I’ve been watching this show for eight episodes now, and it continues to surprise me. Sure, there are things I can point out that I think the characters SHOULD be doing when they’re doing something else, but overall, I’m pleased with the show. In a sick, twisted, it-makes-me-want-to-vomit way.
I used to have an interest in serial killers. Mostly about what made them the way they are so they want to kill people. Over time, that changed, and they terrify me almost as much as zombies. Let’s face it, zombies are just plain scary. ANYway… I used to watch Dexter, and I still would if I had Showtime, and I’ll probably find it on DVD to finish the series because Dexter is a great psychological thriller.
The Following is psychological (only a little because of the plot twists and no one seems to know how Joe Carroll got this way) and gory. I’ve seen more blood and ACTUAL violence and murdering on this show that I ever did on Dexter, who I regard as a pretty awesome serial killer. The difference between Dexter and Joe is that Dexter is meticulous and calculated and really wants to be a good person but is stuck with this compulsion to be bad. Joe is just plain bad, and we don’t know why.
Alright. There are only 8 (now 7, I think) episodes left of the season, and I have no idea where it’s going or what’s going to happen. That is often the staple of a good show. Last week, Joe escaped from prison for the second time. He was taken to a safe house where his cult was set up to serve him. He had his son kidnapped, and is trying to bond with him, which just isn’t going well. And he’s trying to find his wife, Claire, who is in protective custody. So much happening.
To find out where Claire is, Joe has Weston, the resident FBI tech guy, kidnapped and beaten, but gets nothing from it. And the FBI is freaking out and can’t really figure out what to do, especially with a new supervisor. I think the new supervisor (whose name I can’t remember) is a part of Joe’s cult, mostly because he was the one that sent Weston home, which got him kidnapped and beaten for information. I could be wrong, because it seems that in this show whenever you think you know something, you really don’t.
Oh, and Roderick finally makes an appearance. And he’s the sheriff. Surprise, surprise. But he did admit – in a flashback – that he killed two of the girls that Joe took the fall for, so he’s a lot more devious than we thought. It means that he’s more than just a follower. And Joe referred to him as his “first student.” Hmmm…
One of my pet peeves about this show is that it takes place in fake Virginia. Actually, that part is pretty cool. What makes it annoying is that there are a ton of fake cities with real names they are using, and they really don’t match in real life. But maybe that’s a good thing because I’d had to think that this Joe Carroll is running around my state. Anyway, a local (fake) city they used in this episode was Newport News (which is a real city, but fake in the show). The funny part about using Newport News is that they kept calling it “Newport Harbor.” I noticed while watching the captions (because I have the captions on for everything), and it sounded like it was dubbed over to say Harbor instead of News. It’s just a little thing I noticed that maybe someone else wouldn’t, but I still thought it was pretty cool.
Right before they start talking about Newport News…Harbor
What do you think of The Following so far? What do you think will happen next?
TV Geeks Unite 