The Following - Season 3 Recap "The Hunt"

*Note* - I just want to apologize for not recapping the past two week's episodes.  I've been dealing with a personal matter.  Thanks guys.

In this week's episode, we get a good look at how our new killer - Straus' "best student" - orchestrates himself in keeping his identity hidden.

The episode begins with our psycho killer from last week, Duncan (you know, the uncle who killed his own niece's parents and laughed about it), being transported to a facility, only to escape when our 'best student' ambushes and kills the two officers in-charge of the transport.

Turns out our new killer needs to tie up some loose ends to protect himself from the mess Straus put him in.  He makes it clear to Duncan that if he helps him accomplish what he needs to do, he'll let him live.  If not, bye bye Duncan.

Meanwhile, Ryan is still trying to track down who this 'best student' is by going to Joe to get more information.  Joe is little to at all helpful, but news comes that Mr. Carroll is set to be executed in 7 days.  Not much time for Ryan to use his new asset to track down the killer.

Back at the FBI office, we find Max still recovering from her beating a couple weeks back and not doing a very good job at 'limited duty'.  She's sent on a profile to look into an IT company where it's believed the hacker (our 'best student') got into the FBI database and helped Straus go free for his court hearing.  Mike on the other hand is starting to get some attitude from Max's SWAT boyfriend as he not only knows her and Mike slept together, but also that he's behind some rogue-style executions.

We catch up with our 'best student' and Duncan in tracking down the person responsible (Luis) for creating Straus and others' fake passports.  They need to find this person and kill him while also destroying all evidence of his activity as this can all be traced back if discovered.  They just miss him at a poker game with his buddies, which leaves one left dead with no hand and the rest brutally murdered.

Once Ryan and Mike get to the scene (which once again they are too late), they're able to track down Luis to his girlfriend's house.  They find the girlfriend dead with Luis missing (taken by Duncan to a warehouse where the passports and other evidence is produced).  They need to reach Luis before Duncan executes him in hopes of finding out who this 'best student' is.

Oh, and you know that IT company Max is visiting?  Well it turns out that's where our 'best student' hides his gainful employment.  He's onto Max and the rest of the FBI in hunting him down, and does an admirable job of framing another man in the office as the one who hacked the FBI servers.  This is all working, until another employee at the company informs Max that they got the wrong guy and he knows how to find out who.  Our best student quickly takes care of him and is about to kill Max too before the police show up after Max called in the murder.  Another close one for a Hardy.

Finally, back at that warehouse, Luis is close to being executed but not before Ryan, Mike and Co. show up to save him and kill Duncan in the process.  I actually thought Ryan was seriously injured when he took that rifle shot to the chest, but of course, bulletproof vest.

What we're left with is Ryan still having no clue who this 'best student' is but knowing he's far beyond better than Joe in covering his tracks and remaining hidden.  Ryan better find something soon though as this guy looks well on his way to vanishing.

Grade:  B

Notes/Questions:

• I have a feeling Mike and Max's FBI boyfriend are going to have it out.  Just a hunch.
• Where did Ryan's new girlfriend dissapear to?  She wasn't seen this entire episode.
• So Joe's got 7 days to live, huh?  I wonder if a prison escape his on the way courtesy of our 'best student'.
• It's still laughable at how the FBI is always missing these brutal killings by just a couple hours.  How much bad luck can you have?  But this is a TV show.