The Following

Wow! That is the first thing that comes to mind if someone asks me what I thought of The Following. I have seen the headlines of the reviews since the show premiered Monday but as it was patiently waiting for me on my DVR I stayed away from them. I wanted to judge for myself.

I have to say that I was conflicted about this show before I even watched it. I normally do not like dark shows and clearly this show is about some of the darkest material one can find. Combine that with the recent news stories of killing and death and I had legitimate questions if watching a show like this was feeding into the rivers of violence that permeate our culture.

Still I like Kevin Bacon and try to write about new things so I felt I would watch an episode, in the light of day, no bedtime viewing of this show for me.

The show comes as advertised. Before the first commercial break, in the opening scene we are treated to a murder scene that is as gory as anything I have ever seen on network television. Over the course of the next hour we see a woman who has painted Edger Allen Poe references on her skin and then commit suicide in a very public way, we see people being protected by police guard still come to harm and most of all we see the psychotic web that a serial killer has used to attract untold groupies to his cause.

We all have heard about women who befriend men in prison, something about them attracts a certain kind of woman. After watching a show like this one has to be concerned about this sort of thing. Kevin Bacon plays Ryan Hardy an FBI agent who captured the serial killer years ago after he killed many young women in a terrible fashion. When the killer Dr. Joe Carroll, a professor of literature with a Poe fetish escapes from prison Hardy is called out of retirement to work the case, albeit reluctantly.

This is pretty standard fare, how many times did Jack Bauer get called back in in 24, but it is the rest of the storyline that sets this show apart. Somehow, and we learn how, this man even behind bars has been able to program different people, online groupies, prison guards, and others to help him not just to escape but in an elaborate plan to finish his life's work. At the end of this first episode you see how far he will go to do so and once done and he is back in prison we see that as Carroll tells Hardy that was just the beginning, the full sequel is about to begin.

I do not know if I want to watch this show, in fact I am quite certain I do not. I do not know if I want a weekly dose of something this dark to enter my mind and soul. Still for what it is, this show is as well done as anything you will find. Suspenseful, literate, challenging, this show is all those things. I am just not sure if that makes up for the over the top gore and the scary place one has to enter each week to enjoy it. I will watch next week's episode, this I am sure of, but I certainly have no expectation of watching this show over the course of the full season. It is just too good at what it does, too dark for me.

Parenthood

We watched a couple episodes of this new series on NBC last week. Our local cable company on demand has all the episodes available and m wife and I watched a couple last week. I was very impressed. This series best known for being the first new series in the post Jay Leno ten pm time slot is a show that we have to hope catches on. A wonderful cast filled with faces you know and names you might not but for me the highlight is Craig Nelson as the family patriarch. An aging hippy who still expects his grandson to straighten up and fly right but once he is brought into the understanding that the child has a real issue he steps up and does all he can. Perhaps we as men identify as being gruff on the outside and mellow on the inside. We plan to watch the rest of the episodes and I hope we are not disappointed with the longevity of the series.

For me I have made the decision that with all the options we have I no longer will watch shows that do not bring me some kind of value in return. I have no need to see Jack Bauer kill or the narcissistic doctors on Nip Tuck. I sometimes think I am turning into my parents and wish to watch the Waltons or Little House on the Prairie. Those shows are not coming back, and Parenthood certainly would not be that show, my parents would not have approved of the joke of the four grown siblings smoking a joint in the school on a parent night.

The show however is worth watching. We will continue

24 Season Debut

Jack Bauer is back. He was this close to moving to Los Angeles to live a private life and playing Grampa to his 2 year old granddaughter. But as these things happen, especially to Jack Bauer, he now is involved in another effort to prevent a terrorist attack on a Middle Eastern leader as he visits the United States.

The show is enjoyable. But I just cannot be surprised. To me the show is like the Tom Clancy spy thrillers and John Grisham courtroom books. They are done in a superior way. They are very good at what they do. In no way, however, are the surprising or for me something I want to invest my time in.

We watch the show. We will continue to watch the show. My middle son who has not seen six seasons of the show previous as we have enjoys every minute. However, for me, i am done with the show. I will be in the room when it is on but it has just one on too long. I do not read Grisham anymore either. At some point you need to do something different...it is time for Jack to go be Grampa.