An incredibly short review of The Following season one

The Following was on my radar ever since it was announced: a show about a serial killer who builds a cult following created by Kevin Williamson, what’s not to love? Turns out, a lot. The first episode was really great — action packed, quick-paced, everything you expect from a Williamson project. The problem is that every episode thereafter was exactly the same as the pilot.

The FBI grew more inept and incompetent as the episodes went on, we were shown so many aspects of these characters’ lives for reasons I don’t comprehend (sex cult), everyone showed up a minute late and then people died, Joe’s plan made no sense (was there even a plan?), everything was blamed on Poe. The more compelling characters got killed off; well, to me at least, the entire Emma/Jacob/Paul thing was one of the more intriguing aspects of the series. It was just a mess, to say the least. And I really don’t have much to say about it but that. In the end, I was disappointed that we didn’t get something a bit more clever with the same amount of breakneck pace as this. I did, however, enjoy reading the recaps. Too bad I wasn’t one of those that decided to recap it (busy on Tuesdays and all).

Though, I’ve been wondering that perhaps I got sucked into the critical vortex. Maybe the casual viewer actually loved this show. The ratings were good, and they even rose for the finale. I know a few NWN readers were watching it still, so what did you guys think?