THE FOLLOWING: "Pilot" S1E1 (review)

By Steve Ahlquist

Kevin Bacon comes to series television in creator Kevin Williamson's The Following, playing Ryan Hardy, "a flawed hero in search of redemption." That's not my description, but the description of the villain of the series, Joe Carroll, played by James Purefoy. Joe Carroll is a serial killer inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, who Ryan Hardy brought to justice years ago.  One month before his execution, Carroll stages a daring, bloody escape so he can complete his work, killing the one victim who got away. In a series of flashbacks we learn that Carroll was shot by Hardy before he could deliver the killing blow to Sarah Fuller (Maggie Grace), a young medical student.


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