The Following: Fox’s new hit drama The Following found Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy going after two of Joe Carrol’s followers with militia training who are tasked with getting Carrol’s ex-wife Claire out of protective custody and to the compound Joe Carrol is in. Not trusting that Carrol doesn’t have anyone else in the FBI, Ryan decides to take Claire to his best friend Tyson’s house after the protective detail guarding her is taken out by the followers. Tyson is played by Dexter alum David Zayas, who plays Angel Batista on the Showtime series. His performance is exceptional in this episode, allowing fans to get another glimpse into the man that is Ryan Hardy through flashbacks going through their friendship. This episode continued the shows winning streak to find the perfect blend of action, horror, intensity, and amazing story development with stunning character growth. With a plot that grows and shocks viewers every episode, The Following looks to dominate the Monday time slot until the finale.
Justified: FX’s recently renewed drama found Raylan going in search of Ellen Mae after Drew Thompson changes his plea deal to ensure her safety. Wanting to finish this case permanently, Raylan and company find themselves in a race to find the girl with Boyd Crowder and his crew and the Detroit Mafia. Boyd wants to silence Ellen Mae before his fiancee Ava is arrested for an old murder. The Detroit Mafia wants the girl because they believe she is the key to getting Drew Thompson out of custody and back into their clutches. With fans on the edge of their seats as they rooted for the poor girl to get free and away from Boyd and the Mafia, the second to last episode of the season was just as thrilling as the season has ever been, and with the season finale only days away, everyone is hoping Raylan can get through this case in one piece. A truly great performance by actress Abby Miller and actor Ron Eldard, who gave their best performances of the season.
Arrow: The CW’s best new show continued its strong narrative this week when Oliver was confronted with another vigilante who began executing criminals on the internet. While remembering a time on the island where he tried to secure transportation for himself and his ally Wilson Slade, Oliver found himself hunting down the vigilante after two people were brutally murdered on live internet feeds. When Thea’s new flame Roy Harper is kidnapped by the vigilante, Oliver must race across the city in order to save the boys life. The action combined with the great character development gave the new drama another great episode, and with the clock winding down on the 1st season of the hit show, fans everywhere are excited to see how Oliver Queen will handle the Dark Archer and the plan the richest people in the city have for the poor districts of the city.
Beauty and the Beast: The freshman CW drama had one of its most amazing episodes yet this past Thursday. The episode found Kristen Kruek’s Cat confronted with a grim reality as her ex-partner Tess found the supposed vigilante killer Vincent, who Cat loves and is trying to protect. Faced with a hard decision as she tries to get Tess to see reason with who Vincent is, Cat must gather the facts about who Vincent is and the people who are hunting him down in an attempt to open Tess’s eyes to the truth. Filled with a great story, a new twist to the character development, and an emotional performance from Kristen Kruek that had us feeling her pain and headaches, this episode was truly great, and a must see for fans of the show and the romantic modern tale.
Nikita: The hit spy drama was one of the best character conflict episodes yet. The latest episode found Division handling the first hit ordered by the US government. After Alex finds herself fighting to open Nikita’s eyes to the way Division is changing her, Nikita must travel to find a foreign diplomat and kill him before he exposes the CIA. Before she can however, one of Amanda’s rogue Division agents gets to the diplomat first, setting up Division and painting a target on the shadow group’s back. The best part of the episode however was seeing the new dynamic between Nikita and Alex, who have almost always been on the same side of their fight, but with Alex finding her own voice, the two have started to clash, leading to a divide between not only themselves, but the whole dynamic between Division itself. Another great performance from Maggie Q and Lyndsey Fonseca.
Shameless: With the season finale looming ahead, this episode saw the strain on the shows romances finally coming to a head. Lip tried to find a way to get Mandy out of his life after he learned she ran over Karen, while Lip struggled with the impending marriage of his gay lover and a Russian hooker. Frank found himself homeless and looking to his son Carl for financial help, and Lip found Karen unable to form new memories and unable to feel emotions on the same level that everyone else does. And the relationship between Jimmy and Fiona came to a difficult point after Fiona learned that Jimmy applied for a studio apartment near the Michigan campus he plans to study on. When the two fight, she takes Debbie and her youngest brother on a camping trip with her new coworkers. Meanwhile, Jimmy must contend with his green-card marriage after his drug lord father-in-law arrives in town to deal with Jimmy. The episode managed to show that no matter how good things seem to get, life always finds a way to throw more problems and strains on all our lives, and for families like the Gallaghers, happy endings are not always guaranteed. A riveting performance from Emmy Rossum and Justin Chatwin. We here at On Request Magazine are looking forward to how the season wraps up next week.
