Tonight FOX premieres season three of its hit psychological thriller, The Following. Season three begins one year later. Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) is on death row. Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) and his FBI partner Mike Weston, played by Shawn Ashmore, are trying to move on when new threats emerge.

In preparation for the premiere, Ashmore recently talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview about the new season.

Last season, Mike shot Lily (Connie Nielsen) in cold blood after her son, Mark (Sam Underwood), killed his father, and they have been covering it up from the FBI. Ashmore talked about how that will affect Mike, as well as how it will affect his position at the bureau. “That’s what’s interesting right from the get-go for season three. Some of the crimes and the awful things that our “heroes” have been up to in the last season, those things come back to haunt Ryan and Max (Jessica Stroup) and Mike. We’re forced to look at that. If the truth comes out about what our guys were up to last season, how will that affect them? And it’s no joke, and it’s very, very serious, so I can only imagine that if everyone did find out, Mike would definitely be fired from the FBI, if not criminally prosecuted, along with Ryan and Max. We’re all complicit on different levels about covering up and taking out some of the Gray family last year, among other followers. So yeah, it’s serious business. Our careers are on the line; potentially our freedom is on the line. So it’s definitely serious, and when we come back into season three, that’s something that we’re forced to deal with.”

Weston of course is still out for revenge and after Mark, and continues moving down a path similar to what Ryan has been on. “I think starting even in season two it became apparent that Mike’s trajectory was nearer to what Ryan Hardy went through with Joe Carroll the first time around. Before we even met Ryan, it was clear that Ryan was probably a much brighter guy and got dragged into these murders and all the deaths started to affect him.

“So yeah, Mike is certainly going down the same path that Ryan has, and that’s the struggle in season three for Mike. He’s well aware of it; he’s not oblivious to the fact that he’s being affected by these things, but it’s just a matter of can he emotionally handle this, and deal with it, and course correct what’s happening to him.

“One of the big things we talked about in season three with the writers before we started, is that Mike has compartmentalized a little bit.He’s a tougher guy now. He’s still a good guy at heart, and he’s probably still a very emotional guy, but he’s not going to wear it on his sleeve. He’s learned to compartmentalize to do the job. And so I think as the season progresses, it doesn’t seem on the outside that Mike is as affected as he really is, whereas in season two he wore it on his sleeve. It was clear: he was beating people up; he was breaking down; all these things were happening. That is still absolutely the turmoil that is going on inside of Mike, but he’s got a tighter rein on it. He’s learned to compartmentalize those feelings so that he can do the job. Outwardly he looks like he’s okay - not great, but he’s okay; he’s functional.

“That’s his journey this year, and without giving too much away, that’s where we start. And really, he gave up the one good thing in his life, which was Max, to pursue this case. Max was the one light in his life, the one good thing that may have come from this case and all these people being smashed together, and he decides to follow the case instead of the relationship, and so he’s also dealing with that. And he knows that’s a mistake; he’s still very much in love with Max, but he has to deal with the fact that he pulled away and she’smoved on.

“So there’s all sorts of stuff going on right at the beginning of the season, and all that continues to play out through the rest of season three.”

It will also be a challenge for Mike this season after breaking up with Max, because he still has to work with her, and she has a new boyfriend. “[It’s a] classic love triangle! It’s tough; it’s really, really tough, because again, this is at work. Mike is under stress anyway, and then he’s got this guy who’s a very successful, very talented, very capable SWAT member who is backing us up. We’re on location; we’re on scenes with him all the time.

“So yeah, it plays out the way that you would expect.These guys aren’t fighting each other; they’re mature men; they’re professionals, but there is definitely tension underneath the surface, and poor Max is right in the middle of it. And she’s not at fault at all, but she’s getting the brunt of it on both sides, from her boyfriend now, Tom, and she still has residual feelings for Mike, and they flare up once in a while. There’re moments of intimacy, and she has to deal with all of that.

“So it is a true love triangle, and I think the way it works out is really interesting. And it’s not an easy fix; it’s not like, “Oh, Mike and Max are destined to be together.” It’s a real struggle for all of them, and I think it adds a lot of interesting drama this year. And again, I still don’t know exactly how it all works out. We’re shooting episode eleven right now, and it’s definitely something that we’re still dealing with; so that’s kind of interesting.”

It makes it even harder for Mike, because Tom isn’t a bad guy. “He’s not a character that’s been placed on the show for Mike to steal the girl away from. He’s not a bad guy that the audience is going to be like, “Okay; get rid of this guy.” It’s not like Mike and Max are destined to be together, or it’s a clear cut thing where it’s like, “Oh no, she has got to be with Mike.” Mike is actually the wrong choice. Mike is the guy that is unstable; Mike is the guy that made all the wrong decisions, and so Tom is the responsible, reasonable choice. But there is still a connection between Mike and Max, and sometimes your brain is telling you one thing, and your heart is telling you another, and that is the dilemma that she’s in.

“...That’s what makes it interesting, that he’s not a guy who you’re just wanting to get rid of. He’s a smart guy; he’s talented; he good at his job; he’s nice, all these things that would be good for Max, and all these things that Mike might not be able to offer her at this point while he’s dealing with all this crap.”

Ashmore teased a bit about the new villain of the season, Theo, played by Michael Ealy. “I will say that it was definitely a challenge this season, and an exciting challenge, to create a new big bad for us, a new villain. And I can honestly say without spoiling anything that Michael’s character is as big and as bad as we’ve seen on the show, and potentially more dangerous than Joe Carroll. And I’m incredibly excited for people to see that, but I don’t want to give away why or how. I don’t want to be the one who spoils that, but I will tease and say that he’s a force to be reckoned with.

“And we needed that; we needed a character like that to come in and be a part of The Following. It needed to be a well-rounded character; it needed to be a dangerous character,and it needed to be a complex character, and Michael is doing all of that, and the writers have made sure that that’s a huge part of the season. So I’m excited for people to see that.”

Joe Carroll himself is coming back this season, which the actor couldn’t reveal much about. “We do see Joe Carroll again this season, so it’s not as if Joe Carroll is gone...To a certain extent, that character has affected all of us, has influenced us in so many way that we’ll never be rid of Joe Carroll. And Ryan Hardy certainly will never be rid of Joe Carroll. So I guess that’s a tease; Joe will always be with us. And again, I don’t want to say how he shows up and what the circumstances are, but Joe Carroll will always be with us.”

The actor, as with on previous season, got to do some fun action scenes with stunt work. “There is one thing; it happens and Mark. Our EP posted a picture. But there is a moment where Mike is hanging off a building this season, and I won’t say how I get there, but that was kind of fun. We’ve never done that before.I was in a full harness hanging off a building, which was kind of cool. We always get to do cool stuff. We’re always flying in helicopters, or doing car chases, or ramming a gate, or hanging off a building, or fighting with somebody, chasing people on rooftops in New York City, which is incredible. There’s tons of great action this season.”

Ashmore talked a bit about some of the other characters Mike will be interacting with this season. “[He interacts] a little bit with Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson), but again, his private life is his private life this season. There’re definitely interactions, we pass each other by, we’re very friendly and all this stuff but there’s not huge scenes. It’s not like Claire last year where knew that she was hidden and we had a couple of great scenes before she came out of hiding.

“Our FBI cohort, Gina Mendez (Valerie Cruz), this season I definitely have some great interaction with her. She’sa strong character this year; she gets a little more of a personal life. There’s a marriage at the beginning of the episode. So as the season goes we definitely have some good interaction with her. And we did last year as well, but I definitely feel like there’s some interesting stuff with her this year.

“But it’s kind of the familiar faces. There’re definitely a few new people here or there, but really it’s the team back together.”

The Following can be very dark at times, and it does sometimes affect the actor. “Sometimes [it does], and always in the most unexpected ways and times. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s work. I show up, all the dead bodies get up at the end of the scene, and we share a laugh and tell a joke, and blah blah blah. But every once in a while, I’d say once or twice a season, I get nightmares about something that we’ve been up to, or a crime scene that we were on, or a story point. And The Box was one of them this year. It was probably one of the most disturbing things I feel like we’ve done on the show. And what’s interesting about it, is, we don’t show anything. It’s not a bloody or a gory thing, it’s just a concept; it’s an idea. And that was something that stuck with me and gave me the creeps.

“So yeah, there are moments and times. But again, it’s not a constant thing. I feel like the audience is more affected - just by the people I talk to and the comments I hear, the audience is definitely more affected and more afraid of the show than I am making it. Because I’m so involved, it’s hard to let it scare me, because I know everybody; I know what’s going to happen. I’m there during all the crazy shooting stuff, so it doesn’t affect me in the same way.

“But that being said, that’s what I do like about this kind of show. So it’s hard for me to get into The Following the way I would if I wasn’t a part of it. Because I love [this stuff], I totally get scared; I get terrified by stuff, but because I’m so involved in this, it doesn’t affect me the same way. I know what’s coming; I know when this jump is going to happen. I know this character is going to be that way. I know it all.

“It’s still actually very satisfying to watch the show, and I try to watch the show live, as it airs. I just think it’s interesting, and it’s fun to watch it with people, and I like to live Tweet and interact, because it’s the kind of show that you get a reaction from, and that’s the whole point. Did that work? Did this moment work, are people feeling that way that we wanted them to about this? And it’s nice to have that feedback.

“And also, not so much this season, but in other seasons, I was only involved in the FBI stuff. So the Gray family stuff and the cult stuff last year, I was never around when they filmed that, so there was two-thirds of the show that I wasn’t involved in. I read the scripts, but I could actually enjoy that and sit back and watch that from a fresh perspective, because I wasn’t involved in making that.

“So that’s kind of fun, watching the show, because there’s different storylines that were so segregated, because whenever our characters get into a room together, somebody usually has to die. We’re not together a lot; the A and B stories are told separately. So, that’s kind of fun on a show like this, watching it after the fact when I’m not involved with a big storyline. It’s kind of nice.

“[But] I feel like it’s a little more FBI-heavy this year – and don’t get me wrong, there’s tons of great villain storylines - especially in the first couple of episodes, while we’re discovering what the new threat is. Everything is I think a little more hidden until we get later into the season, and then all hell breaks loose and it turns into chaos, which is awesome too.”

The actor also talked about his favorite scene he has filmed so far this season. “There is a moment in the first third of the season between Mike and Ryan. It’s a great scene; it’s a dynamic scene, and it’s a part of their relationship that we haven’t seen before. We get into a [disagreement], basically. And I’m not going to say why or how, but it’s a very personal event that happens that causes these guys to really get into it. I felt like it was bound to happen, these guys working under such extreme pressure day in and day out. And we get into it.I’m not going to spoil anything, but that’s a big scene that I thought was interesting and new this year and something that I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out.”

In closing, Ashmore had this to say about this year on The Following: “I think season three is very strong and I’m looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to it.”