The Following (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy

(Watch out for spoilers)

Now I know I may be a little late to the party on this one but to be fair we here at Scully Nerd Reviews just started to write TV reviews so I’ve started to step up my game on some television shows and I thought a great one would be The Following. The show has seen many raved reviews and love from addicted fans since it first aired and I myself am now one of them. The story follows ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) as he’s called back to help the agency when the last man he put away escapes from prison and needs to be tracked down. Our main baddie in the show is a character type we have seen before, cool, calm, charismatic madman with the pension to inspire worship for with his actions and motives, the characters name Joe Carrol (James Purefoy.) The show is shocking as it is suspenseful with many moments of mass murder and chaos that ensue with Joe masterminding it all and hopefully Ryan has what it takes to stop him.

Now I have deeply missed the performing role of Kevin Bacon throughout the years as it’s been awhile since I’ve seen him do anything and for me his return to the light of day as Ryan Hardy was a brilliant casting choice. Ryan is a depressed man who has suffered immensely in life even before the end of his career and the capture of Joe Carrol some odd years ago. Throughout the show though he will be put through an emotional ride that I wouldn’t ever wish upon anyone, Joe and his follows push a man to the edge who was already pretty close to it to begin with. All the more impressive is the acting done by James Purefoy who evokes the perfect charm and flaunt that Joe Carrol needed to have and his calm/relaxed demeanor felt truly genuine especially in moments where it broke and the monster inside Joe comes out in anger. What also made for added excitement was the author that Joe Carrol most emulated with his followers and his work as well and that was Edgar Allen Poe, his books and themes are constantly a part of this dark tale. Characters in the show all do an incredible job, no matter how minor or how long they last and this comes up quite frequently as Joe moves his followers along like pawns on a chess board and disposes of them just as quick.

An interesting story telling element the show takes on is the use of flashbacks to moments in the characters lives much like when someone in Lost had the spotlight it would flashback to a time in their life. This really leads for some of the more interesting points in the series in such episodes like “The Curse” where Ryan constantly recounts how people in his life are always dying around him. This one is crucial because it goes back to when Ryan’s father dies and what kind of man he has become because of it and all the death he’s surrounded by. It doesn’t work for every character though especially when it came to the love interest of the story Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea) who always seemed to fall for the same dumb things over and over. Moments where the Joe’s followers had something of hers and she turns herself over figuring it’ll all work out really bugged me because she seems so shocked by it, come on they’re serial killers what’d you expect? This could be my biggest complaint with the show is just some of the characters weren’t appealing, its not a big thing to pick at because lots of shows have a poorly done character but are still great and it was just with Claire and one other character Jacob who was a follow of Joe’s that you’ll see.

On a final note I will say that you need to realize the show is about Ryan mainly, he sees through all of Joe’s work and his sneaky little poetic metaphors so when the FBI or the police look weak its not their fault, they’re stuck in the shows formula. Ryan is usually the one to make the find when it comes to a clue long before his FBI friends do and it’s unfortunate when you see them work so hard. Cops and law enforcement always look bad when it comes to a horror or suspenseful show and it’s unfortunate but many of The Followings stronger characters are working with Ryan and prove themselves more often than not. Young FBI agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) for instance is often right by Ryan’s side like a star truck puppy but proves his worth especially when he’s beaten to a near inch of his life at one point in the show.

The Following has just finished its second season as other watchers may be aware and I hope to catch myself up on things within the next week or so and I’m very excited to see how things turn out especially with an ending like the one we had in season one. The show was very open and wasn’t afraid to point out the fact that there still was many followers left out there and the beliefs of Joe Carrol can inspire even more carnage to be seen. I myself felt like I went through an emotional ride with the show as I loved Kevin Bacon’s character from the get go, strange since I normally like the bad guy but every time he was brought back down it got me right down with him. The Following really hits its stride as a creepy and suspenseful show where there are so many others out there to choose from, I’d pick this one.

Good:

- A truly gut wrenching ride of emotions all the way through

- Strong performances from many of the shows main cast

- Fairly intense and creative killing

Bad:

- Characters can be dumb and make the classic horror movie “bad move” decisions, mainly Claire Matthews

- Ryan Hardy is the hero and everyone else is meant to die around him and it can make everyone else look bad when you get down to it

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10