Is there a shift coming on The Following?
On Monday's episode, the Havenport Police Department is brought in and Roderick’s role as sheriff is called into question, which leads him to make a move that threatens Joey's (Kyle Catlett) safety, though he has FBI agents Debra Parker (Annie Parisse) and Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) fooled -- at least for the time being. It was in last week's episode where viewers saw cracks forming between Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) and Roderick when Joe opted to go with Jacob (Nico Tortorella) for a key mission.
"Finally the FBI and Roderick's county -- that he's the sheriff of -- are colliding in a very serious way," actor Warren Kole tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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The hour, titled "Havenport," will see Roderick helping the FBI, which Kole hints is "a great setup for what's coming." "Something's going to have to be resolved ... and you can tell it's reaching a head," he adds, describing the forthcoming moments as "explosive."
But when Kole, who starred on USA Network's shortlived cop series Common Law, signed up to join the Fox thriller even he wasn't aware of where his enigmatic character was headed.
"It's been such an erratic arc so far and I think the writers are going to stay true to that," Kole says of what's to come. "You're not going to know who's going to do what when and where he is going to go."
He adds: "It was more just strap the skis on and whatever comes up, comes up. It was a free fall. I didn’t know the character at all [in the beginning]."
From the onset, Roderick seemed to be "pure creation," as Kole tells it. "He was this monster." As the weeks have gone on and viewers have learned more about who Roderick is, "it's more of a purifying of who this guy is; it's like purification by fire."
"I think you're starting to see who Roderick really is and what he really values," Kole says. "He's a real person. He's not just a foot soldier. He's not confined to a uniform. He's got his agenda but he's also unpredictable and you never know what he's going to do because he's clearly not well."
When asked about the likelihood of Roderick surviving the season, Kole was cryptic.
"I think his desire to survive and his objective and where he's stuck in the whole story, it's a 50/50 shot," he says.
The Following airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on Fox.
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