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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
22
Mixed:
17
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews
Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Some plot twists seem implausible at best, others are overdone or gratuitous. But some implausibility comes with the horror/suspense genre, and there's no question Williamson has mastered it--just as there's no question that the match of wills between the wounded Bacon and malevolent Purefoy is exceedingly well played.
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Jan 20, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The pilot rivals anything you'll see at the cineplex in terms of acting, surprise, and suspense. You will go into each commercial break with your heart in your throat. But what really makes The Following more like a feature film than a primetime program is its extravagant, emphatic savagery.
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Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
[Purefoy's and Bacon's] performances--and scenes that focus on Carroll's killer minions that I won't talk about lest I spoil things for readers--are the strongest parts of the series and overshadow the weaknesses. Those include numerous plot holes and some sketchy logic, plus Williamson's annoying habit of beating us over the head with the Poe references.
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Jan 17, 2013
Season 1 Review:
This provocatively, almost boisterously violent thriller bolts into action with a clever premise and sustains it with good, unexpected jolts. [28 Jan 2013, p.43]
Jan 20, 2013
Jan 10, 2014
Season 2 Review:
The sneak peak is sometimes flat and sorta dumb yet so dementedly busy-busy-busy that it's actually creepy, twisty fun. [17 Jan 2014, p.63]
Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The series loses some of its drive by its dreary fourth episode, when a labored love triangle between Carroll's disciples mars the overall flow of the central arc. ... Until that point, though, The Following is mostly engaging, even if it never truly substantiates its antagonist's godlike stature in the eyes of his worshipers.
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Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Nothing in this pilot promises how fascinating the show will ultimately become, and unfortunately, the show is more efficient than truly good. ... The first four episodes contain no aesthetically pleasing shots or sequences, just tedious coverage of talk and action, and too many of its 'shocking' moments are dependent on visual/aural shortcuts. ... Nevertheless, The Following fascinates, thanks to soulful lead performances by Bacon and Justified's Natalie Zea (as Carroll's ex-wife) and the nervy way it develops and sustains its central flourish.
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Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
I had hoped The Following' would be a more self-aware about its own violence... Instead, The Following simply goes for more generic thrills, using a lot of horror-story clichés including making the most virulent followers into boys and girls next door. It's a well put together show, so that the four episodes sent for preview flew by. But it doesn't invite bigger thoughts, which is what violent cable series such as "Dexter" and "Boardwalk Empire" have done at their best.
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Zap2it (Inside the Box)Jan 22, 2013
Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Through the show's first four episodes, an unexpected love triangle develops among three of Carroll's devotees that's tinged with unexpected sexual politics and questions about sexual identity. It's the only aspect of 'The Following' that feels fresh. Too bad this plot only serves as a side dish; the main course is the same old reheated serial killer/crime solver hash.
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Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Given that this show was created by "Scream" writer Kevin Williamson, there's the usual showy deconstruction of scary-story cliches, but that deconstruction just draws attention to how hollow this project is. ... Ultimately, my dislike for The Following has less to do with its gore factor than with its essential laziness, silliness and pretentiousness.
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Jan 14, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The main problem with The Following, isn't that by the second episode, you get the template of Williamson's gotchas--that the most innocent-seeming characters are actually Carroll's minions--it's that the violence is so gratuitous, it actually ruins what could have been a very good psychological thriller.
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TV Guide MagazineJan 17, 2014
Jan 21, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Despite its dour atmospherics and some attempts at higher-caliber acting from Kevin Bacon and a large ensemble cast, The Following is a trite, gratuitously violent exercise in still more stylishly imagined American horror stories. It is filled with melodramatic sleuthing that you've seen over and over. Enough is enough, isn't it?
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