The Following (Season 1)

Series: The Following

Season: 1

Episodes: 15

Created By: Kevin Williamson

Released: 2013

Rating: 4.5/5
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Anyone Can Die
A lot of shows/movies/ect. like to tease the premise that anyone can die. This show starts off with Sarah Fuller dying. The fact that Sarah died isn't anything to write home about. It's the fact that the actress who played her, Maggie Grace, seemed to hold enough creds to warrant it very unlikely for her character to die. Starting off with killing off a character played by a film actress, just made The Following's point that anyone could die very clear. There are some very surprising deaths in this season. Some deaths are a good shock and others seem to be a tad bit lazy.

Emma
Here is yet another character I love and everyone else hates. Here is a character who has less humanity than Joe Carrol (the leader of the Cult). Emma's main traits are her cruel ruthlessness (she has killed and left fellow cult members to die) and her obsession with Joe (they have a brief affair, well it all depends on what happens next season). I think it is her pure inhumanity that attracts me. There are some characters that you love to hate and she is one of them for me. By the way this season ends, it seems that it is possible that she will play some big part come Season 2.

Complexity of Some Characters
Some characters are shown to be more than one dimensional. Joe Carrol is shown to be a loving father that cares for his son and wife. Cares for his wife so much that he doesn't want her to feel guilt for what he's done. Joe Carrol is also shown to be a killer who is willing to kill his own wife just for the sake of writing a book. Jacob is one complicated character as he is both ruthless but has his own doubts about the cult. I really wish that the rebellious Jacob plotline was given more time. Ryan Hardy (played by Kevin Bacon) has a lot to him. But he's the "man who has seen too much and just wants to quit, but gets pulled back in to his old job because of a new case". This isn't to say Ryan is a flat character, but he isn't the most fleshed out character in the show.

Final Thoughts
I don't know how the series will go on without Joe Carrol. This is because Season 1 had him being very important. So important that him surviving until the end is just as important as Ryan Hardy surviving until the very last episode. I hope every character's death next season will be as good as Sarah Fuller and Debra Parker's and not as bad as Roderick's. The gore in this series is good, though if this series was on HBO it would've been much better. The hiatus until Season 2 will be very painful, especially because of the killer cliffhanger Season 1 gave us.