‘The Following’ season 2 spoilers: Natalie Zea signs on … but for how long?

Could the story for Claire on “The Following” be short-lived? While the good news that we have to report is that Natalie Zea is going to be returning to the Fox drama for the show’s second season, she will not confirm just how long that return will last. It could be a new arc that takes her character down a different path; or, it could be a Cote de Pablo – “NCIS” situation where she shows up largely so that she can say goodbye.

Speaking to TV Guide (where the news was first confirms), Zea mentions that the decision to return to the show was one rooted in skepticism, and it almost did not happen in the first place:

“My concern, and [creator] Kevin Williamson’s concern, was always, is there more story to tell with Claire? And we both discovered that maybe there wasn’t.”

The part of this report that we do find somewhat troublesome is the notion that it was Fox who actually pushed for the Claire character to come back in some way, which means that we had a case of the network getting involved in the creative process more then maybe they should. Regardless, we trust Williamson and his team to come up with something fairly interesting for this character, regardless of whatever that may be.

Zea is certainly a woman with a pretty busy schedule. In addition to play this role on “The Following,” she also has a mysterious arc coming up on “Under the Dome” and she has been a part of “Justified” for several seasons.

What do you think about Zea’s return, and do you have any theories as to how she could come back? If you want to also check out some more scoop on the show’s future from Kevin Bacon, just be sure to visit the link here.

Photo: Fox