterhazy Talks SurrealEstate: “The Butler Didn’t”
[Warning: General spoilers for the episode]. Tonight’s new SurrealEstate, “The Butler Didn’t,” follows the team as they investigate the years-earlier mysterious death of a woman whose ghost now reenacts her hanging by dropping over the banister from the second floor to terrify anyone on the landing or at the bottom…
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk the From Season 2 finale
[Warning: Spoilers for the season finale.] How’s everyone doing after that finale? While we wait and wonder and hope for a third season announcement, soon, here’s what Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders had to say about their parts of the finale, and where they hope they get to go next….
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk From Season 2 + A Season Finale Preview
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] It all comes down this, #FROMily. As Sunday’s episode wraps up Season 2, we begin with the aftermath of the terrifying onset of seemingly simultaneous attacks on Julie, Marielle, and Randall, which accelerate the “We gotta get out of this place” of it all. Sara comes…
Alison Sweeney Talks About What’s Next for Hannah and Mike After Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
[Warning: Spoilers for Carrot Cake Murder.] Everybody OK after that Hannah Swensen Mystery twist? Thankfully, our favorite crime-solving couple is still on speaking term, even if they’re on a break (hopefully not that kind of break). Most importantly, we already know this isn’t the last film in the series. No…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…
3 Moments of Goodness from Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Johnny and Dora”
The most satisfying part of this season’s finale has to the Jake and Amy kiss. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. I love how she’s convinced he doesn’t know anything…