The second season follows a new cult led by Lily Gray (Connie Nielsen; 3 Days to Kill, Gladiator), a one time fan of Joe Carol and her sons Mark and Luke (Sam Underwood; Dexter, Homeland). Where as, once again, Ryan Hardy is called upon to help stop the cult and find the presumed dead Joe Carol. His partner from season one is back, Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore; X-Men, Smallville), who now has some demons of his own, as well as Ryan Hardy's niece Max Hardy (Jessica Stroup; Ted, 90210) who secretly aids him in his quest for justice.
Gone are all the Edgar Allen Poe references that were so heavily used in season 1 and are replaced with our societies fascination with killer's getting fandom, as well as, mystery surrounding the "cult" communities that are around the country.
It is nice to see some of the original cast members returning to the series as well as the introduction of the new ones. Sam Underwood is simply amazing portraying two entirely different twins and his performance should be one that is studied and looked at by aspiring actors/actresses. The addition of Jessica Stroup's character in the series was also a very good move as this lets Hardy have someone other than Mike to bounce ideas off of and depended on.
The Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy package is an amazing package. As with other Warner Bros. releases this year the disc segways are perfect never letting you leave the end of a show before the next show starts, and promotes binge watching. The AVS encoding presented in 1080p is a mixed package -- either the negative of this show was not a pristine as others this year, or someone fell asleep at the wheel and let a lot of grain slip into the picture. The audio presented in DTS-MA Lossless 5.1 audio lets you hear all the subtle sounds that you might have missed during it's television run.
Most of the extra's on the discs are what seems to be Warner Bros standard television show fair this year:
- Following Marcos Siega (Featurette)
- The Religion of Joe Carroll (Featurette)
- The Joe Mask (Featurette)
- Bonded by a Common Foe (Featurette)
- Inside The Following (15 mini-Featurettes)
- Severed Scenes
- Season 2 Alternate Ending
- Comic-Con Panel 2013
However, the one feature that does stand out is the Season 2 alternate ending. As the story goes both endings were shot at the same time, and the actors did not know what one would be used. However, after you view them both you see how much Season 3 depends on the ending they decided to air.
The Following season 2 is a much more cohesive story and shows different sides that you might not have know existed for Hardy and Carol. The serial killers this time are far less generic and stand on their own instead of being blindless followers. The way things are left one can only hope that Season 3 will continue on this path of upwardness.
