Is 'The Following' worth following?

If you are on the fence about watching the new FOX serial killer drama The Following, I suggest you give the show a chance. This is a bit of a snap review, as I just finished watching the premiere a few minutes ago. My opinion might change, but for now, I will say I liked it. This and The Americans are the two new TV shows I am most excited about, so right now I'm batting a thousand.

A word of caution: My review definitely contains spoilers, so if you have The Following waiting for you on your DVR, or if you plan on catching the show on demand, hold off on reading this for now, okay? Just make sure you do eventually get around to watching the show (with the lights on and the door locked), and please come back to sound off on what you thought.

In The Following, Kevin Bacon is FBI agent Ryan Hardy. Eight years ago, Hardy single-handedly captured one of the most dangerous serial killers ever: Joe Carroll. When Carroll escapes from a maximum security prison, Agent Hardy is called to consult on the case. Hardy was gravely injured in a showdown with Carroll (he was stabbed in the heart and now has a pacemaker). After Carroll's capture, Hardy wrote a best-selling true crime novel about the case. He's also a tortured soul, having never gotten over the trauma that the Carroll case wrought. The guy has serious issues.

Oh, and did I mention that Ryan Hardy also fell in love, and slept with, Joe Carroll's ex-wife? That only serves to make things even more complicated, but it's good sleazy drama on the side.

The strongest positive element of The Following is the show's fast-paced script, which should come as no surprise. Why? Because The Following was created, and is written by, none other than Kevin Williamson. In terms of history, Williamson has a fairly high success rate with television dramas (Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries). The Following, however, is much darker than the aforementioned shows, and certainly gorier.

Historically speaking, most of the goriest shows on television have aired on networks like FX (American Horror Story) and AMC (The Walking Dead). It will be interesting to see whether The Following can continue to air fairly heavy gore scenes without drawing the ire of censors. The Following might just be the goriest show ever to air on one of the so-called "big four" networks, in fact. Scenes of brutality, especially those against women, were peppered throughout The Following's premiere. Will audiences embrace the gore, as they've done with other thriller/horror dramas? That remains to be seen.

I really liked the first episode of The Following. It was fast-paced and smartly acted by both Kevin Bacon and the brilliant James Purefoy (as Joe Carroll). Purefoy steals the show. He's perfect as a sociopathic, Ted Bundy-esque murderer. But wait, you're asking: Where's the twist? The twist, you see, is that the ever-so-charismatic Joe Carroll has somehow inspired an entire cult of followers to do his bidding. So now you've got some twisted Bundy-and-Charles-Manson hybrid serial killer thing going on. It works, really well.

Joe Carroll is inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe, believing that death is, essentially, art. Like Poe, he's also more than a little bit insane. He cuts out the eyes of his victims, believing them to be the windows to the soul. He enjoys toying with Agent Hardy, preferring the cat-and-mouse game instead of just killing him.

During the first episode of The Following, when Joe Carroll is recaptured (voluntarily, really), he flat out tells Hardy that he enjoys the fact that he's a character with a fatal flaw. He wants to collaborate with Hardy on a new novel, a sequel. 

If all of this seems formulaic, it is, but it worked for me on some level, enough that I'm going to stick with The Following for a few more episodes. If I do wind up getting hooked on the show, let's just hope FOX doesn't decide to cancel it.

This drama has a major creep factor going, though not on the level of oh, say, American Horror Story. The Following is more in line with a Silence of the Lambs type of storyline, with Purefoy's Joe Carroll taking cues from Hannibal Lecter's playbook. Some will no doubt say it almost rips off both Silence and Thomas Harris' Red Dragon (which became the 1986 movie Manhunter), and I say that's fine. It's close enough that I find it interesting, and different enough to keep me guessing.

I'll be perfectly honest in saying that I really, really love Kevin Bacon. I want him to succeed. Maybe this is clouding my judgement, and tomorrow I'll wake up and decide that The Following wasn't nearly as good as first thought. For now, I'm sticking to my guns and saying I liked it, a lot. I needed a Monday night show to replace Gossip Girl, and there is simply no way I'm going to watch The Bachelor. Been there, done that, and I can't get those hours of my life back.

Did you watch the series premiere of The Following? What did you think? Is it a hit, or a miss? Also, did you think the show was too gory?