The Following’s already been renewed for a second season, so there wasn’t much pressure on tonight’s episode. Still, I feel like every episode has been slightly worse than the one that came before it (it’s now more of an action-thriller show than a suspenseful/horror one), and the show has grown increasingly preposterous in how well-organized Joe Carroll’s cult is. They feel more like a paramilitary unit than a cult, and all because…wait—what is the philosophy again? Joe Carroll wants to write a book and they like Edgar Allan Poe and that’s supposed to make former soldiers sacrifice everything for a cult? [I don’t think right-wing militia members are going to be that mesmerized by gothic romanticism.]
At times, the show feels like a shoddy “24”-clone with a serial killing cult instead of more formal terrorists. And tonight’s episode wasn’t much of an exception. It involved the possible-deaths of all three lead characters (James Purefoy, Natalie Zea, and, most improbably, Kevin Bacon) even though they’ll all probably be back for a second season. [The actual “24” never would have played it this safe.] Bacon’s FBI agent vanquished Purefoy’s cult killer in a lighthouse showdown that was supposed to serve as the ending to Joe Carroll’s book. Again, was Purefoy’s Carroll really so charismatic he could cast people under his sway? Wasn’t he a little too reptilian and snide to really sway people? I just think they cast an actor who’s a bit too obviously evvvvvvil than one charming/intuitive enough to make people feel like he’s on their side. It would have been much creepier/scarier to cast a more sympathetic/warm actor in the part.
BUT, if you’re a fan of the show, then you’re probably already familiar with the problems I just listed, and this finale may have been better for you than it was for me. Grade for the season finale: B-