So we’re now three weeks into The Following. If you don’t watch the show, here’s the gist: Kevin Bacon is trying to stop a cult-like group of serial killers (inspired by James Purefoy’s main serial killer, who he captured) from killing.
Since this show was held for midseason, the previews have been around for a while – and they all made the show look pretty cool. Kevin Bacon chasing baddies, James Purefoy looking menacing, and lots of danger!
In practice, though, it’s a little muddy.
The show derives a lot of its “depth” from the fact that Purefoy’s character was a literary professor, and has been inspired by Edgar Allen Poe in particular. Which is great, because that means that we get to make lots of literary references! Killers refer to their tasks not as murders but as “chapters”! Purefoy does a soliloquy on how he’s orchestrating this whole thing to force Kevin Bacon’s tragic hero back into the limelight!
Perhaps I’m hoping for too much, but the show does not deal much in subtlety.
A bigger problem, though, is that the fundamental structure of the show (where we spend a significant amount of time with a few of the cult members as they work through their relationship problems) puts us in the situation where we’re supposed to care about these cult members. At least a little. Right now I don’t care that the third killer is feeling left out because he might be in love with the guy he was supposed to be dating when they were undercover for three years. I do care about seeing him caught and/or killed by Kevin Bacon (a little).
The arena of horror and serial killers means that the show should live in the world of tension and relief, and really force us to want to watch. Instead, they explain everything so plainly that I’m pretty sure I can wash the dishes and more or less keep up – and get the same emotional resonance out of it.
That being said, with 30 Rock and Last Resort out of the rotation now, looks like I’ve got a little extra time on my hands. For now it’ll remain probationary, although I’m very close to dropping this show.
