[TV] The Following

[rittchard]

Fox has been promoting the crap out of this new Ex-agent vs. Serial Killer show, did anyone else catch the premiere?  I am not a Kevin Bacon fan at all and I really wish they had chosen someone else as the lead, but in any case the show seemed solid enough regardless.  Luckily they chose a good actor for the main antagonist and the plotline has a bunch of twists and turns that keep you coming back for more.  In case you were wondering how they might sustain a full season, they pretty much lay the groundwork out in the premiere.  This guy is not just a serial killer, he's managed to become some form of a cult leader while in prison, so he's got help all over the place on the outside.  It's a bit far-fetched but hopefully they'll delve into how he is able to create such a devoted following.

Thumbs up so far.

[hepcat]

Conversely, the only reason I stuck with it to the end of the pilot was because of Bacon.  I'll keep tuning in to see if it gets better, but right now I'm not seeing any reason to go out of my way to watch it.

[Zinfan]

Conversely, the only reason I stuck with it to the end of the pilot was because of Bacon.  I'll keep tuning in to see if it gets better, but right now I'm not seeing any reason to go out of my way to watch it.

Same here, some things seemed too contrived and who doesn't get an Edgar Allan Poe connection the instant they see Nevermore written on a wall?  No season pass for me, I just set up the DVR to get next weeks episode and we shall see how it goes.

[rittchard]

You haters are just footloose!  Kick off your Sunday shoes and enjoy!!!!

[CeeKay]

sounds interesting, but since it is on FOX I'll wait until there is a season or two completed before diving in.  I've started liking too many shows on FOX only to see them get cancelled during or just after the first season.  NEVER AGAIN!!  REMEMBER THE SERENITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Soulchilde]

Watched this last night and added it into my TiVo rotation.  Had to make some adjustment as it bumps up against Being Human.  I stuck with it due to Bacon as well.  I like the premise, but I have a feeling Fox will cancel before it gains real traction

[Crusis]

I watched it and it was okay. I expected it to be better but it was instead just so freaking ham-handed and riddled with cliches. Spoilerfying just in case.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Overall, Kevin Bacon phones in an okay performance as a (get this) former FBI agent turned alcoholic writer who may be the only person capable of cracking the case. The serial killer is obsessed with Poe and likes to cut out eyeballs.

Elements of typical procedural dramas abound while Bacon makes amazing leaps of logic just from walking into a room. Bacon sees the word Nevermore and is enraged enough to throw stuff around, go off in pursuit, and just then realize he hasn't carried a gun in years. How about the damsel in distress that can only be saved by Bacon? Or the hero worshiping FBI agent that's got Bacon's back?

This sounds negative but I actually liked the show and plan to watch a few more episodes. Since it's a FOX series chances are very good that it will get canceled.

It was cool to see Maggie Grace in the first episode. Too bad she won't be back.

[rittchard]

sounds interesting, but since it is on FOX I'll wait until there is a season or two completed before diving in.  I've started liking too many shows on FOX only to see them get cancelled during or just after the first season.  NEVER AGAIN!!  REMEMBER THE SERENITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fox never supported Serenity at even an iota of what it has The Following; I must have seen a bazillion commercials for it and I don't even watch Fox much.  They opened pretty well and have had good reviews so I think you are pretty safe to invest.   They even announced they would show 14(?) episodes in a row or something like that.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/22/the-following-ratings/

[hepcat]

Bacon makes everything better.

[Isgrimnur]

[rshetts2]

The 2nd episode was pretty good.  The series looks like its going to be an insane cat and mouse game between Bacon and Purfoy with Raylan Givens ex-wife as the prize.  Nothing new there but it is going for dark and edgy and seems to be pushing that envelope quite a bit for network TV.

[hepcat]

I'm just not feeling it, I guess.  If they just had even one character that wasn't a cliche, I would give it some time.  But as it stands, I'm watching now out of sheer spite and not enjoyment. 

[rittchard]

Odd, I'm really enjoying it and I really don't get the cliche comments, aside from maybe Kevin Bacon who seems like he's just Jack Bauer 1.5.  I'm generally pretty jaded with TV shows but I haven't anticipated any of the twists thus far (are you guys saying you all guessed the fake gays and the nanny were bad?), so maybe I'm just a dolt or I don't watch enough crime dramas.

I think primarily I'm intrigued with the bad guys' storylines, particularly the 2 fake gay guys and Crazy/Beautiful wannabe chick.  You really have to suspend disbelief but it's intriguing to consider someone would have so much charisma that he could brainwash people over multiple years (that otherwise seem fairly intelligent) and plant them all over the place for his endgame.  The main bad guy is pretty charismatic overall and that goes a long way in making the show interesting for me.  You know Kevin Bacon is not going to die but everyone else is fair game as either a victim or a plant, which creates an interesting sort of tension in the show.  I also like the way the flashbacks are woven into the main story, not too obtrusive but generally giving additional insight.

[hepcat]

The cliches I'm talking about are found in the charismatic serial killer who's two steps ahead of everyone and works his magic from prison, the alcoholic fed with a haunted past and the department that SHOULD listen to him but rarely does because of their history.  

All of those things have been done numerous times before.  I wanted something new after seeing the promos all over the place last fall.  What I got was a hodgepodge collection of standard tv tropes and cliches.

I'm still watching and I'm hoping the show takes a 180 and goes in a fresh direction soon (it's happened before) but right now I'm not hopeful.

[xenocide]

Gay guys I saw coming, though I thought it would only be one of them.

Nanny I did not see.  Her I like.  In the flashbacks she came off as just creepy and innocent enough with the bitch mom you could see her as someone who would fall for a cult. 

Not sure this needs spoilers, just a guess on my part.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Anyone else assuming the ex-wife's (as an aside I love Natalie Zea, just in case you were wondering) kid is going to turn out to be Kevin Bacon's son?

As for the main badie and Bacon's character, I do see what hepcat sees.  But I think it still works because of the actors playing the parts.  Not that twists in fresh directions wouldn't be a good thing.

maybe Kevin Bacon who seems like he's just Jack Bauer 1.5

Come on now, let's not get too carried away.  There is only one Jack Bauer.

[rittchard]

The cliches I'm talking about are found in the charismatic serial killer who's two steps ahead of everyone and works his magic from prison, the alcoholic fed with a haunted past and the department that SHOULD listen to him but rarely does because of their history.  

Ahhhh yeah that is definitely true, I guess it just didn't bug me that much, probably like xeno said because of the actors.  I guess I like a lot of the actors/characters in general so I'm not too focused on the cliches.  The pacing of the direction has good tension, and the flashbacks are working well for me thus far.  So for me it's on the overall strength of the writing, plot, direction, side and main actors - that I'm enjoying the show.

[Soulchilde]

Don’t know how much longer I can follow this show…   Already the serial killer of the week is wearing thin and having multiple season of this, imo, won’t work.


Btw if this happens I am done with the show

Spoiler for Hiden:

Head FBI Woman Annie falls for Joe and starts sabotaging from the inside

I just see the spoiler happening

[rshetts2]

Don’t know how much longer I can follow this show…   Already the serial killer of the week is wearing thin and having multiple season of this, imo, won’t work.


Btw if this happens I am done with the show

Spoiler for Hiden:

Head FBI Woman Annie falls for Joe and starts sabotaging from the inside

I just see the spoiler happening

Im still watching, its good enough if not great but if your spoiler actually happens, then Im out because it would be completely ridiculous.  I do believe that they will have a surprise twist where Joe has already co-opted someone in the FBI.  If that happens my money is on Shawn Ashmore.

[rittchard]

Don’t know how much longer I can follow this show…   Already the serial killer of the week is wearing thin and having multiple season of this, imo, won’t work.


Btw if this happens I am done with the show

Spoiler for Hiden:

Head FBI Woman Annie falls for Joe and starts sabotaging from the inside

I just see the spoiler happening

Im still watching, its good enough if not great but if your spoiler actually happens, then Im out because it would be completely ridiculous.  I do believe that they will have a surprise twist where Joe has already co-opted someone in the FBI.  If that happens my money is on Shawn Ashmore.

No way!  He's an X-Man and won't betray the cause   Plus he's so damn cute, now if only they'd give him a personality...

Joe is starting to annoy me, he's so freaking smug for really not much reason.  So he arranged to kidnap his own son, whoopdedo, it's not like anyone thinks he would kill his own kid.  I really don't think they can sustain the show if he is stuck in prison, because his flunkies are just too lame (not to mention they just killed the chick who seemed to have some promise).  Ironically, though, the only thing that really interests me is the crazy 3-some.  I had no idea that one guy had such a hot body, wow!  They should dump the kid and just have hot 3-way sex all day and night.

So now they have the problem that they really need some more competent flunkies, but if the flunky is TOO competent, it makes Joe seem irrelevant.  You're right, though, I suppose having someone on the inside turn could make things more interesting...

[hepcat]

Joe's kind of like a villain on Scooby Doo lately.  I keep expecting him to tell Bacon that "if it weren't for you meddlin' FBI's" he would've gotten away with it....

[Bullwinkle]

I haven't started this yet.  Should I bother?

[USMC Kato]

Hope this show gets better, trying to like it but I'm getting a bit tired of how incompetent the law enforcement are.

Edit: Nevermind, just thinking about the LAPD made the show better

[Soulchilde]

Hope this show gets better, trying to like it but I'm getting a bit tired of how incompetent the law enforcement are.

Edit: Nevermind, just thinking about the LAPD made the show better

LOL

-Btw, if you like police shows I highly recommend the vastly under-rated Southland

[USMC Kato]

Thanks Soulchild, I actually gave Southland my 15 minute test and before you know it I was watching my third episode in a row. Great show

[hepcat]

I love Southland...although I have to resist the urge to throw things at the screen whenever Sammy's ex-wife shows up.  I have to give her credit though.  The actress has made me really, really dislike her character.  You gotta have some acting chops to make me care that much about a character.

[rittchard]

Love Southland too, but I guess Lucy Liu is gone now that she's on Elementary?

[hepcat]

This show has taught me that psychotic sociopaths have a lot of disposable income.

[rickfc]

my wife and I are a couple of episodes behind, but are enjoying the show so far. 

[rshetts2]

The latest episode actually helped the previous ones make more sense.  You have to buy into the belief that theres a whole lot of highly functioning, wealthy and conveniently placed psychopaths that are willing to work together like a finely tuned machine.  Of course, like a lot of the entertainment coming out of Hollywood, the basic premise is impossible in reality, so if you cant accept the basic premise, you probably shouldnt bother watching because logic completely falls apart without it.

[hepcat]

The latest episode actually helped the previous ones make more sense.  You have to buy into the belief that theres a whole lot of highly functioning, wealthy and conveniently placed psychopaths that are willing to work together like a finely tuned machine.  Of course, like a lot of the entertainment coming out of Hollywood, the basic premise is impossible in reality, so if you cant accept the basic premise, you probably shouldnt bother watching because logic completely falls apart without it.

I know I've argued before that one should never try to over analyze the premise behind any fictional television show, but sometimes that premise is just SO far out there that I just can't help but throw up my hands and say, "Welp, that's it...this show has no internal logic whatsoever and the writers are not bound by any laws of continuity that I can discern".  Sometimes that's great (American Horror Story) but more often than not, it just annoys the crap out of me.

Moriarity on the new BBC Sherlock is a great villain because he's limited in what he can do.  The brilliance of the writing shines through because we see where his own humanity betrays him, trips him up on occasion.  We understand that he's spent a lifetime building his career as a criminal mastermind.

Joe Carrol is the antithesis of that.  If at any point in the show, he simply starts flying from one victim to another a la Superman, I will not be surprised.

[rittchard]

I'm starting to warm up to the show more now, I'm really glad they got Joe out and about again.

Plausibility?  Doesn't bother me unless the other elements of the show (acting, editing, dialog, etc) are stagnant or unappealing.  As long as there are interesting actors and plotlines happening I can suspend belief.  Kevin Bacon is doing a good job of turning into Jack Bauer, and Shawn Ashmore is delicious.  All the bad guys are pretty cool, though I really hope they bring the ambiguously gay duo back.

[Xmann]

We've been watching since episode 1 and the totally unrealistic premise is just too much for me.

I'm in the other camp than you rittchard, Bacon is failing as a Jack Bauer to me. I'm just not buying it.

Not sure which show is losing me faster, this or Zero Hour.

Sent from me cool phone

[rshetts2]

We've been watching since episode 1 and the totally unrealistic premise is just too much for me.

I'm in the other camp than you rittchard, Bacon is failing as a Jack Bauer to me. I'm just not buying it.

Not sure which show is losing me faster, this or Zero Hour.

Sent from me cool phone

The word is that Zero Hour has already been cancelled.  The show has a decent cast but it just didnt seem to flow very well plot wise.  
Yep, confirmed...  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/zero-hour-canceled_n_2794162.html  In fact they are not even going to air the rest of the episodes as planned.

[corruptrelic]

If you want realism, watch COPS!

The Following is a work of fiction, it's not supposed to be real. it's entertainment.

When you can accept the fact that it's a work of fiction meant to entertain us, then perhaps people will warm up to a it a bit more.

So far I'm absolutely loving the show. The last episode with the amount of Followers he had, Kevin Bacon slowly falling apart, really bringing me into it. It's no "24" (probably my all time favorite TV show) but out of all the stuff out there now.. it's getting harder to juggle Jupiter's Cock as being my favorite anymore.

[hepcat]

When you can accept the fact that it's a work of fiction meant to entertain us, then perhaps people will warm up to a it a bit more.

So you like every work of fiction on tv then simply because it isn't supposed to be real?  Well, I can't argue with that level of discernment!   

[corruptrelic]

Not at all.. just that I keep an open mind when watching these shows that more than anything, they are meant to entertain audiences. Sometimes you have to go a little farther because if you base everything as it would be in real life, it'd probably make for a pretty boring and slow show.

Even in the walking dead thread people bring up how it's "not realistic" (since when is a zombie realistic?!) of course it's not, it's fiction.

Since I don't mind it being "unrealistic" since it serves as entertainment, makes watching all the more enjoyable.

[CeeKay]

looks like this got picked up for at least a second season, so I guess i can start paying attention now.

[hepcat]

Not at all.. just that I keep an open mind when watching these shows that more than anything, they are meant to entertain audiences. Sometimes you have to go a little farther because if you base everything as it would be in real life, it'd probably make for a pretty boring and slow show.

Even in the walking dead thread people bring up how it's "not realistic" (since when is a zombie realistic?!) of course it's not, it's fiction.

Since I don't mind it being "unrealistic" since it serves as entertainment, makes watching all the more enjoyable.

I love unrealistic.  However, I hate badly written.

[Scraper]

Not at all.. just that I keep an open mind when watching these shows that more than anything, they are meant to entertain audiences. Sometimes you have to go a little farther because if you base everything as it would be in real life, it'd probably make for a pretty boring and slow show.

Even in the walking dead thread people bring up how it's "not realistic" (since when is a zombie realistic?!) of course it's not, it's fiction.

Since I don't mind it being "unrealistic" since it serves as entertainment, makes watching all the more enjoyable.

I love unrealistic.  However, I hate badly written.

Im in this camp too. I tried to like The Following, but everytime the writers write the bad guys into a corner, they just make shit up to get them out of it. The whole SWAT Team replacement and the girl sheriff were the final nail in the coffin for me. It's just sloppy writing.

I don't mind curves in storylines, but they at least need to make sense.

[Xmann]

Deleted from the DVR towards the end....just couldn't watch the final 10-15 minutes.

This really turned into a stinker really fast for me and the wife.

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