Stunned to see his former flame and Joe Carroll's ex-wife alive, let alone in the same room, Ryan is shellshocked and doesn't know whether to believe she's really there, or if he's dreaming.
"It's OK. I'm real." she mutters to him as he clears the room, angry at Mike for concealing the secret for so long and allowing him to believe the woman he loved was dead.
And so another action packed episode of The Following begins. Though Ryan seems shocked at first to see Claire, he actually recovers pretty quickly and sets about doing the one thing he can still put every effort into - finding Joe.
Meanwhile, Emma's realised that Mandy's missing back at the cult following base camp, but Joe dismisses it as her just being hard to find. He's got bigger fish to fry in the form of Pastor Tanner - someone who is dedicating his media life to denouncing Joe and his followers, clearly using him as a way to sell more tickets to his now sold-out sessions.
Joe hates religion and the hypocrisy of it all. He notes that there are thousands of Gods, and religion is responsible for more blood shed than he could ever claim - religion is good for one thing in his eyes; power.
So, he makes it his mission to use this Pastor to show the world what he believes religion truly represents, and a new plan is set into motion.
Elsewhere, Mandy's meeting up with one of the twins - Mark - so that she can be taken safely back to Lily with whom she wants to spend her life. Though she's left Joe behind, she still feels she cannot betray him after everything she claims he's done for her.
Following her television interview with Pastor Tanner, Carrie Cooke jumps into her bodyguard flanked awaiting vehicle and is targeted once more when Carroll followers make themselves known. They hand her a phone to which Joe is connected, and he once again makes the threat that if she doesn't share with the world the video he has to play, he'll not only kill her but everybody she holds dear.
Ryan turns up at the scene and the police are everywhere. He wants to see the video before the nation so that he can make sure there's no message in there that will cause another major scene, and she agrees, asking to stay the night at his house. Could Ryan already be having regrets about starting a relationship with Carrie, now that Claire's back on the scene? He tells Carrie they'll talk later and leaves with his copy of the film.
Watching the clip with Claire, Joe quotes the Bible and says he wants the masks of religious bodies removed.
Claire notices that the Bible quote is something he hasn't done before, and so pieces everything together and comes to the conclusion that Joe may be after one of Pastor Tanner's children. She discovers he has one son at college, and gets the details for Ryan, telling him she wants to accompany him on this journey of killing Joe once and for all.
Ryan finally gives in and says he'll ring Claire when the coast is clear and she can get to the car, but he lies and tells Max to keep an eye on her whilst he's gone.
Turning up at the college, Joe's followers are stopped by security, but make no big deal of killing him so that their plan isn't scuppered.
Ryan and Mike are close behind, and Mike uses the drive as an opportunity to explain just why he couldn't tell Ryan about Claire's well-being.
Back at Korban, Emma watches the previous night's security footage and realises Mandy has fled, showing Joe and taking pride in the fact she believes she was right about Mandy all along.
Mandy seems to be settling in well with Lily, who's treating her kindly but emotionally and mentally abusing her, telling her she was hurt when she chose Joe over her and needs to be sure she won't betray her, asking once more for Joe's location.
Making clear that this isn't going to happen, Lily snaps and slaps Mandy across the face who starts to back away. Unfortunately for her, Luke is waiting behind her. "Where you going, Mandy?" the pair ask, and the audience just know this girl is close to meeting her end.
Claire notices lipstick in Ryan's bathroom whilst she's holed up with Max, and asks his niece how he's doing and if he's moved on. It's clear Max blames Claire for Ryan's breakdown, but after a stern warning she asks Claire to leave the office so she can make a call.
Dialling Ryan, she tells him information on the fraternity location of Preston - the pastor's son - but she could be too late as Joe's followers are already pulling up outside the address.
Going into the house, they ask other students where he is - they want to move fast and take him by surprise, discussing how they're going to film a video.
Entering his room, they stumble upon one of his housemates who's rude to one of the followers, calling her "fatty" repeatedly, leading to his and his partner's death.
We then see Preston return to the frat with a girl in tow, telling her they'll study after a "quickie", but their screams are heard as they enter the house almost immediately.
We go back to Mandy, who's now being forced to play Truth or Dare with both Luke and Mark. Luke ensures the bottle lands on Mandy, and asks her where Joe Carroll is. When she tries to escape and refuses to give the information up, they hold her arm down to a candle and torture her.
The followers are filming the kidnap on camera, killing Preston's girlfriend when he pleads "please God' not to kill her. "God's not listening", they say, slitting her throat.
Ryan and Mike enter the frat house, noticing the blood and quickly heading upstairs, guns in hands with as much stealth as possible.
Unluckily for them, the followers had seen them pulling up and so have put face masks not only on themselves, but on every student in the house so that nobody knows who is who - Ryan does get a kill in for one of them, though, and Lucas is dead.
The other followers manage to escape, but Ryan's hot on their tail, jumping into his car in the hopes that they'll lead him straight to Joe.
As they travel, Joe struggles to come to terms with the fact he was left by Mandy, calling her an "idiot, treacherous girl" and ringing Lily, much to the dismay of Emma.
He tells her he wants to speak to Mandy, and Lily insists that he can prove he truly cares for her by giving up his location in exchange for her life.
Telling the girl he took under his wing that he loves her, she whispers back "I love you too, Joe", before Joe hangs up the call, and Mandy comes to an inevitable end.
Joe weeps, and it's odd to see such emotion from someone who usually seems so kept together - is he beginning to crack at the hands of Lily?
The police arrive at the college campus and speak to Mike, who in turn phones Ryan and asks that he let him know where he's going. Ryan wants to go this alone though, in a bid to end Joe for good for everyone, ending the call and chucking his cell out of the car.
Blaming himself for Mandy's death, Joe's angry with Emma for not trying hard enough to get along with her. "She would never have been one of us" Emma says, claiming Joe should have left her and never brought her along. He snaps, and snarls "She was mine.", before Carrie appears on the news and broadcasts the second video message.
Mike returns to Ryan's apartment - Max worries about his injured arm - and Carrie turns up in the hopes she can see Ryan. Mike asks Claire to go to the bedroom - she is after all 'still dead' - but when Carrie comes in, Claire decides to out herself and asks for the journalists help.
The followers arrive back at the cult grounds, and Joe is outside awaiting them and Preston. He tells the Pastor's son he is to pay for his father's sins, but little do the congregation know that Ryan Hardy is just a few metres away, hidden behind a tree and intent on bringing things to a swift end.
The Following continues next Tuesday, April 15 at 10pm on Sky Atlantic and Sky Atlantic HD.