THE PLOT THUS FAR
Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Kevin Bacon and UK’s James Purefoy (Rome) star in this terrifying new thriller from Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries, Scream). When notorious serial killer Joe Carroll (Purefoy) escapes from death row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI calls former agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon), a psychologically scarred veteran who captured Carroll nine years earlier, after Carroll murdered 14 female students on a college campus where he taught literature. Knowing Carroll better than anyone and close with Carroll’s ex-wife, Claire, Hardy works closely with an FBI team, which includes no-nonsense agent Jennifer Mason and sharp upstart Mike Weston, and soon discovers that Carroll was not only communicating with a network of killers in the outside world, but has much more planned than just a prison escape-and there’s no telling how many additional killers are out there.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“The Following” was a show that I didn’t expect to impress me. That’s not saying that it did impress me. Honestly, there were a dozen other shows this year that won that honor. However, I kept seeing elements of greatness hiding behind techno babble and the desire to turn Purefoy into an Anthony Hopkins knock-off. This show was also part of the new wave of FOX taking a chance on high concept dramas that pushed heavy genre elements. I just wish that the show was smarter.
There is something to be said for what Kevin Bacon brings to the role. He plays the role like a 70s cop trying to make sense of a world out of his pay grade. By having a slightly dumb anchor, it almost makes the material that much easier to digest. The average viewer doesn’t know what’s going on and Bacon seems to be operating from the mentality. When we do have a heavy moment, it’s a shock without any real progression leading to that point. Plus, we do get a few moments of really creepy tension.
The Blu-Ray comes with a Digital HD copy, DVD copy, featurettes, commentary, deleted scenes and Maximum Episode mode. WB is really pushing that in-depth commentary PiP stuff for its wares. The A/V Quality is strong with a reference quality 1080p transfer for a TV show. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is really strong for a show like this. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 01/07/2014