Just like The CW’s Arrow, Fox’s The Following was a show I saw on Preview Night but also wound up re-watching while waiting for a later panel (the awesome Person Of Interest on CBS — more on that later).
Not a person of interest.
After a screening of the pilot episode for the series, creator and executive producer Kevin Williamson and stars Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy took the stage to discuss the show (you can find my thoughts here).
Now while there is no denying the sheer awesomeness of Rome’s James Purefoy and the Baconator, I certainly am not alone in my concern and distrust over a genre show in the hands of Kevin Williamson.
Best. Catchphrase. Ever.
Williamson rose to prominence after writing the movie Scream, a flick that has since earned its place in the annals of horror by famously and single-handedly re-invigorating the slasher genre in the mid-nineties.
However, since that great success, Williamson has proceeded to prolifically parlay that creative power into a veritable slew of shitty projects, including the movies I Know What You Did Last Summer, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, The Faculty, Cursed, numerous crappy TV shows and the painfully loquacious Dawson’s Creek.
Still the world’s biggest little bitch.
Thankfully, despite his questionable track record, it seems Williamson was overdue to add some quality into the mix, and based upon the pilot for The Following, that’s exactly what he’s managed to do.
During the panel Kevin Bacon earnestly joked about how his offers to play complex heroes in films have dried up of late, and how that fact contributed to him considering television for the first time in his career.
I wonder where he got that idea?
Regardless, Bacon brought the goods with him to the role of troubled former FBI profiler Ryan Hardy, and he absolutely infuses the character with a big screen gravitas that elevates the show to another level.
So, basically the opposite of what this douchebag did.