The Following “The Fall” 

When I first began watching The Following, I had always imagined that the plot was going to be something more than just a story of a group of naïve, mesmerized fans of Joe Carroll (James Purefoy).  In fact, the Executive Producers promised as much.  However, so far and especially with tonight’s episode, I have not been impressed.  Besides that, with the exception of Kevin Bacon, the acting as well is lackluster, making the show look amateurish all-around.

The episode starts off on a positive foot.  Hardy (Kevin Bacon) quickly senses the fear and nervousness in the newbie killers and plays on that perfectly.  He taunts them, saying that none of them would make it out of the farmhouse alive and warns the already scared pissless boy, Jacob (Nico Tortorella), that if he comes any closer to him, he’s going to get his spine broken.  And, of course, as soon as Hardy finds out about the infamous threesome, he has his fun with that knowledge, again focusing on Jacob since it is obvious he is the weakest one of the three.  It had been hyped that Bacon was going to give a heck of a performance tonight, and with that, I agree 100%.  Even with Purefoy’s menacing demeanor and over-the-top scare tactics, Bacon is quickly becoming the star of this series.

Beyond that, the episode quickly went downhill.  First, what killer would leave a knife not even two feet from one of the victims? I can barely even kill bugs, and even I know that would be an incredibly stupid move.  Yet, Paul (Adan Canto) does it anyways, and of course, that gives Hardy the perfect opportunity to escape.  Then, there is the casual mentioning to Emma (Valorie Curry) how Jacob “is doing with their relationship”, all this said right in front of Hardy for him to hear.  Are you kidding me?  The farmhouse is surrounded by police, SWAT, the ATF, etc, and Paul begins asking stupid and out-of-context questions like that?  When he asked the question, I actually did a face palm and yelled, “Doh!” At that point, I felt like I was watching a high-school production.

In the end, everyone, including Paul, Jacob, and Emma, escapes, leaving Agent Weston shot (but thank God for his bulletproof vest!) and four other agents dead.  The crucial thing that facilitated this was the fact that Carroll had planted a follower right into the local town’s police department.  Agent Weston’s comment “Who is the hell are these people!” was right on target.  If Carroll can get to a member of the police department, then everyone is suspect.  No one really can be trusted because that person could be under the spell of Carroll, just like that policewoman had been.

Finally, what exactly was the purpose of the Debra Parker (Annie Parisse) flashbacks in this episode?  I get that they provide us with an understanding of why she joined the FBI and studies cults today, but was it really the right place and the right time to deepen her character?   After all, we barely know her.  Agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) has had 10 times more air-time, and if anything, it would have been more logical to provide more background on this character.  Again, it’s just another part of the episode that just didn’t fit in very well with the overall plot.

One good thing, plot-wise, that came out of the episode is something that I had suspected for a while – Emma (Valorie Curry) going off on her own.  Paul and Jacob were becoming dead weight to her, and we knew it was a matter of time before she made her own move and abandon them.  Not to mention the entire story line of their kinky threesome was becoming somewhat old.  She still has Joey (Kyle Catlett) and is holding out for instructions from the almighty “Roderick”.  With Roderick being a character in the Poe piece, “The Fall of the House of User”, I seriously doubt that is his real name, but regardless, he appears to be a major player in Carroll’s game (and hopefully, a little more intelligent and organized than the others).  And, the big clue is even after everything that has happened, Carroll couldn’t be calmer.  Perhaps, everything didn’t go as planned (or, maybe it did?), but no matter, Carroll’s game is so much bigger, and this is only the beginning of the “fun”.

In comparison to past episodes, I thought this one was relatively poor, but I still like the series, and so, I’m still here.  You’ve got Kevin Bacon, who is absolutely sensational, and a main plot that has the potential of becoming something really big if developed the right way.  The network is hyping that the next episode is supposed to be “huge” and a “game-changer”, and so, I’m going to put this episode aside and hope for the best next week.