Get ready to mark your calendars and lock your doors. Netflix is about to get a whole lot darker in the new year. While the streaming service is famous for shedding titles in January, it’s adding a massive, fantastic FOX crime series back to its catalog: “The Following!”
This gritty psychological thriller, which originally aired from 2013 to 2015, hasn’t been on Netflix for almost 8 years. But thanks to Netflix’s acquiring of Warner Bros., the series is finally making its dramatic return. Is it a coincidence that the film is set to return after eight years? After all, the series picks up eight years after a killer was caught. Intresting.
The Twisted Plot: Poe, Murder, and Manic Followers
If you never caught this series, you are in for a deeply unsettling ride led by a truly iconic cast. Kevin Bacon (Tremors, Stir of Echoes) stars as Ryan Hardy, a former FBI agent. He has been left with deep physical and emotional scars from his previous confrontation with a brilliant, serial killer named Joe Carroll.
The whole nightmare kicks off when Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), an English professor and novelist with a deadly fixation on Edgar Allan Poe, escapes from death row after eight years. Before his capture, Carroll had mutilated and killed 14 women.
Here’s where things get really dark: Hardy and the FBI quickly learn that while incarcerated, Carroll didn’t just sit around. He spent his time gathering a massive, cult-like collection of manic, devoted followers. These recruits are terrifyingly loyal, willing to commit murder, facilitate abductions, and even sacrifice themselves to help Carroll with his deadly objectives. Carroll’s ultimate, sickening goal is to exact revenge on the man who put him away: Ryan Hardy.
The Team and the Terror
The series is fueled by a strong supporting cast. That includs Jeananne Goosen, Shawn Ashmore, Annie Parisse, Nico Tortorella, and Natalia Zea, all playing prominent roles in the ever-escalating cat-and-mouse game against Carroll’s network.
If you need a binge-worthy series that’s full of paranoia, high-stakes chases, and a terrifying look at how one charismatic monster can completely warp the minds of many, you need to revisit this one.
All three seasons—that’s 45 episodes of non-stop, cult-fueled chaos—will be available to stream starting Saturday, January 3rd.
