Natalie Zea, 'The Following' Season 2 Cast News [VIDEO]: Claire Matthews' Return to Series a Spoiler After Cliffhanger Finale Episode?

FOX's hit murder mystery drama has been off the air for a few months now, but the season one finale has left viewers in high anticipation of the second season. The final episode was an adrenaline rush of a cliffhanger, opening up a whole bunch of questions about deaths and survival. Today, we got the news that Natalie Zea, who plays Claire Matthews on the series, has just signed a deal to reprise her role in the second season. So does this mean she survived the finale or does this just mean season two will be crazier than we thought?

Zea, who previously appeared in FX's "Justified" and just signed a deal with CBS's "Under The Dome," recently explained the return of Claire and how the character was almost killed off thanks to her own wishes.

"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," Zea said.

"I feel like what would need to happen [for Claire to continue] would be a change to her DNA," Zea added. "In other words, she might have to break bad a little bit."

But FOX executives insisted on the actress' return, adding her name to the very short list of returning cast members. The only other confirmed actor for season two is Kevin Bacon who plays Ryan Hardy. This casting news came right before the season one finale, but the star said that Hardy's return isn't that "cut and dry."

"Well, one thing that we've talked about is that we might jump time a little bit," Bacon revealed. "You might see a character (a Ryan Hardy) who is in a slightly different headspace than where he has been. When you meet my character at the beginning of this season, I'm drinking too much, I'm depressed, I'm a wreck. I don't know if that's going to be where I'm going to start. Who knows?"

What do you think will happen in season two of "The Following"?