‘The Following’ season 4: Is there any hope after tonight’s season 3 finale?

Tonight is being billed by Fox as the season 3 finale for “The Following,” but of course we still cannot help but wonder this: Is there really still a chance for there to be a season 4? When the news was first announced that the show was canceled, we were also hearing that the studio was planning to shop the show to other destinations.

As of right now, it feels like those efforts were not exactly successful, given that most of the creative talent tonight are billing the two hours that are about to air as the series finale. While this is certainly sad news, we do not necessarily think that it is depressing for the show to end now. Ironically, many have really enjoyed the third season despite the ratings being lower. We feel like it has definitely been more consistent than season 2, and while no one can really match Joe Carroll in any way, at least Theo is a fairly compelling villain in his own right, and there are a wide array of things we consider to be rather interesting about him.

What the show’s legacy should most likely be is an intense network drama that was not afraid to push the limits of what a show like this could be, even if it did at times really stretch the imagination and possibly even offend. It was a brave show, and an uncomfortable one to watch at times.

Luckily, we imagine that most of the cast and crew here will land on their feet elsewhere soon enough. Showrunner Alexi Hawley has already departed to rejoin “Castle,” which he will help to run for its upcoming eighth season.