The Following, Episode 1: "Pilot"
On Monday night, Fox premiered it's serial killer thriller starring Kevin Bacon, The Following. The Following revolves around serial killer, Joseph Carroll, played by James Purefoy. Carroll is a former English Lit professor who has an unhealthy obsession with Poe. He begins killing his students in ways that are an obvious homage to Poe. He is finally brought down by FBI agent/profiler, Ryan Hardy, played with grizzled determination by Kevin Bacon. Hardy saves Carroll's latest victims, and also writes a tell all book about his experience. Weeks prior to being executed, Carroll escapes prison and goes on the run. This brings Hardy, now a hard living alcoholic, out of retirement. Through the course of the episode, we learn that Carroll has been mentoring a new batch of serial killers from prison, hence the following of the title.
The Following comes to us from writer/executive producer Kevin Williams, who has brought us Scream and The Vampire Diaries. This show is kind of like a slasher flick every week. The show is very violent. Eyes are gouged out, walls are written on with blood, it is very dark. The show has faced some unfair criticism due to the recent shootings in Newtown and the renewed focus on violence in the media. The show in no way glorifies violence. In a lot of violent shows, they try to balance the violence with humor, which I think is a mistake. It's almost like they are seeing, no big deal, we're being funny now. It's hilarious. I get gallows humor, but I think the humor on a lot of other procedurals maybe goes a little too far. This show does the opposite. By leaving out humor, it's trying to drive home the point that this is terrible and isn't something that should be taken lightly.
The performances on the show are great. Kevin Bacon kills, pun intended, in his first mainstream television starring role. Hardy is a man barely keeping it together. He has a pacemaker, a gift from his encounter with Carroll who stabbed him in the chest puncturing his heart. This forced him into an early retirement. He is an alcoholic, his trash filled with empty liquor bottles. When he gets the call that Carroll has escaped, he fills an empty water bottle with vodka. Hardy feels duty bound to protect the only one of Carroll's victims who escaped and Carroll subsequently targets. Purefoy brings the right amount of smarm and charm to his performance. Carroll definitely oozes charisma and it isn't surprising that people would choose to follow him with this cult like devotion. The scenes between Purefoy and Bacon crackle and there is a great Silence of the Lambs quality to them. Natalie Zea jumps over from the equally brilliant FX show, Justified. She plays Carroll's ex-wife and mother of his child, Claire Matthews. She also had an affair with Hardy, something that Carroll is none too pleased about.
The story is tense and suspenseful. I actually jumped a couple of times. I can't tell you the last time that happened on a regular, network television series. I don't want to get into too many specifics of the episode, because it's something that you should experience for yourselves. I am going to start recapping it next week, but I encourage you to track down this episode and watch it. You will not be disappointed.
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