History Series / TheFollowing

* SerialKiller: Carroll, obviously, and his followers.

** Hoo boy. [[spoiler: Parker's mom not only let the leader of her cult rape her daughter (when she was probably 13), but literally forced her back into the bedroom after she ran out screaming.]] Somehow, she still managed to forgive them, and still loves them. Or so she says.

** Everything from "Havenport" onward is a series of defeats for Carroll's cult [[spoiler: with the exception of Debra's murder.]]

** [[spoiler: Debra Parker's death was shocking enough in the first season, but Season 2 somehow took it even farther by killing off ''Claire'' in the opening minutes, despite the general consensus that she had the thickest and most certain PlotArmor outside of the two male leads. However, Claire was only FakingTheDead and was shown to be alive at the end of "Unmasked."]]
** [[spoiler: Emma, pivotal to Carroll's character and a major character show, is killed off near the end of the second season.]]
** [[spoiler: Dr. Strauss, the BigBad of the entire series, gets garroted by Theo Noble one episode after his exoneration scheme comes to fruition.]]
** In one of the most shocking examples yet, [[spoiler: the tenth episode of Season 3 sees ''[[BigBad Joe]] [[ArchEnemy Carroll]]'' almost certainly dead by lethal injection.]]

* AssholeVictim: Admit it, you '''wanted''' Emma to [[spoiler: gut her mother after witnessing all the shit she put Emma through.]]
** [[spoiler: Emma herself, for that matter, at the end of Season 2.]]
** Nobody was mourning when [[spoiler: Mark]] finally bit it, especially not after [[spoiler: he just crippled and nearly killed Mike.]]

* BattleAmongstTheFlames: [[spoiler: Hardy and Carroll's final fight in the season finale ends up setting the boathouse they're in on fire. While Hardy escapes, Carroll is trapped and killed (or so they think) when the building explodes.]]

* BerserkButton: Ryan almost strangles Carroll to death when he reveals [[spoiler: Sarah's dead body]]. Later, he breaks Carroll's fingers and has to be pulled off of him by the rest of the FBI team.

** After [[spoiler: Joe's death]], both roles are taken up by [[spoiler: Theo Noble.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: Joe is briefly part of two in Season 2: one with [[spoiler: Lily]], and one with [[spoiler: Micah.]] [[spoiler: Neither ends well.]]

** Season 3 has Joe, [[spoiler: Mark Gray, Arthur Strauss, Theo Noble, and Eliza.]]

** [[spoiler: Max twice in "Forgive"]].

** [[spoiler: Gina Mendez's safe house]] in Season 3.

* BittersweetEnding: The series ends with [[spoiler: Theo, Mark, Joe, and all of the other threats sans [[KarmaHoudini Eliza]] dead, but Ryan is forced to become a vigilante to track Eliza's group down, and he'll never see his family or friends again.]]

** [[FromBadToWorse It gets even worse for him in the final season.]] [[spoiler: Culminating with him getting stabbed three times and coming within a hair's breadth of death.]]

* BuriedAlive: [[spoiler: Parker]] at the end of episode 14. [[spoiler: She runs out of air before she can be rescued.]]
* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: Paul's death]] certainly seems to qualify.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with [[spoiler: Gina Mendez, who gets violently stabbed by her ex-wife, but survives and safely retires with her new wife in the third season.]]

* CavalryBetrayal: During the standoff between the FBI and the cult trio in "The Fall," [[spoiler: one of the local cops turns out to be another cultist, and two others kill and impersonate members of a SWAT team to get a drop on the others and rescue Jacob and Paul.]]

** "Love Hurts" introduces Ryan's neighbor/ex-flame Molly. She [[spoiler: turns out to be a member of the cult, but more importantly turns up at Ryan's place after Joe seemingly dies at the lighthouse, and stabs both Ryan and Claire in "The Final Chapter"]].

*** [[spoiler: During his VillainousBreakdown in the first season's final episodes, he outright ''devours'' the scenery.]]

* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler: The first season finale ends with Molly literally stabbing both Ryan and Claire in the back in Ryan's apartment mere seconds from the end title.]]

* CowboyCop: The FBI team have a tendency to kill cultists rather than arrest them (generally in gun battles, but not always). Ryan and Weston take this to an extreme in the season finale, when they [[spoiler: very nearly beat a captured cultist to death and put out his eye in order to get Parker's location. When they end up arriving just a few minutes too late to save Parker, Ryan kills him in cold blood]]

* {{Cult}}: The titular "following" Carroll has.
--> '''Carroll:''' I prefer to call them "friends."

* TheCutie: Emma [[spoiler: used to be this, to ridiculous degree, although, even then, she was a little weird. Then Carroll got hold of her, and she became the above.]]

** Carroll is arrested and put back in prison by the end of the pilot -- but there's still his groupies and followers to contend with. And that was part of the plan. [[spoiler: Subverted when Carroll breaks out again in "Let Me Go," and gets away for real to take up leadership of the cult directly.]]

* DiscOneFinalDungeon: [[spoiler: The Lighthouse Lake B&B, owned by Sarah's neighbors -- and also the place where she is taken to die.]]
** [[spoiler: Lily Gray's first hideout]] in Season 2.
** The harbor in Season 3 [[spoiler: where the FBI, Strauss, and Mark Gray clash, resulting in the escape of the latter two and the hospitalization of Max.]]

** Carroll's killing of [[spoiler: Charlie]] has some decidedly erotic undertones.

** DragonWithAnAgenda: Roderick turns into this as it becomes increasingly apparent that Carroll cares more about his personal vendetta with Hardy than the cult's goal (whatever that may be). [[spoiler: Roderick ultimately splits from the cult in "Havenport," and Carroll has him killed.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: When Jordy realizes he's been tricked into helping the FBI against the cult, he starts eating his bandages until he chokes to death.]]

** [[spoiler: Jana blows her own brains out after being identified as a mole for Carroll's cult.]]
** In a more tragic example, [[spoiler: Kingston Tanner chooses to commit suicide rather than kill his son or be killed by him, completely wrecking Joe's endgame in the process.]]

* DrowningMySorrows: What Hardy has been doing after capturing Carroll until the start of the show. He then does it again for a few months between seasons one and two. [[spoiler: And again after Joe's execution.]]

** Emma and Paul both seem to genuinely love Jacob, who cares about both of them. [[spoiler: Doesn't stop Emma from abandoning them, though.]]
** Unless he was acting (which isn't impossible), Carroll seems to have genuinely loved Claire and Joey, as shown by how emotional he gets when [[spoiler: he and Joey finally meet face to face in "Let Me Go"]].

** Neil Perry loves his dementia-stricken father more than anything in the world. [[spoiler: Getting discovered as a killer by his father is what drives him to SuicideByCop]].
** [[spoiler: Theo Noble appears to care for his sister.]]

** Kyle and Daisy are remorseless killers, and even they are disgusted and terrified by [[spoiler: Mark Gray]]'s behavior, only going along with it [[spoiler: as part of Strauss's plan.]]

** [[spoiler: Dr. Arthur Strauss was this to Joe, Theo Noble, and plenty of other infamous killers.]]

* EvolvingCredits: An interesting example. While main cast members who are absent but still alive are still credited, deceased characters are immediately removed from the opening titles when they are killed. [[spoiler: Nico Tortorella, for example, is pulled from the credits with just one episode left of the first season after his character dies, while Kyle Catlett is credited for the rest of the season despite his character being absent (but alive) during the last quarter]].
** Once people caught on the practice, however, the show started subverting it to keep viewers guessing. [[spoiler: Gregg Henry is listed in the credits for the first eleven episodes despite being killed in the sixth, and Joe and Mark are both still in the credits for the two-part finale, despite both being dead and not present outside of a brief hallucination for the latter]].

** In "The Final Chapter," Hardy gouges out a cultist's eye in order to make him tell them where [[spoiler: Parker was buried]].

* [[FauxActionGirl Faux]] DarkActionGirl: Emma. She gets taken out by [[spoiler: Roderick]], and [[spoiler: ''Claire'']], of all people, manages to pin her against the wall in a soon-to-be CatFight. Getting into a real knock-down, drag-out brawl [[spoiler: swiftly results in her death]].

** [[spoiler: In a flashback, Carroll's appeals lawyer attempts to fire him as her client. Carroll sends one of his followers to cut off two of her fingers.]]
** In episode 8, [[spoiler: David pretty much ''bites off his thumb'' in order to take the CyanidePill sewn into the base of it.]]
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler:
** The existence of Carroll's cult, [[spoiler: the fact that he kills Sarah, and that her neighbors are both not gay and part of the cult.]]

** After four episodes of rebuffing Weston's attempts to bond, including a specific attempt to invoke this trope, Hardy finally calls him "Mike" after he [[spoiler: defies Parker to help Hardy save his sister and]] saves his life.

* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler: Carroll's cult kidnaps the daughter of Carroll's warden in order to coerce him into helping Carroll escape prison.]]
** [[spoiler: He pulls something similar in Season 2, kidnapping the son of a televangalist who called him out, but it seems Carroll wants him for more than just leverage. He forces him to choose between killing a female Korban member or dying himself, and he chooses the former.]]
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Though he was able to save her life before, [[spoiler: Hardy was unable to save Sarah Fuller from being killed by Carroll the second time around.]] Repeated to a brutal degree when [[spoiler: Debra suffocates before Hardy can find her burial site]], and ''again'' when [[spoiler: he doesn't manage to locate Agent Clarke in time to stop Neil from [[CruelAndUnusualDeath boxing him up]].]]

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: ** In "The Final Chapter," Hardy does this to a Follower in order to make him tell them where [[spoiler: Parker was BuriedAlive]]. It works, [[spoiler: but she's dead by the time they get there]].

* KarmaHoudini: At the end of Season 1, [[spoiler: Emma and an unknown number of other cultists are still on the loose]]. [[SubvertedTrope By the end of Season 2, however]], [[spoiler:every known member of Carroll's cult is dead or in prison]].

** In the climax of "The Reaping", [[spoiler: Lily's mercenaries descend on the Korban compound and slaughter everyone there. Joe, Emma, Robert, and the rest of the "Chosen," who have already left, are all that remain.]]

** [[spoiler: Carrie [[PunnyName Cooke]]]] is burnt alive in a van by Kyle and Daisy.
** [[spoiler: Carrie was dead before the fire. They burned her body with the van. Kyle shows Ryan his knife moments later and taunts him with fact its covered with Carrie's blood.]]
** [[spoiler: Theo Noble kills a business executive with a welding torch during his first moments onscreen.]]
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler: Louise]] is shot by Hardy, while in the middle of saying [[TooDumbToLive she doesn't think he's got the guts to]].
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Carroll does this to Hardy after hitting him with a two-by-four and then [[spoiler: proceeding to taunt him with the now-dead Sarah, lowering her body from the ceiling.]]

** [[spoiler: [[OneManArmy Theo]] [[TheHeavy Noble]] is this for the third season, and one of the most dangerous yet.]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Carroll's little speech to Hardy at the end of the first episode is just a little bit meta, don't you think?

--> '''Hardy:''' Nobody likes me.
--> '''Weston:''' Well, you're kind of inconsistent and extreme.

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Jacob smothering the mortally wounded Paul to death at Paul's request so that he can meet up with Roderick without Paul slowing him down.]]

* MetaTwist: DoubleSubversion. The last few minutes of the Season 2 finale [[spoiler: clearly set up a similar cliffhanger to the first season's. However, this time Ryan Hardy ''isn't'' attacked by an intruder... That is, until he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Mark Gray in his room... Except it's just a nightmare, and the real Mark is elsewhere]].

** Another in Season 3: [[spoiler: Dr. Strauss gets suddenly, violently murdered by Theo Noble at the culmination of his schemes.]]

* NeverFoundTheBody: Played with. [[spoiler: When Carroll is seemingly killed in an explosion in the season finale, they do find partial remains, but Hardy points out that Carroll killed some random civilian earlier, and demands DNA tests to make sure it's not him. By episode's end, it appears it really was Carroll. ''And then in Season 2'', it turns out it '''wasn't''' Carroll and that the evidence was manipulated by someone in the FBI]].

** By Season 3, the FBI have gotten wise to this, and Mike refuses to call off the search for [[spoiler: Mark Gray]] after the latter takes a seemingly fatal dive off of a cargo ship with a serious bullet wound. [[spoiler: He's right.]]

** And again if you thought [[spoiler: getting shot and falling off of a freighter was enough to kill Mark Gray.]]

* OhCrap: Hardy's team has this reaction in "The End is Near", when they figure out what the references to "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" in Joe's message means: [[spoiler: The cult has infiltrated the evacuation center, and they are about to engage in terrifyingly random violence against innocent people...and they have no idea who they are or how many are there.]]

* PetHomosexual: [[spoiler: ''Invoked.'' Sarah Fuller's gay neighbours are Carroll's plants, deliberately pretending to be both gay (a bit too well, but that's another trope) and her friends to put her at ease and make her find them non-threatening.]]

* [[spoiler: {{Polyamory}}: As of Episode 4, it's looking like the Emma/Jacob/Paul love triangle is resolved.]]

* ARealManIsAKiller: [[spoiler:Jacob]] never has actually killed anyone. Or has he? [[spoiler: As of episode 9, he has; see MercyKill.]]

** The second-season premiere also depicts the aftermath of the Havenport Tragedy: [[spoiler: Mike Weston has been suspended from the FBI pending a review of his conduct during the investigation. And at some point during the intervening year, Hardy hit rock-bottom, ending his friendship with Mike and becoming something of a Conspiracy Theorist.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Jacob decides he can't stand being part of the cult anymore and tries to leave, only for Emma to kill him.]]

** Hardy starts to suffer this from [[spoiler: Debra's death]] onward. By Season 3, he's [[spoiler: suffering from vivid hallucinations and night terrors involving Joe Carroll.]]

** [[spoiler: And then it's played straight. They either had sex with Jacob in the shower, or immediately after they got out, judging by how the next episode opens.]]
* ShutUpHannibal: A non-verbal example; see {{Fingore}} above.
-->'''Hardy''': If this book ends in anything but your death, you better plan on a rewrite.

--> Oh dear. Has somebody been playing with matches?

** The cult actually seems to have several former soldiers and PMC members among its ranks. [[spoiler: It is revealed later than many of the cult members were recruited from a disbanded survivalist group]]

** Carroll for Ryan: From the moment they meet Carroll seems to find Ryan fascinating. When Ryan's stops him in the flashback Carroll's every action from that moment on is to draw Ryan back to him: the cult; the book; even his ex-wife are all bait to bring Ryan to him. He even goes so far as to [[spoiler: set up one of his cultist to be Ryan's friend with benefits; has her report to him about Ryan's well being and has her bug EVERY room of Ryan's home so when he escapes he has video of everything Ryan has done that he can watch at his leisure. Including having sex.]]

* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: Double]] Subverted, Joe abducts televangelist Kingston Tanner and his son Preston, and tries to force one of them to kill the other on a live internet feed. Preston tries to stab Joe only to get pistol-whipped to the ground by a follower. [[spoiler: However, Kingston slits his own throat to save his son, symbolically defeating Joe by proving that people are ultimately good, rather than evil as Joe believes.]]

* ThousandYardStare: David tries one on Hardy in episode 8. He's unimpressed.
-->'''Hardy:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Are we having a staring contest?]]

* TokenGoodTeammate: [[spoiler: Jacob]] is the only cult member who isn't a psychopath and hasn't killed anyone. He even shows signs of a conscience. However, he's ashamed of this and doesn't want to let his friends down, and they resolve to help him get past his hangup.[[spoiler:When he finally does kill someone, it's a MercyKill of the mortally wounded Paul.]]

** A common problem with Carroll's followers: due to being sadistic and insane, they can't help but gloat and be smug about their murderous plans, and as a consequence they end up making fatal mistakes and trolling people they ''really'' [[BullyingADragon shouldn't be trolling]]. But Alex from the Season 1 finale takes the cake. Let's review: you've been captured by Hardy and Weston, and they would ''really'' like you to tell them where Debra Parker is. Hardy's a certified badass not above Jack Bauer-ing suspects if the situation calls for it, and Weston's a recovering torture victim who is looking for some payback. Then, after they fully demonstrate their willingness to beat you to death, by breaking your leg and ''gouging your frigging eye out,'' you decide to taunt them when [[spoiler: they don't get to Debra in time.]] At what point in your thought processes did that seem like a good idea?

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The promos for season 2 pretty much confirm [[spoiler: that Carroll is alive]].

* UnholyMatrimony: [[spoiler: Turns out Rick's scared wife, Maggie, is not only a follower too, but was a serial killer long before Joe started 'making friends'.]]

** KnifeNut: Carroll, naturally. Most of his followers follow suit, such as Emma (well, Paul thinks so, as would [[spoiler: her dead mom]]), Jordy, and even [[{{Pyromaniac}} Rick]] has a moment to suggest a new appreciation for knives...

** "The End is Near": [[spoiler: The FBI finds the cult's headquarters, but the cult's already scattered by the time they arrive. Several cultists cause a massacre to provide a diversion so that Carroll can escape with a captive Claire; during the chaos, Parker is kidnapped by a couple of cultists and BuriedAlive. Meanwhile, Jacob decides to abandon the cult, but when he tries to get Emma to leave with him, she kills him.]]
** "[[SeasonFinale The Final Chapter]]": [[spoiler: Parker dies before Hardy and Weston can save her. Hardy finally confronts Carroll, and Carroll is killed in an explosion (the FBI appears confident they found at least some of his body). Hardy and Claire return to Hardy's apartment, and are attacked by Molly, who stabs them both, seconds before the screen cuts to black.]]

** "Evermore": [[spoiler: Joe organizes a hostage situation on the day of his execution, demanding a final confrontation with Ryan. Ryan finally confesses to Joe that he gets satisfaction out of killing the Followers and other killers, and later demonstrates this by killing several prison inmates in ways almost as brutal as Joe's. Then, in the final moments of the episode, Joe gets taken back to his scheduled execution... and ''dies''. No escape plan and no higher scheming: the BigBad dies slowly and helpless while staring into the eyes of the man he obsessed over.]]

-->'''Claire''': [[spoiler:Take me to my son]].

-->'''Carroll''': [[spoiler:I am afraid that it is time for Claire to die.]]
** "The End is Near"
-->'''Emma''': [[spoiler: I love you, Jacob. But I love Joe too. And I don't know how to love you both.]] ''[[spoiler:*[slits his throat]*'']]

-->'''[[spoiler: Mark]]''': [[spoiler: Mark drowned. [[SplitPersonalityTakeover I'm Luke.]]]]

** In the Season 2 premiere, the camera follows a bearded man walking in the shadows toward a house. When he gets in the door, [[spoiler: it pans to reveal Joe Carroll, revealing that he survived the explosion in the first season finale.]]
** An InUniverse example: one shot of the security tape from the subway murder instantly drives home for Ryan that [[spoiler: Lily is part of the cult.]]

-->'''Robert:''' Why doesn't Joe just kill Ryan?
-->'''Emma:''' [[IdiotBall Joe loses the ability to think clearly around Ryan.]]

** This also might have something to do with Parker's history and [[spoiler: her growing up in a cult]].

** [[spoiler: Dr. Strauss, the BiggerBad of the entire series, gets garroted by Theo Noble one episode after his exoneration scheme comes to fruition.]]

** Another in Season 3: [[spoiler: [[BiggerBad Dr. Strauss]] gets suddenly, violently murdered by Theo Noble at the culmination of his schemes.]]

* OhCrap: Hardy's team has this reaction in "The End is Near", when they figure out what the references to "The Masque of the Red Death" in Joe's message means: [[spoiler: The cult has infiltrated the evacuation center, and they are about to engage in terrifyingly random violence against innocent people...and they have no idea who they are or how many are there.]]

** Carroll expresses revulsion upon finding out that Claire went to a CelineDion concert.

* XMeetsY: ''Series/TwentyFour'' meets ''Series/CriminalMinds.''

** A common problem with Carroll's followers: due to being sadistic and insane, they can't help but gloat and be smug about their murderous plans, and as a consequence they end up making fatal mistakes and trolling people they ''really'' [[BullyingADragon shouldn't be trolling]]. But Alex from the Season 1 finale takes the cake. Let's review: you've been captured by Hardy and Weston, and they would ''really'' like you to tell them where Debra Parker is. Hardy's a certified BadAss not above Jack Bauer-ing suspects if the situation calls for it, and Weston's a recovering torture victim who is looking for some payback. Then, after they fully demonstrate their willingness to beat you to death, by breaking your leg and ''gouging your frigging eye out,'' you decide to taunt them when [[spoiler: they don't get to Debra in time.]] At what point in your thought processes did that seem like a good idea?

** Carroll's MO. He's a worshipper of EdgarAllanPoe, and takes the latter's belief that the eyes are the window to the soul a little too seriously. As such, he and his followers tend to remove the eyes of their victims (usually ''before'' killing them)

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse. Before he was revealed to be a serial killer, Carroll wrote a novel called ''The Gothic Sea'', an {{Homage}} to the works of his hero EdgarAllanPoe. The book was hated by critics and flopped when it was released. After he was caught however, it became a national best seller.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: One guess.
** Amusingly, he somehow missed the glaringly obvious flaw in bringing together a bunch of people who think like him. They're all crazy. Hardly anyone is sane enough to have any clue what they're doing.

On March 4, 2013, the show was renewed for a second season, scheduled to air in 2014 and match the first's 15 episodes. On March 7, 2014, it was renewed for a third season, which will be the final one thanks to FOX's cancellation of the show.

* MetaFiction: Carroll's first book didn't sell too well, which he attributes to it being, "[[ViewersAreMorons clearly too avant garde]]". His next one? He spent a lot of time online, and it seems he found TV Tropes...

** Pretty much made explicit midway through Season 2, when Carroll is asked directly if killing gives him a sexual release, and his response is a practically moaned affirmative.

** Carroll could be considered a younger, less cannibalistic [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter.]]
** Alternatively, he's like [[TheMentalist Red John]], but less camera-shy.

* AlphabetNewsAgency: ANC Cable News and NNC, the two fictional news outlets seen throughout the series.

** Season 3 has Joe, [[spoiler: Mark Gray, Arthur Strauss, and Theo Noble.]]

* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler: The season finale ends with Molly literally stabbing both Ryan and Claire in the back in Ryan's apartment mere seconds from the end title.]]

* KillEmAll: In the climax of "The Reaping", [[spoiler: Lily's mercenaries descend on the Korban compound and slaughter everyone there. Joe, Emma, Robert, and the rest of the "Chosen," who have already left, are all that remain.]]

* AbortedArc: In Season 2, Lily never really follows through on her "I have many more surprises for you, Ryan" threat. It's possible that [[JustifiedTrope she just dropped her vendetta after learning Luke was alive]].

* PlotArmor: the closest one can get to an in-universe example, as [[BigBad Joe Carroll]] is simultaneously writing and enacting a novel about [[AntiHero Ryan Hardy]]. As he wants Hardy to live until the book's climax, he makes sure his plots and his minions hurt him but don't kill him off before that. From time to time, it seems Hardy acknowledges this effect. The armor is solid, as far as Carroll is in full control of events.

* WhamShot: In the Season 2 premiere, the camera follows a bearded man walking in the shadows toward a house. When he gets in the door, [[spoiler: it pans to reveal Joe Carroll, revealing that he survived the explosion in the first season finale.]]

* XanatosSpeedChess: Carroll is a master.
** [[spoiler: Theo Noble is even better at it. Fitting, since he was considered the best student of the man who trained Joe.]]

* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: The fake gay couple ended up attracted to each other for real.]]
* BehindTheBlack: Practically a staple of the show, given all the times a character sneaks up on another character who plausibly should have seen them coming.

* CavalryBetrayal: During the standoff between the FBI and the cult trio in episode 6, [[spoiler: one of the local cops turns out to be another cultist, and two others kill and impersonate members of a SWAT team to get a drop on the others and rescue Jacob and Paul.]]

** Rick, the guy in the Poe mask in episode two. Seems like a completely random event at first, but then [[spoiler:he reappears right at the end, douses a guy in gasoline, and lights him on fire. [[RefugeInAudacity In broad daylight in front of a coffee cart.]] And then he becomes the next episode's killer of the week.]]

** Episode 9 introduces Ryan's neighbor/ex-flame Molly. She [[spoiler: turns out to be a member of the cult, but more importantly turns up at Ryan's place after Joe seemingly dies at the lighthouse and stabs both Ryan and Claire in Episode 15.]]

** Carroll is arrested and put back in prison by the end of the pilot -- but there's still his groupies and followers to contend with. And that was part of the plan. [[spoiler: Subverted when Carroll breaks out again in episode 7, and gets away for real to take up leadership of the cult directly.]]

** DragonWithAnAgenda: Roderick turns into this as it becomes increasingly apparent that Carroll cares more about his personal vendetta with Hardy than the cult's goal (whatever that may be). [[spoiler: Roderick ultimately splits from the cult in episode 13, and Carroll has him killed.]]

** Unless he was acting (which isn't impossible), Carroll seems to have genuinely loved Claire and Joey, as shown by how emotional he gets when [[spoiler: he and Joey finally meet face to face in episode 7.]]

** In Episode 15, Hardy gouges out a cultist's eye in order to make him tell them where [[spoiler: Parker was buried]].

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Hardy does this to a Follower in Episode 15 in order to make him tell them where [[spoiler: Parker was BuriedAlive]]. It works [[spoiler: but she's dead by the time they get there]].

* JumpScare: When Hardy is attacked by the man in the Poe mask in the second episode.
* KarmaHoudini: As of the season finale, [[spoiler: Emma, and an unknown number of other cultists, is still on the loose.]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as the seasons continue: [[spoiler: by the end of the second one, every known member of Carroll's cult is dead or in prison.]]

* TooDumbToLive: A common problem with Carroll's followers: due to being sadistic and insane, they can't help but gloat and be smug about their murderous plans, and as a consequence they end up making fatal mistakes and trolling people they ''really'' [[BullyingADragon shouldn't be trolling]]. But Alex from the Season 1 finale takes the cake. Let's review: you've been captured by Hardy and Weston, and they would ''really'' like you to tell them where Debra Parker is. Hardy's a certified BadAss not above Jack Bauer-ing suspects if the situation calls for it, and Weston's a recovering torture victim who is looking for some payback. Then, after they fully demonstrate their willingness to beat you to death, by breaking your leg and ''gouging your frigging eye out,'' you decide to taunt them when [[spoiler: they don't get to Debra in time.]] At what point in your thought processes did that seem like a good idea?

* YouHaveFailedMe: Subverted in episode 8. [[spoiler:Carroll doesn't kill Roderick or the others for failing to learn where Claire is. While disappointed that Charlie has now failed him twice, he doesn't kill him either. Charlie however insists on being killed as punishment for his failure.]]

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:At the end of the pilot, little Joey's babysitter reveals herself to the audience to be part of Carroll's cult, as she kidnaps the little boy and takes him to Sarah's [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday not-really-gay]] neighbors.]]
** [[spoiler:They start to teach Joey how to kill in the third episode]]

** Nicely averted in episode 8 where pretty much nothing goes according to plan. [[spoiler:They do manage to kidnap Mike, but he doesn't tell them where Claire is. And then Hardy kills 5 of the cult members and rescues Mike, making the entire episode a defeat for them.]]

** TheHeavy: Emma seems like this during the first few episodes but she [[ManBehindTheMan is revealed to be one of several followers being led by Roderick on Joe's behalf]].

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Hardy saving Mike in episode 8.]]

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Agent Riley is the first member of the team killed, in episode three.]]

* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: By the end of the pilot, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Sarah's neighbors aren't gay partners at all. They merely built up the pretense because they are among Carroll's disciples, and they were awaiting their chance to kidnap and kill her]].
** Although [[AvertedTrope averted]] with [[spoiler: one of them, who actually seems to have developed some sort of feelings for the other, enough to be obviously [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] over his relationship with Emma.]]
** [[spoiler: Episode three carries implications that they may ''both'' be [[BiTheWay bisexual]], and that Emma is playing a twisted game with both their emotions.]]
** [[spoiler: ''Theeeen'' by Episode 4, "Mad Love", it basically evolves into {{Polyamory}}.]]

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A major theme for both Ryan Hardy and Mike Weston. They may still be the good guys, but they edge closer to the dark side with practically every episode.

* HopeSpot: Episode five is full of them. They get progressively worse, until [[spoiler:Hardy is taken hostage right after finding Joey]].

** Tom's favorite sport. He steals Mark's laptop from a raid after he discovers [[spoiler:Mike and Max]] having sex. Then he finds out that [[spoiler:Mike executed Lily Gray]]. Instead of turning the laptop in as evidence, he keeps it for no valuable reason. Later, [[spoiler:he destroys the laptop after the FBI starts to track it]]. Finally, he accidentally [[spoiler:kills Erin, ''an FBI agent'', after thinking he's the mole they were looking for]].

** [[spoiler: During the standoff with the FBI in "The Fall," Emma leaves Jacob and Paul behind and cuts off communication even when they escape too.]]
** [[spoiler: In "Let Me Go," Charlie kills mercenary Bo after the latter finishes his role in Carroll's escape.]]
** [[spoiler: Also in "Let Me Go," Carroll kills his lawyer after she helps him escape from prison.]]

On March 4, 2013, the show was renewed for a second season, scheduled to air in 2014 and match the first's 15 episodes. On March 7, 2014, it was renewed for a third season.

** Episode 9 introduces Ryan's neighbor/ex-flame Molly. She [[spoiler: turns out to be a member of the cult, but more importantly turns up at Ryan's place after Joe dies and stabs both Ryan and Claire in Episode 14.]]