It is angering to watch Kevin Bacon doing a great job in show that seems too ridiculous. The cops, FBI, prison guards, and US marshals are all stooges. As much as I want to like this show, I come away feeling frustrated at the stupidity of the good guys and the the unrealistic resources and organization of the antagonist.

After seven episodes of The Following it has occurred to me that it could be really made into a suspense thriller if they put the cast in a locked room and made them read the script.

I loved the premise of this show and anticipated its arrival. How quickly it failed. It can only continue if every character does the absurd. No one in law enforcement or government would ever consistently do so much wrong. No establish police or forensic procedures are followed. It just has become idiotic. Love Bacon! Amazing actor and the premise is still good, but please stop insulting our intelligence and make the police and FBI into bumbling idiots. OH, the lawyer no one noticed or asked how she suddenly lost fingers!! Come on. I give the show two more episodes and I am done if they don't get smarter.… Expand

On "30 Rock," Tracy Morgan's character starred in a fictional movie entitled "Hard to Watch." Well, I think that "The Following" has, if nothing else, become something that is truly difficult to watch. At the same time, if you've already set your DVR to record it, and you can skip the commercials, it also becomes something more along the lines of "hard to watch, yet, I almost want to see if they'll actually figure out how to write the script better one of these days"...

Overall...yeah, it's just gratuitous violence, and the plot leaves more than just a little to be desired, but I think I'll still DVR a few more episodes...… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Everyone on the 'good' side of the law is incompetent. Cliche plot devices such as escaping from incarceration during unneeded transport and always being two steps behind the antagonist are constantly thrown at us. The dialogue is never particularly interesting or able to convey to the audience the charm and leader qualities that fuel the unparalleled cult lead by a professor turned serial killer.

Episodes are generally fast paced, yet unsatisfying because they play out in the same way. X cult members with military training burst from hiding to kill X law enforcement and maybe the occasional civilian. Bacon then wards off the stragglers and returns to gather more disposable officers. It's like the battle of Gettysburg or some as officers and cultists die endlessly, yet no resolution is reached.

As the first season draws to a close we find our hero and savior Bacon journeying to the castle to rescue the princess.

I want to like this show, but it's decidedly unconvincing thus far. Poe wasn't that interesting of a guy, frankly, and I haven't felt an emotional attachment to any of the characters. One of the antagonists (who we're supposed to connect with?) was killed by his psycho girlfriend. Why is this surprising? I kind of wanted him to die before he was even revealed to be more than a gay neighbor.

I wouldn't have so much of an inherent problem with a literature professor leading a cult that can out-perform modern task forces if the show wasn't so one dimensional.

Bacon makes everything better but consistent with his character he can only do so much.… Expand

Of course there is some suspending of reality while watching anything on tv. However, this show takes the cake! As could be seen by way happened in Boston, this fool and his cohorts would have experienced so many more setbacks and most likely be dead or arrested after the first episode. That said, the premise is interesting, just very lazy writing. Huge lack of creativity beyond that base premise.… Expand

This show started off with great promise. I really liked how they set it up and Kevin Bacon is a great lead. Then after a few episodes it started going downhill with the frustrating scenarios and development.

Every episode after the 2nd it was like, "Now i'm a part of the cult! No! i'm a part of the cult." Kind of got ridiculous. Every time some development would happen the writers would cop-out saying "Well too bad! I'm a part of the cult too!"

Then after that, Joe's character just didn't develop at all. How is this guy a leader of so many people when he's so self serving and continually making idiotic decisions. To me, i think the writer's just didn't follow through with the story development as well as they could have with the premise.

Just the situations the cops put themselves in is ridiculous. How in the heck do you go off by yourself when there is a massive manhunt for a single person? No backup? Just go off by yourself? really?? i mean that stuff is just dumb and very unrealistic.

The 2nd to last episode was much better until the end where yet again a detective wanders off by herself. I basically just want the last episode to air since i've stuck with it this long, i might as well finish it out.… Expand

Despite the interesting premise and the talented actors on board, 'The Following' is a major letdown. It's not the fact that the pilot episode is filled with predictable twists- the fact that the dialogue is so poor that it takes away from the soild performances of Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy- the fact that the violence is too over the top and gratuitous- It's the fact that the creators promised us something different, but instead, gave us more of the same.… Expand

I really liked Kevin Bacon in this, but everyone else seems out of place. The dialogue is very bland, and it's unconvincing how people worship James Purefoy and follow him by killing college girls. All because he is so inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. I just don't buy a college professor turning into this methodical serial killer. The show would have been much better if Purefoy was an Agent turned into a terrorist like what Homeland does. Oh well, spend your time watching something else… Expand

I adore Kevin Bacon and I REALLY wanted to love the show; however, the reality is that I don't love it or even really like it. As a matter of fact, I find myself getting super frustrated when I watch it. I had to ignore my critical thinking skills to get though the 1st 2nd episodes. What it lacks in intelligent dialogue it certainly makes up for with graphic murders. I do agree that it will revive the works of Poe. I studied 6 of his works in college-I guess anything can be turned into a religion/cult, but I'm not convinced. M is appointed but sill slightly intrigued. With all the other smart and riveting shows right now, the writers of this one need to step it up a bit. I hope they do.… Expand

I don't think that Kevin Bacon can carry this show... It seems hurried and banal. I can't swallow half of the situations that come up on very episode. I think this one is destined to be cancelled. Shock and awe are not working in this second rate attempt to a televised Silence of the Lambs.

When I saw Kevin Bacon was one of the stars, I had to check it... a real disappointment on the whole, Hollywood writers cranking out the same cliche fearporn... I watched hoping for some unexpected thing, some grabber.. but the predictability of writers cranking out reams of script under the direction of the same bunch of people in LA... what a shame they [the 3 letter corp that aired it and really all TV] are still a part of the propaganda front of the wealthy... who all but finished gaining control of the internet... Thank Good people for the ART that makes it out.....… Expand

I have watched many shows because I appreciate the actors. Kevin Bacon has been a favorite actor for many years. Thus, I watched 3 episodes of The Following. I finally took it off of my series to record because it is constantly depressing. There are no "light" times. There are no characters for whom I care. I watch all sorts of shows with pedophiles and serial killers, but this show has taken me beyond what I can watch comfortably. That is saying a LOT!… Expand

ok, this is just a very difficult premise and storyline to swallow. First off, criminals on death row are not allowed visitors, much less visits that are not recorded or video taped or watched off. Why does Claire just hop into a car, knowing you can't trust anything carrol does. While at the house where joey is being held, kevin bacon knows there are three followers on the premise, yet doesn't seem to pay any attention to his surroundings. Why does the lawyer not talk to the FBI and just go into hiding rather than helping a serial killer just because he got someone to cut her fingers off? And lastly, is everyone involved in carrols plans? Eveery episode has a surprise follower. whether its the babysitter, gay neighbors, wife of one of the cultists, local cop.... just so bad. I wanted to like it so badly too… Expand

How stupid naive do the writers think people are Nobody would do the things shown in this series. Common sense is totally missing by all law enforcement personnel. I find myself embarrassed for the characters actions at myself for watching this long.

I love Kevin Bacon in this but the writers have given so many flaws to this hero that he has absolutely no chance of success. For instance, Bacon's character has heart trouble, alcohol problems, apparently has no close friends or family, is unemployed after losing his job at the FBI, is FILLED with all kinds of unrealistic guilt and in love with a woman that he cant have. Not all members of law enforcement are geniuses but I have never seen a show portray the Law, collectively, as so grossly inept. Meanwhile, all the luck and the intelligence is given to the creepy bad guys. This show could have been a smart, addictive tale but, unfortunately, the writers have relied more on shock value than on quality story lines. Even good acting cant save that kind of show!… Expand

This show started off with promise, but has quickly turned frustrating. It is so easy to predict what is coming and who is the one that is going to turn on them. It is frustrating that Joe always has the upper hand and the FBI never seems to get even the simplest things right. They make them look really dumb on what seems a continual basis...they can't possibly get everything wrong all the time? I think this will be short lived in our home.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First no off, I really wanted to like the show. First episode was pretty good and it just gets dumber and dumber each episode. A woman just spear gunned a lady in a restaurant and then walked away. walked. no one stopped her. last week they rescued the agent and could have GPSed the car. They didn't. The FBI might not be that good but they are not this bad.… Expand

This was an interesting show for the first few episodes but now it has gotten predictable and formulaic. The villain Joe Carroll is pretentious and I don't buy him as a criminal mastermind. Kevin Bacon is great like always, but he can only do so much. I like a show with some balance and this show lacks it. I don't find it believable that the good guys can ever win since they are portrayed as such goofball screw ups. It also seems far fetched that there are so many followers. The show has spent too long stacking the deck in the villains favor that a happy ending is now not practical.… Expand

The first couple of episodes started out really well, the characters are interesting, the background story seemed to be though out and the plot seemed plausible.
However after episode five it just all starts to get so unbelievable, especially after it was labeled as a thriller suspense series.
If you want to keep people interested I would suggest, to spend some of the budget on bringing in some expert's who will advice you how FBI agents or any law enforcement officer might react in certain situations and write the scene accordingly.
The whole show is lacking thought out dialogs and professional input and gets just to unbelievable the more the show continues.
You want to see how a Profiler reacts when being pressured? Watch the original TV series "Profiler" 1996-2000 on NBC. That was a great series.
Or watch the BBC series "Luther" to see how a man reacts when walking on the edge, both highly recommended and you can find them on the internet.… Expand

This show started with a pretty good premise, a serial killer-cult leader, but the idea quickly wore thin after about three episodes. After the fifth episode or so I lost interest because they ran out of surprises and the show was no longer entertaining. The characters, good guys and bad, were one-dimensional and not likeable. My wife wanted to keep watching so I continued to watch it with her.

I had some hope that the finale might be good, but the dialogue and situations were completely ridiculous, and the violence was totally gratuitous. I will not watch next season, and my wife finally got turned off too.… Expand

This honestly could have been one of the greatest shows in modern TV. It has a perfect, unusual theme. A serial killer with serial killer followers forming a blood thirsty cult. However, after a few episodes, the show becomes exhausting. Nothing is believable anymore. Absolutely nothing. The bad guys are inexplicably smarter than well-trained FBI agents and they outsmart them at every turn in every episode. Even the foundation of the show is weak; it is really hard to believe or understand why so many people would follow Joe Carroll, much less kill for him. What a waste of concept. Shame!… Expand

Kevin Bacon should be ashamed that he has attached his name to this product. I remember the days when I used to look forward to anything containing Kevin Bacon. I gave this show way too much of the benefit of the doubt and somehow managed to watch the first six episodes when I had spare time and literally nothing better to do. I had heard good things. I seriously have to question the taste of the people who told me such good things. It is boring, over-the-top unrealistic, predictable and legitimately gets annoying at some points. Episode 7 is out now but I will gladly say I won't be wasting any more time. I wish I could get that time of my life back and maybe gain an extra hour of sleep for each episode.… Expand

I tried to like this show but finally gave up. It is simply an insult to my intelligence. How bad to the writers want to make the FBI look? (Not that they may not deserve it in reality...) At the end of the day why would I want to spend 98% of its showtime laughing at its faults in logic and sense. A good premise gone bad for lack of intelligent and realistic writing.

Nothing shatters believability, or ruins your ability to suspend logic and enjoy a show, worse than bad casting, and this show breaks new ground in that area. How in the world am I ever supposed to watch this 19-year old play the part of the guy in charge, of all things, and not have seeing him and hearing his yet-to-change voice rip me out of my suspended belief and cause me to realize I'm watching a crappy TV show? This kid gives orders to people three times his age. How could he have possibly become so experienced, and why on earth did they cast someone so young to play a senior detective? I have to fast forward through his scenes, because it's the equivalent of casting a woman to play a man, a child to play an elderly person. it's ludicrous, and I can't, for the life of me, imagine how anybody could view that move as being beneficial to the success of the show.… Expand

"Serial Killer Babysitters". "Occasional Serial Killers, Babysitting". If neither of those is clear enough, how about "Negligent Borderline-Incompetent, Misses-Every-Shot, Wimp Seeks Small Boy". True, the pilot was action packed and depraved with quite a high level of violence for people like me (who enjoy shows like that). Also true, the show immediately degenerated into a program consisting of a failed FBI agent missing or misinterpreting nearly every clue while the writers dangle in front of our faces the correct answer so the FBI agent appears even more foolish when he doesn't get it, which is nearly always, and a little boy who is missing. Every episode is about a missing little boy. It is a show about a serial killer (who didn't actually kill very many of the people he is in prison for killing, which basically makes him a pansy who rode on the coat tails of a younger, blond, serial killer who did the heavy lifting, as it were, so he could become the famous ex-college-professor serial killer, 'cause that is so very likely to happen to a professor of gothic and romantic literature, for whatever whacked out reason he has in his literature professor mind) and it is also about his serial killer following (losers and weirdos) who, oddly, also don't kill very many people. Mostly, they babysit and talk about the little boy they are babysitting, hence my correction of the title to what it should have been, "Occasional Serial Killers, Babysitting". The lead FBI agent is as offensive to me (Criminologist, among other things, because, yes, I'm that smart) as any portrayal I can recall. None of the agents I have ever known were this incompetent. Yes, I've known some local cops who could not shoot very well but this "agent", played as wimpilly and milk-toast, by Kevin Bacon, as he would have been had he been played by a cardboard cut-out, of Kevin Bacon, (who is actually a brilliant actor when the script isn't so terrible). This agent misses nearly every shot, save those approximately two feet in front of him. He doesn't explain to the lady in this scenario (also a college professor) that she might not want to believe the criminal mastermind when she is told to go with his little buddy to see her son, nor does he explain to her that pretty much any agent would have done a better job finding her stupid little ruiner of everything (her kid), even, well, let's see, perhaps the ATF agent I knew who had the job of sitting at a desk doing almost nothing because he'd gotten so gosh darn old and just wouldn't retire. The FBI has an entire unit in this series hunting down a crew of horrible killers who have abducted a little boy and occasionally, again occasionally, kill a guy, maybe, if they have time and feel like it and aren't hungry or tired or busy babysitting said little boy. Meanwhile, in the real world, I could name five who killed over twenty people, two who killed over fifty, one who killed over one-hundred people before being caught or going dormant, and my degree is pushing fifteen years old. So, we are, as the audience, supposed to believe that this killer, probably one of the weakest and least prolific in the history of the world, is the worst of the worst, meriting the involvement of an entire unit of really poor detectives and a cripple, or whatever you call someone whose pacemaker makes him cry all the time. This is among the least interesting, least thought provoking serial killer storylines I've ever seen and is clearly written by a team with little to no background in such things. One thing is clear, these writers really love their children which is probably how they ended up having nothing else to say through this magnificent medium we call television. Don't watch it unless you want to be annoyed or are eating and not really paying attention. (I watch it as my Monday night fall-asleep show... and Tuesday... and Wednesday... and part of Thursday.) I give it a Two for exceptional production values.… Expand

I really wanted to like this show, but I can not. So many simple editing mistakes. I do visit our local jail and my friend is allowed 11 people on the list; and it's hard to get on that list. A person must prove that they knew the person being jailed before sentence started. My friend is not on death row where I can only think rules are even more strick. I do like the acting, but the script sucks/are humans really so hopeless At least in criminal minds it raps up in a episode or 2...… Expand

I enjoyed the first episode or two, then the implausibility of the plot and its characters became too much to handle. It's funny that such a notorious serial killer was allowed an unlimited number of visitors, never had a conversation taped, and had absolute ability to connect with the outside world not to mention the fact that he somehow has roped in hundreds of "followers" from inside a maximum security facility. The 2nd huge beef I have is in the form of a question: What's the end-game of this series? Will we see a resolution of the Joe Carroll situation by the end of this season, or are the writers planning to continue to string us along with a new twist every week for the entire run of this series? My wife still enjoys watching, but I can barely watch the inanities pile up each week.… Expand

Really tailing off now after a good start. Dream sequences are scraping the barrel, and a week before Easter, it's actually getting implausible to the point of meh, whatever...

Please!!! What is it with the FBI and the Keystone Cops who are constantly stumbling through stakeouts, getting killed by amateur criminals, and surrounding buildings like idiots? Its silly how inept they make the FBI out to be. I really wanted to like this show, but the writing is beyond horrible.
Fire all the writers and start over or cancel this mess.

One more thing...the cult guy who pretended to be gay then smothered his pretend gay partner to death with a pillow in a mercy killing thing all of a sudden became a hardcore killer...not only is he now a ruthless killer but he can outsmart the effing FBI in the dark woods AND get back to the mansion!!! Lastly, thank the Heavens above that the FBI in this show is fake!

Bacon works as hard as he can to save this show, but ultimately the writers are to blame. It moves from one clunky, contrived twist to the next, constantly insulting the viewers’ intelligence. Do they seriously expect us to believe that the FBI, especially post-911, would operate with such ineptitude?

And it seems that every episode was written with the aim of engineering a scene where e one or two of the show’s good guys end up on their own in the dark, being stalked by some random knife-wielding maniac. You can probably glean a small amount of entertainment, as I have, from approaching the show as a comedy.… Expand

As a clinical forensic shrink it baffles me that the complex motivations driving cult behaviour and psychopathy are not better developed. The penal/justice system and its representatives are completely misconstrued. The level of gore is disturbing! The script is terrible and plot ridiculous.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When I 1st heard of this show, I was quite excited, I thought FOX might
come up with a new, innovated crime drama that pushes the edges of what
we have seen so far. Suffice to say this was far far far from that.

Right from the 1st episode you know this show is stupid. This
situations presented are so far fetched that they at times just make
you laugh rather than anything else. A serial killer who manages to
charm 100+ followers into organising themselves and carrying out
coordinated attacks......all while being locked up in jail. If that's
hard to swallow the police response to this will leave you gagging.

You would think that a nation wide band of crazy serial killers would
warrant some sort of elite task force or something of that sort, but
instead we have a small group of barely 5 people who seem to be
managing everything.....badly. They are assisted by Kevin Bacon's
character, your standard bad-ass do-gooder who is the center of
attention and has a bunch of 1-liners. Together they manage to
accomplish next to nothing.

As the story progresses the plot gets sketcher and sketcher, characters
start dying like flies. You would think that would add a sense of
realism to the show, but honestly it is just annoying. You find that a
character you liked and who's story you wanted to keep watching just
ends up getting murdered rather casually. By the end of the show most
of the characters are dead and you feel like you've just seen a crappy
slasher flick.

All that being said, the show is still entertaining, in the absolute
basic sense of that word, like how watching watching clowns shoot
plastic arrows at each other is entertaining.

To sum up, don't expect much from this show, however if you want to
kill some time, it'll do that for you.

(Season 1 review)… Expand

The writing is poor, the story is unrealistic and uninteresting. A decent cast and acting, however; the suspension of disbelief required makes The Following is completely unwatchable. Hannibal and Bates Motel are far better in the thiller/horror genre. I can't believe a show this poor was renewed.

The show just seemed boring in the first few minutes. I was not and still am not interested in it at all. It may be because I am more interested in action shows and lots of drama, but The Following does not appeal to me.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love Kevin Bacon. Sorry, but this is a crapfest of a show. The first episode was moderately interesting. But by about the halfway mark of the second episode the plot falls apart. You can nitpick it to death with the holes. But there are 3 glaring issues with this show.

1. How stupid is law enforcement on this show. And do they plan to have every episode be that Kevin Bacon figures everything out just a little late. And 2 episodes in and both times KB finds a way to be alone without backup. It's just so dumb that it bothers me.

2. Really this Cult leader has sucked in Police, FBI agents, business men by writing a lackluster book and having an accent? I don't buy it. And I certainly don't believe that he has had this in the works for 2 years. And that these followers just waited and schemed. For what to kill people for this author. Why? What is the motivation? And are they all planning a big escape at the end?

3. Speaking of ends, where is this one going? Am I to believe that either they never can stop this guy and his followers on every corner? Or am I to believe that there are cults and followers all over that need KB to track them down? Either way I'm just not interested.

To anybody who has watched the crapfest called The Mentalist, Imagine Red John, being tracked in the setting of 7 and you get where this show is going. Nowhere.

This is just an awful show. And I just cannot believe that with all the personality KB has in his usual roles that he chose the dead on arrival show to make his debut on tv.… Expand

This is one of the worst shows ever on television and will probably appeal to most Americans. It is like watching a two hour movie expanded to fit 12 hours. I have watched four episodes and I am done. The writing is pedestrian at best. The violence is sadistic and mostly unnecessary. Much of the time is spent prolonging the violence to fill in empty time. Not one character is multi-layered. There are more holes in the story than a wheel of Swiss cheese. Just one example,of so many, that shows how bad this show is: Bacon and his partner go to rescue his sister. He tells his partner that he will leave the side door open for him. Bacon goes in, gets knocked unconscious, is picked up and put on a table and tied up by a the girl villain, tortured with batteries and threatened with a knife before his partner comes in to rescue Bacon and his sister. WHAAAAAAT!!! Maybe his partner went to dinner, saw a movie and then came to the rescue. Really? Do the producers think we are that stupid or maybe they are just hoping.… Expand

Shellview said it very well. This show is really, really bad. Everyone who is not a serial killer is an idiot. Police and FBI are portrayed as fools, other citizens are routinely killed because they are stupid. Maybe the writers could get together with the "Mentalist" writers who think the "Red John" storyline interests anyone and they could get this all out of their system this year, so we could have something new next year. I agree with shellview, it is like watching a painful 2 hour movie over 12 hours or so. I am done with it, too.… Expand

The show had so much promise and Kevin Bacon is terrific but it didn't take long to jump the shark. I bowed out at Episode Six. The Following got "24" stupid (circa season 5 thru 8) real fast. I can understand why people were excited about this show at first, but I can't see how anyone could be hanging on after Episode Six; the most preposterous and idiotic 60 minutes I've ever sat thru. Giving it a one at this point is overly generous.… Expand

This show constantly has me rolling my eyes. The cops are complete idiots. Every time they get close to catching someone, they either skip procedure or basic common sense and the criminals slip away. It is as predictable as knowing that the survivors on Gilligans Island were going to fail in their latest escape attempt. Whenever there is a crisis you know that someone will be a secret agent, or sheer incompetence will destroy the situation. The show does not keep you guessing or have hidden ideas that surface over time. It is a show that persists on the idea that everyone is this madmans follower and the police are so dense and so unprofessional that they will muck up the situation allowing the criminals to continue their fiendish plan. This show is a horrible show.… Expand

If it was shoot without the presumption of being a good movie it would be fine and maybe it would have some self irony in it however "the following" true mistake its his hard job to look like a serious drama....ok, the pilot was decent and intriguing, the editing is fast paced as it should be and the actors are good so whats the big problem here??? Well, the script:

a) A mass murderer (Carroll) receives visits from tens of people in prison and no one is there to record them and check them. Even other serial killers!!!
b) An obsessive, and some times ridiculous, abuse of flash backs maybe to imitate lost and manage to get a new season in if the show went well
c) The use of a great actor in a stupid role (bacon) in which a cardiopatic alcoholic agent is sent alone to literally run through wood, bushes, entire cities without any sort of back up.
d) An fbi force which seems made of mentally retarder people who send a cardiopatic alone to do the work of a team, who loose from radar an helicopter, who send alone officers at home of serial killers which manage (wow) to kill them, a mother so stupid to follow a serial killer and manages to elude retirement aged fbi officers outrunning them in high heals over a 100 mt run ....and the list goes on and on and on.
c) Forcing situations in the script so that you can do 15 episodes instead of maybe ten or twelve and making the actors look like they are actually acting (and not natural) because the only purpose of that scene is to justify the next one but, in the end, it does not have any sense.

So if you have a little pride in your wits and have little sense of humor do not watch it, its so stupid that it will make you angry (a woman is getting killed while on the phone with the fbi, they know exactly where she is but instead of calling the police force of the area they send a rookie and the cardiopatic to catch her. Fine but they are at least 30 miles away from there....of course she gets killed....). If you have sense of humor or are able to switch your brain off then its somewhat decent .

Thumbs down on a missed good opportunity with a great cast.… Expand

Frustrating and painful to watch. This show exploits heavily the horror-thriller genre, mostly using its absurd and predictable plots, covering the gaps in logic with new characters. You see all the worst-case scenarios transposed to the screen, with a lot of unnecessary cruelty and blood shed. With such a great cast it's truly hard to understand why this show keep being so unreasonable. Basically, it lacks in intelligence and soul.… Expand

I really, really want to like this show, but since the premiere episode, the story lines have become too outrageous. Are the FBI, local police, and US Marshals really that stupid? For example, in the most recent episode, two US Marshals who decide not to wear body armor walk nonchalantly into gunfire, while another stands behind a door only to get gun down when the followers shoot-up through the door. Most people with a half a brain would not be standing behind the door. Carrolls lawyer-- A smart person would contact the FBI authorities for protection from Carroll's followers, instead she agrees to Carroll's demands when her life is threatened? How in the world did the prison warden convince those responsible for Carroll's transfer (prison guards, camera operators) to turn a blind eye to his escape? Another example: Joe escapes in a helicopter leaving a large city. Are we to believe that the FBI, FAA, or other government entity lacks the resources to track a helicopter in the sky? The FBI, with all the resources, send only Ryan Hardy to supervise the transfer of Clare to another location. What they couldn't spare one or two FBI agents, or at least contact the local authorities to help with the relocation. There are just too many implausible scenarios to convince any intelligent viewer to just blindly accept what is happening on screen.… Expand

Omg, this show is soooo edgy! I mean, a show about a serial killer? We've never seen that before! Oh wait, I guess we have. So let's put in a twist this serial killer is bad! Oh, they've done that already? Well, what if I tell you there are bad people, pretending to be good people, hidden throughout the cast so you never know who's truly good or bad? Well that element has been used since ancient Greece, but what do these all have in common? They bring in the ratings. So throw them all in the pot, slap a big name on the lead character, throw in some hard bodies for people to drool over and a little sex, and you have The Following. I really wanted this to be good. I'm actually not much of a TV snob; I'll watch pretty much anything that involves badges and mind games when it comes to action shows. I don't even need realism, so let's set aside the whole issue of the implausibility of the premise. We'll pretend that could happen. (Isn’t that what TV’s about?) But this is basically a patchwork show, borrowing elements from everything that has gotten successful ratings without involving song and dance. The plot is basically waiting for the next follower to be revealed with the unraveling of the love story on the sidelines. Every character is cookie cutter and could easily be swapped between all the movies and shows that have used them before. From the brilliant but troubled lead who is involved in [saving the world stopping the bad guy diagnosing patients] against his will because he's the only one on the planet who can solve this problem despite his questionable character due to past tragic events, to the entirely predictable horror genre surprise moments and cop show plot twists, nothing in the show feels new. (Like literally predictable. I called every twist in the premiere at least a couple scenes out. Foreshadowing and telling details are awesome when you use a little subtlety! I want the type of plot twist that has all sorts of clues that I miss and then jump off the couch and shout about when I watch the reruns during the summer, not the type I see coming like a city bus down the street.) The actors are good, the effects are great, and the directing is fine (hence 2 stars instead of 1). But the show comes off to me like a kid in junior high dropping new swear words they learned the day before and trying to smoke cigarettes. It's just trying too hard, and I'd bet money "edginess" has been a primary topic for the producers. Like I said, I'm easy. I get hooked on nearly every cop or law show that comes out, many of them with some of the same issues. But it seems the only effort they've actually put into the show is trying so hard for shock value that I just can't stomach it. Oh, all the disturbing violence scenes are fine; I just can't take the utter blandness of the plot and characters the things which should be the true foundation of any decent show. The bright side to all this? The premiere to Hannibal was the Shawshank Redemption of TV shows by comparison. I’ll stick to that instead.… Expand

I gave the show an honest chance but it's just too ridiculous. As others have mentioned the FBI agents in the show are ridiculously foolish, and as someone involved in law enforcement I can see all the procedural mistakes that really shouldn't be made. Basically for Carroll and his cult to succeed it requires everyone working for the FBI to be dumb. Plus I'm not seeing exactly what it is about Carroll that has caused so many people to join his cult of killers. Sure, James Purefoy is a charismatic actor and one I normally like, but there is nothing about his character that is so compelling that it seems realistic for all these people to suddenly go "Hey, I think I'll kill people now for him." It just feels like the writers of the show are so impressed with their villain that they've written everything to automatically work for him, instead of really thinking through their premise to make it plausible. In other words, the whole thing is filled with plot holes that are too noticeable for me to be able to enjoy the show, and a villain who wins simply because he's the villain and that's what the writers want.… Expand

This show gets worse by the week. I find myself fast forwarding through many of the never ending filler scenes. May have been OK if there had only been 6 or 8 episodes but 60% of the show is filler. I only have kept watching to see Joe finally get what he should have gotten long ago. And have you ever seen dumber police work? Ever episode contains at least one instance in which either dumb or sloppy work leads to disaster. Pleeeeeeease don't keep this story line going into another season. I'm sure I'm not the only one who won't tune in any more. Kevin Bacon is the only thing thing that makes the show even half watchable.… Expand

Unconvincing and utterly silly. This would have worked for 2 maybe 3 episodes at best, but a whole season of lunacy?

Bacon is good, but he can't save the show from the absurdity of the story.

The biggest load of crap I have ever seen. How many times will this fool have the prison doors opened for him. By series end the whole planet will be a signed up following member.

It's hard to believe that a show that had so much promise fell so short. Even with Kevin Bacon attached, how could it have gone so wrong? It's predictable, routine and stale material.Bad writing, over-acting round off the mix.

Wow, this is a pathetic attempt to make another serialized show about a serial killer who wants to play cat and mouse with an FBI anti-hero who once beat him, and is so pretentious that even Poe would call him a hack. Actually, Poe would consider this guy a phony. While the actor who plays the serial killer isn't bad, he's nothing special when it comes to manipulation. Especially to the point of having a cult. He's not high IQ hippy with tons of drugs and a bunch of lost, angry people searching for something DIFFERENT. He's not charming or even a mystery of having actual different personas like Bundy or Kemper. And he's not as cunning as the Zodiac or Jack the Ripper. He gets caught and his wife bangs the guy who catches him. The masks are beyond silly. The fact that some of these brainwashed clowns have any sort of college education is even more laughable. Poe would be considered boring still. They should have gone for H.P. Lovecraft, and an actor who radiates charm and a pretend down-to-earth ego so people would be more easily played. Manipulation is an art, not a science. Poor Kevin Bacon, he deserves better than this derivative, vacant show written by a guy who once wrote Scream and Dawson's Creek. Chris Carter, Whedon, Minear, and many others could have done a better job with this supposedly dark material. This is tame compared to Millennium, The Inside, and other shows that Fox has tried. Seriously, Dexter is ACCURATE compared to this Hot Topic drivel.… Expand

SPOILER: this show is absolutely terrible! The cliched English serial killer villain is laughable. Somehow this college professor reads a few Edgar Allen Poe stories and metamorphoses into some sort of super-powerful ninja assassin. As another reviewer noted all the non serial killer characters are idiots. All the serial killer characters are idiots too, mind you. The plot has more holes than the Albert hall. Seriously, don't waste any fraction of your valuable life on this dross.… Expand

I cannot believe how stupid the FBI is in the show. Episode 7 the guy is in a car, they know where the car is, they have a helicopter, there are local police, do they send any of these, no they don't. Just slowly drive after the car, and what do you know they are just too late. Makes the show so frustrating to watch. I am done with this TV show, it is unpleasant and unenjoyable to watch, just the same thing every episode, and nothing changes.… Expand

Im not worried about plot, entertainment and acting per se. However, The Following turns gratuitous violence into a cliche. After last nites episode where Carroll kills his acolyte who offers himself as a sacrifice I believe this show has no aspirations to make evil look bad. I am now seriously wondering what entertainment media is thinking. This show is on during prime time and probably being watched by our kids! Have we lost our minds along with our sensibilities?… Expand

So, basicaly, everyone is working for Carroll, right? Hell, even the FBI works for him! The rest of the people who are actually trying to katch him are a bunch of incompetent morons! But questions above all the stupidity of this show that no one bothered to ask are: Why is Carroll killing people? Why are his followers killing people? What is their main motive in killing, the one that makes them organise on a hidden farm with computers and surveillance cameras? Some crazy religion? What?… Expand

I notice most of the positive reviews were after only a few episodes. I love Kevin Bacon and love seeing him but its clear others agree it is just getting exhausting. It's not believable. Even for a tv show. They did not develop the Joe Carroll character enough for the audience to see why anyone would want to follow him let alone so many people. Cops, soldiers, lawyers all these people are committing crimes for this dude? In the earlier eps when it was just a few loony tunes I was able to believe it but not anymore. And the cops never have enough back up? When one of the worst serial killers in history has escaped they can't get a few more feet on the ground or a helicopter? Frustrating.… Expand

Not even Kevin Bacon can carry this utterly predictable and diabolical script. The acting is at best, shocking. Exceptionally poor on all counts. The main lead is as plastic as the storyline with equally plastic supporting actors. So far an incredibly painful show to watch and yet with so much promise.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Awful show. Kevin Bacon is a great actor and this series does not do him justice! The writing and dialogue is unrealistic and flawed! If the show is to continue, hire a new writer and hire a good law enforcement consultant.… Expand

This show is EVIL and stunningly preposterous in its plotting. The characters are morons. I hate this show. If one psychopath commits a crime imitating this contemptible series Fox should be sued into oblivion. Does that network have NO standards and practices department?

Like many, I watched the 1st episode or 2 and thought it was decent. But I have never seen a show fall off more than this. The writing is extremely amateurish. Did it ever occur to the people who made this show that the "good guys" are completely unlikable because they are absolute idiots who week in and week out make mistakes in the investigation that Roscoe P Coltrane wouldn't make. This is the FBI you are making a mockery of. I would be ok with them being outsmarted with extremely intricate plots, but this buffoonery? And then you have the ongoing story line, which is just simply not thought out at all. There are character that the "bad" guys try to kill early on who are a part of their future plans, which have already been mapped out. It's like they inserted a few murder attempts just to try to make the show have action without regard for the storyline.

I actually like some of the actors and actresses in this show and hate what this shows cancellation is going to do to their careers. But its too late now, this show is horrendous.… Expand

I am so sick of this show, writers really think we believe all the nonsense they write??? Come on! All the FBI is trying to catch Joe Carrol, but it really seems that Hardy is all the time absolutely alone... We do have brains people! where is the common sense? I feel offended by this production.