FOXDoes The Following have a new cult leader?!
The Fox serial killer thriller threw down its most shocking reveal yet in last week's episode when it was revealed that not only is Lily (Connie Nielsen), Ryan's (Kevin Bacon) supposed love interest/new damsel in distress, a killer, but she's also the mother of the psycho twins, Mark and Luke (Sam Underwood)!
So are we to believe Lily is going to give Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) a run for his cult leader money and take over the prime villain slot beginning in tonight's all-new episode, "Family Affair"?
"Well, I can tell you that you're definitely the one I've been talking to who has some of the most interesting takes on what's going to happen coming up, but I really cannot tell you anything about what's going to happen," a coy Nielsen hedged.
And while the actress was super tight-lipped when it came to discussing Lily's new (and potentially biggest bad) role, she previewed, "You're going to see her in an entirely new place. You're going to discover this whole other side to her and you're going to discover some more about some of the big twists and turns that are about to happen."
Super informative? No. Ridiculously Intriguing? Duh.
As for her relationship with her equally sociopathic sons, Mark and Luke, Nielsen teases that Lily is fiercely protective of her boys. And no, there won't be a sibling rivalry for mommy's affections.
"She is one of those mothers who has this unconditionality. Because she is who she is, she definitely sees them probably to a certain degree as an extension of her own self...as this type of personality will do, she sees them as mirrors of herself," she explains. "So she loves them vehemently and obsessively so. We have some great scenes together, really great scenes together. The next two episodes, you will see, are just going to be so mind-boggling. You will not see a lot of that stuff coming. "
She continues, "I can tell you that she is, despite appearances, really, really a dedicated mother as well. Very dedicated as a mother."
Aside from her boys, Lily will also be spending time with Emma (Valorie Curry), Joe's most loyal follower, in tonight's episode.
Of the ladies' interactions, Nielsen previews, "You're going to see some more of Lily's ability to scheme and you're going to see more of her ability to work on getting things to happen that she is looking to get happening." Hmm...sound familiar to a certain dashing-yet-dangerous killer?
And yes, Nielsen knew when she signed on to Kevin Williamson's thriller that Lily would turn out to be the twins' mother, as well as a killer, a secret she looked forward to concealing in the season's earlier episodes. "That's one of the things I had so much fun trying to calibrate just how believable I should make her, always keeping in mind that there had to be just a little bit of an inkling to people, just a tiny bit, that things were not all right. But you had to be so convincing that you would believe Ryan was convinced."
He was, and we were, too.
The Following airs tonight at 9 p.m. on Fox.