When The Following kicked off it had the most gripping start that i've seen in a TV show in years. The cast, the setting, the plot... everything looked very promising. The references of Manson family, Waco siege, as well as serial killers would satisfy even the connoisseurs, with Ted Bundy even being quoted. Unfortunately, this didn't last long and the plot turned out to be the main problem.
As the first season unravels, the villains manage to outwit the FBI and the police on countless occasions. They are well equipped, have former military personnel among them and are functioning as a crossbreed of terror cell and cult.
And at a certain point this becomes irritating, because there is no excuse for the main characters to repeatedly fail miserably in the same fashion. Even the average viewer of TV shows would know some basic rules of police work: Secure the perimeter; Do not engage the fugitives when outnumbered and wait for support; Do not send the people to investigate the vaults without backup, especially when there's a possibility to encounter armed resistance etc.
We could argue whether the villains are depicted as almighty and the police and FBI as too stupid, yet The Following is not the show i'd recommend.
108 out of 149 found this helpful