The Following: Even Serial Killers Have Friends

If you know me at all or if you've read this blog, then you know I LOVE a good scare. But sometimes a movie or television show in this genre will reach into a dark place that feels...too scary, too real. Kevin Bacon's new show, The Following is pushing that boundary with me.

Can we just all agree that if we see someone wearing an Edgar Allen Poe mask, we run?

The premise of the show is as follows: Kevin Bacon is a former detective turned writer. Let me just stop there for a moment and reiterate a crucial detail that makes this show legit. Bacon is a FORMER DETECTIVE TURNED WRITER. This is not Castle. This is not some random fiction writer with no credentials helping to solve crimes. Nope. THAT show is ridiculous, and I will not stand for it. But THIS...this makes sense. Moving on...Bacon's character has to come back into the crime solving scene to face a former nemesis and serial killer who happens to have a cult following outside of prison. The story arc for this season is that the serial killer has had his ex-wife's (and Bacon's romantic interest) son kidnapped. Bacon and fellow officers are looking for him, but have very few clues to go on, as this crime has been well thought out and crafted over time. But the episodic formula is that each week someone close to Bacon is the victim of the cult followers. This of course is sprinkled with flashbacks of how each cult member came to serve the serial killer, as well as "random" members of society being victimized.

It's intriguing to say the least. Because you never know who is working for the serial killer. They could be policemen, teachers, nannies, students, even detectives. Pretty sure that'll preach.

Scariest pixie cut ever.

Anyway, all that is fine and dandy and not that different from any other crime drama. BUT...this one dances up to a line of sadism that is cringe worthy. The pain that is inflicted on the victims from week to week is surprising and drastic. Last week's episode featured electromagnets placed on a person with a pacemaker's chest. Eyes have been gouged, mothers have been stabbed, and my personal fear...a man was lit on fire. The thing is, the pain isn't limited to the victims. The cult followers are also susceptible to the torture. When one man ends up caught and in the hospital, he eats the gauze...let me repeat, HE EATS THE GAUZE around his wound until it chokes him.

Of course, maybe the most traumatic kind of pain is emotional. The three followers who are keeping the kidnapped child, have a strange threesome/romantic triangle thing going which creates its own kind of head games. But one of the three has never actually killed anyone. He allows a girl escape and the other two find out. Rather than killing her FOR him, they just bring her back and set her up again, slightly wounded and ready for him to try it again, to kill her. These types of mental/emotional challenges must be overcome to bring about the kind of devotion necessary for a cult to exist and succeed.

Why is it whenever I write about cults, I am reminded of a church I once attended?

The best revenge story since The Cask of Amontillado.

Anyway, The Following is really good. But it will push your limits. It will make you squirm and gasp at times. The show has the potential to go on for a long time. I predict ending this first season with a trade of some kind. Get the kid back for the wife. Or let the serial killer go free for the kid. Once that happens, the game will change, and new characters will come in. Whatever choices they make, I imagine that there is no end to the sadistic tactics that we as watchers will endure.

Are you watching The Following? What do you think?