The Followers


 * "We know about the cult.- Hardy to Carroll" "I'm not a big fan of that word. I prefer to think of them as my friends. It's important to have friends." -Carroll to Hardy, "Pilot"

The Followers, also known as Joe's Friends, are the supporting antagonists of the series. They are a group of people who follow along in Joe Carroll's footsteps and decide to act as serial killers themselves, continuing his legacy. Because of this, members of the group are referred to as "Carrollers" by the authorities.

During the course of season 1 and 2, most of them have either been incarcerated or killed while carrying out Joe's commands.

Season 1
It has been shown that active Followers tend to think of their contributions to Carroll's plan as chapters for the novel he is writing (their actions are presumably recorded in it). For the most part, there is not a single follower that doesn't respect or admire Joe, as every one of them support his cause and are willing to do anything for him whether it's murder, steal or sacrifice themselves for his cause. They all believe he is a good person and that he was wrongfully imprisoned for nothing at all and that he deserves a happy ending with his wife and son. They are all people who, as stated by Roderick, are outcasts who just want to have a place where they can be themselves and not ashamed of that. Charlie stated that they all, himself included, follow him out of wanting to feel something of their lives. They've also shown no fear when mortally wounded, or in an unwinnable situation, some still attack, such as Maggie, who charged at Mike Weston with a knife and was shot and killed, or Vincent, who reached for his gun even when Ryan, who had a gun pointed at him, warned him not to and was shot and killed. Others taunt and mock their enemies, such as Alex, who continuously taunted Ryan and Mike even after they found Debra Parker's body. Some, who believe if they fail or betray Joe in any way, resort to suicide, such as Jordy, who choked himself to death after accidently revealing Maggie Kester as a follower, Charlie, who voluntarily let Carroll stab him and kill him after Mike Weston's interrogation backfired and got 5 followers killed, and David, who poisoned himself with a cyanide pill he sewed into his finger after being arrested.

Several followers vary from numerous specialties, from school, law enforcement, prison guards, doctors, sociopaths, serial killers, even former military, militia and even black ops. They were recruited through a secret website based on a Joe Carroll fan page. They are all experts in murder, having been trained in a former militia bunker to learn to kill, feign innocence, and self-defense. Several are also very smart and resourceful, being able to outsmart even FBI agents. They have also, as noted by Debra Parker, managed to erase their identities and keep their profiles secret to the public. Psychologically, almost all of Joe's followers have shown mentally insane tenacities varying from being psychotic, insane, and sociopathic. All of them are willing to kill anyone who stands in their way and don't shred any form of remorse in any lives they take and even marvel and smile sadistically over murdering anyone and don't even care if they themselves die in the process. It's also been shown they love to torment Ryan Hardy any way possible, all following Joe's desire to hate him and wish to make him suffer as much as possible.

Joe Carroll's relations with them vary: as he's known several over his prison visits and chats online, which he shows respect to them and willingly listens to their problems and giving them advice on what to do with their lives, some whom he's never met, but coming to know. He has shown to refer to them as his friends and even his family by Claire stating they are all lost and need a home, so he tells them to embrace their true selves by doing what they know how to do: murder. Joe has shown to preach to them on numbers of occasions, to which he enjoys their company and how they follow in his footsteps. Many of his followers view him as a father figure. Joe does care somewhat for his followers, having become rather disheartened when Charlie asked to be killed for his failure, to which Joe honored his request and stated he was honored to have been with him and gave a sad look over his death. Many, surprisingly, seem attracted to him, as Amanda Porter was very nervous around him and Emma tried to get closer to him, which resulted in them having sex twice.

However, as time goes on, it's beginning to become apparent that Joe doesn't really care for his followers, no matter how loyal they are. Such as when Jordy was revealed to still be alive, Joe revealed he wanted him to be killed by Ryan and was upset he was alive and even called him a half-wit. When Roderick said he couldn't go to help save her, Joe forced him to go on the grounds he failed him twice, stating he should not fail again. When Roderick asked to initiate the second phase, Joe refused and loudly told him to stop asking, ignoring Roderick's statements how so many have died for him. Later, he assaulted Roderick for letting Vincent do as he pleases, which cost them the bunker, stating he is not in charge anymore and threatened him not to ruin this for him, to which Roderick says it's supposed to be for them. By the time Joey was kidnapped by Roderick, Joe clearly demonstrated a more selfish and cold persona to his followers by blaming Emma for losing Joey and even slapping Emma over losing Joey. Roderick betrayed Joe after realizing he was just using him and Ryan told Jacob that Joe doesn't even care whether he or any other follower lives or dies. In "The End is Near", Joe used almost all his followers, except Emma and Jacob, to be used as a diversion to at the rec center, which resulted in several of them dying in the process, which Jacob noted that is all they are to him: sacrifices. Emma stated they are all ready to die for him for his ambition, which Jacob says it's foolish to die all for a book.

In the end of the first season, it's suggested that though Joe is dead, a number of his followers are still alive and incognito, possibly setting the stage for the upcoming second season. One of them is Emma Hill, who is in disguise and is seen leaving a diner in Alabama in tears after hearing about Joe's death. At the end of this season there are at least fifty-two confirmed people apart of Joe's cult. However, midway through season 2, all of Joe's original followers (except Emma) are either dead or serving life in prison.

Season 2
In season 2, on the anniversary of Joe's presumed death, new followers emerge, who are twins named Mark and Luke, and Gisele. They are led by the twins mother Lily Gray, along with at least 3 or 4 more followers at a remote location thanks to Lily's enormous wealth. While they seem to want to follow Joe, there are several key differences compared to Joe's old followers. These new followers are far more insane and cruel, so much that Luke and Mark tend to play with corpses of their victims and play and even "talk" to them as if they are alive. They also speak French, as a way so no one else can understand their language. They also have little to no sense of comradeship, as seen when one of Joe's old followers, Carlos Perez, was killed by Luke due to non of them liking him while Gisele complained over her wanting to kill him. However this is only towards Joe's group, as Lily's group cares for each other only, as Luke cried over Gisele's death. Even someone as cruel and remorseless as Emma was shocked by their cruelty. According to Emma, the new followers are insane and cannot be trusted, as she surmises that Lily has her own agenda. Lily seems to be the leader of the new followers, as they all refer to her as "mama".

Lily's group seems to hold disdain towards Joe's old followers, as Lily had no qualms in ordering Emma and Mandy being killed should they be a bother. It's also proven she wants to control Joe in her own way. This is what seemed to cause Joe to revolt against her and kill on of her children. Afterwards, Joe left her to herself, to which she had an emotional breakdown of losing her "children" (except Mark and Luke, while the latter in is custody). Since then Lily has been bent on killing all those who wronged her and get revenge, as she attempted to kill Ryan's niece Max and killed Mike's father.

In "Sacrifice", Joe arrives at a camp called Korban, meeting the leader Micah, his wife Julia, and dozens of his followers. Joe however, after having been told what to do by these people (and after seeing Emma almost killed), choose to revolt and claim the cult his own. After convincing Micah to kill his wife, Joe drugs Micah to kill him and officially takes over the cult, becoming the new leader of Korban and well over 100 new followers, all of which are far more easily manipulative than before. However, not all the Korban followers share in Joe's beliefs of murder, to which several believe his ways are not like their own. Should a Korban member prove unwilling to murder for Joe, he will not hesitate to lock them in the hole till he can turn them into what he wants. Joe considers them all very easily manipulative, which he wants to take advantage of them to do his work for him. Just like the Havenport members, Joe cares for nothing of the Korban members, to which he deems almost all of them weak. In fact, Joe will not hesitate to kill anyone who is unfaithful to him just to prove a point.

Knowing how weak they are, Joe manipulated them into becoming murderers so that he can carry out his plans, to which he uses religion to coarse them (which is ironic as Joe is an atheist). In "The Reaping", Joe loses almost all his Korban followers at the hands of Lily's group, who kills almost all of them except a small group that escaped with Joe. However, at the end of Season 2, all of the Korban followers, including Emma and Mandy, are killed, leaving Joe now having lost all of his followers along with himself in prison.

Known victims

 * Pre-Follower murders:
 * Unspecified date, Texas: Unnamed friend of Paul's father (killed by Paul Torres; smashed his skull and pushed him down a flight of stairs)
 * Unspecified dates in 2002-2005, Arkansas: Six unnamed people (stabbed to death by Maggie Kester)
 * Unspecified dates in 2003, Virginia: Two unnamed girls (killed by Tim Nelson in the same manner Joe killed his victims)
 * Unspecified date in 2007, Oklahoma: Amanda's unnamed husband and his mistress, Lindsay (both shot with a shotgun, dismembered and dumped in a Florida swamp by Amanda Porter)
 * Unspecified dates in 2009-2010: Four unnamed people (killed by Charlie Mead)
 * Unspecifeid dates in 2005-2009, New York: At least fifteen unnamed patients (poisoned by Molly)
 * Unspecified dates in 2012: Three unspecified separate murders (killed by Vincent McKinley)
 * Follower murders:
 * Havenport cult murders:
 * August 29, 2006: Sharon Cooper (stabbed in the back by Emma Hill)
 * Unspecified date in 2008: Robyn Stewart (stabbed repeatedly by Paul Torres in his car; body was presumably buried)
 * 2013:
 * "Icepick" woman (manipulated into committing suicide)
 * Two unnamed police officers (killed by Paul Torres)
 * Jess and two unnamed sorority girls (killed by Jordan Raines in the same manner Joe killed his victims)
 * Stan Fellows, a critic of Carroll's book (burned alive by Rick Kester; killed for writing a bad review for Joe's book)
 * Dean Phillip Barnes (stabbed once in the abdomen by Rick for denying Carroll tenure)
 * Troy Riley (stabbed in the throat by Maggie Kester)
 * Unnamed man (stabbed in the abdomen by Maggie Kester)
 * Clark Sullivan and Nora Sullivan (butchered by Paul Torres)
 * Four unnamed SWAT officers (shot by two unnamed followers)
 * Unnamed bystander (his abdomen was slashed with a straight razor by Louise Sinclair)
 * Bo (shot in the temple by Charlie Mead)
 * David Hicks (committed suicide by cyanide pill)
 * Claire Dobkins, née Matthews (shot with a harpoon gun by Amanda Porter)
 * Claire Matthews (pushed from her flat by Amanda Porter)
 * The attack at the festival:
 * Unnamed college student (incidental; stabbed in the abdomen by Amanda Porter)
 * Unnamed police officer (shot by Louise Sinclair)
 * Paul Torres (suffocated with a pillow by Jacob Wells)
 * Unnamed hotel guest (shot by Tim Nelson)
 * Unnamed U.S. Marshall (shot by Tim Nelson)
 * Unnamed U.S. Marshall (shot by Brock Wickford)
 * Marshall Ferguson (shot through a door by Tim Nelson and Brock)
 * Two unnamed SWAT officers (killed by three unnamed Followers)
 * Brian Fowler (throat slashed by Jacob Wells)
 * Tim Nelson (shot and killed by Jacob Wells, Ethan, and Michael)
 * Aaron (committed suicide by hanging on Joe's orders)
 * Unnamed reporter (stabbed in the abdomen by Annabelle Lee)
 * Havenport Massacre:
 * One unnamed person (killed by Carlos Perez)
 * Four unnamed people (killed with knives, axes and other bladed weapons at the evacuation center by the Followers)
 * Debra Parker (buried alive by Alex Lipton)
 * Unnamed cop (incidental; shot with a sniper rifle by Alex Lipton)
 * Two unnamed police officers (both shot to death by Emma Hill)
 * Jacob Wells (throat slashed by Emma Hill)
 * 2014:
 * Judy Lang (stabbed by Mandy Lang)
 * The Korban cult murders:
 * The book signing massacre:
 * Six unnamed victims (throats slashed and stabbed in the abdomen by Lance Tierney & Robert)
 * Unnamed pedestrian (stabbed once in the chest by Lucas)
 * The home invasion killings:
 * John (stabbed multiple times by Lucas and Tilda)
 * John's unnamed wife (stabbed multiple times by Lucas and Tilda)
 * John's unnamed son (stabbed multiple times by Lucas and Tilda)
 * Mallory Hodge (neck slashed by Patrick Trano)
 * Carla (stabbed once in the chest by Angela)
 * The fraternity massacre:
 * Unnamed security guard (stabbed repeatedly by Lucas)
 * Unnamed male student (stabbed repeatedly by Lucas)
 * Two unnamed female students (one was stabbed, the other's throat was slashed by Tilda)
 * Unnamed janitor (stabbed once in the chest by Tilda)
 * Angela (performed suicide as part of Joe's plan)
 * Kingston Tanner (performed suicide as a sacrifice instead of his son)

Trivia

 * There is no Follower of Joe Carroll who appeared in each episode of both season 1 and season 2.
 * Emma Hill is the only follower of Joe Carrol's group who appeared in every episode of a season (season 1).
 * Emma Hill is also the only follower who appeared in multiple seasons (season 1 and 2) and also the only follower of Joe Carroll who murdered someone onscreen in more then one season.