A taut first hour heralded the network debut of Kevin Bacon in his first television role. He stars opposite the deliciously sinister James Purefoy in Fox's "The Following." The new series spent the first hour introducing the two men whose cat-and-mouse relationship first drew Bacon to the project.
Purefoy is Joe Carroll, a charismatic serial killer with an Edgar Allan Poe obsession. Bacon's Ryan Hardy was the FBI agent who managed to capture him, and save his final victim from death. She stood at the center of this new story as well, which is taking place almost a decade later. Carroll was determined to finish his life's work, and she was the last piece left unfinished -- which in this case means still alive.
What Hardy learned through the hour was that Carroll had spent his time in prison amassing a group of followers -- or "friends," as Carroll called them -- to pick up the pieces of his killing ways. Through a carefully orchestrated master plan three years in the making, that last victim's neighbors were Carroll plants. They helped him get his hands on her, and complete his personal murderous masterpiece.
But the story is yet to be told. His new plan is to collaborate on a new story, with Hardy as his flawed protagonist. How many followers he has remains to be seen. Thus far, viewers have met four of them. Carroll's son's babysitter turned out to be one of them. She kidnapped the boy for reasons yet to be seen.
Will you be following "The Following"? The serial (killer) drama continues on Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.
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