An invitation to un'Follow?'

Arguably the most successful new show of the year — certainly of the winter/spring — has been "The Following." The show, from "Scream" writer Kevin Williamson, had plenty of promise in its pilot. It also went for shock value in terms of story and violence as a hook. It worked to a certain extent.

Now seven episodes into its initial 15-episode run, the show is still drawing strong ratings. It's earned a quick second season pick up and its starting to show where it's going. The question is, will the journey be worth it.

Initially, when considering this show, I questioned how it would stretch this conceit out for a full season, let alone multiple seasons. It seemed there were a handful of followers, a simple mystery, and not a lot of room for character growth.

Turns out the writers had a trick or two up their sleeves. For those that haven't seen Monday's episode, stop reading now. Well, Williamson and the team unveiled their plans for the show during a twisty seventh episode. Joe Carroll (James Purfoy) is free, he has legions of followers, and he has is son. And as he told our protagonist, Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), this is just the end of the first act. But the question is, do we care about the rest of the story? Here are my concerns:

1. What makes Ryan Hardy a good protagonist? He is supposedly a brilliant investigator — though in flashbacks it sort of looks like he lucked into catching Carroll the first time. So far, he really hasn't done anything brilliant. Everyone he's tried to help has been killed. People he's worked with have been killed. His personal life is a wreck, and he really doesn't have any morals or methods that separate him from the villains. In his first interview with Carroll, he broke the man's fingers for fun. In Monday's episode, he decided it was time to torture people to get information, which is disappointing. Additionally, it's hard to see why Joe likes messing with Ryan so much, unless it's just because Ryan is so inept, which I have no trouble believing.

2. And this is the big one, how ridiculously unbelievable is this story? Joe escaped from prison in the pilot — killing a bunch of guards in violent fashion and then killing a victim who had lived. Then they caught him, put him back in prison, and he's been running a criminal network on the outside. Now I know that we live in a country and an age where people care more about the civil rights of criminals than other citizens, but still, this is ridiculous. To think that the government would allow this man to escape again, and so easily, seems far-fetched. To think a dangerous prisoner in maximum security could escape twice in the span of a week or two also seems ridiculous.

I understand the difficulty in driving the narrative forward while having Joe in prison. It sort of limited the interactions that were possible. And it seems better for him to be out, from a narrative standpoint, but this was just too much.

"The Following" has eight more episodes this season and will be around next season. It's still getting strong ratings, for now, but I remain skeptical on how this can move forward in a believable or enjoyable manner.