01x00 - Inside The Following

[bunniefuu]

Man on phone: I know things didn't end well with the Bureau, but you caught Carroll.

Hardy: He didn't just eviscerate 14 female students.

He was making art.

Carroll's ex-wife. I'd like to speak to her.

I'm sorry I didn't call you.

It's been eight years, Ryan. I got the hint.

He's scheduled to be ex*cuted. He'll only talk to you.

I will be your friend, Ryan, even though you slept with my wife.

[Siren blaring]

Calling in, signal 63! Get some help now!

Female reporter: Five guards are confirmed dead from this prison escape.

Man on phone: We need you in Virginia, Ryan.

Three bodies were found m*rder*d in the last six hours.

[Tires screeching]

He's finding people to help him.

It's like they're his followers.

This is just the beginning.

[Phone ringing]

[Beeps]

Hello?

Man: Hello, Ryan?

It's Director Franklin, FBI.

I'm not an agent anymore.

I know things didn't end well with the Bureau, but you caught Carroll.

No one knows him like you do.

The Following is, um-- well, it's a thriller. It's a drama.

It's sort of an epic story of good and evil.

It's a story of one man, Ryan Hardy, who has lost his mojo in a weird way.

This is a man who's lost his life.

He was a wonderful FBI agent, and in the prime of his career, he was sort of sh*t down by this one serial k*ller.

He was stabbed in the heart, literally.

Kevin Bacon: Ryan Hardy, when we meet him, ten years, he's been kind of the walking dead, you know?

No real focus to his life and not doing much.

Drinking too much.

Williamson: He's broken. He's a broken man.

Then he gets this phone call, and he gets a second chance at the career he lost.

And that's kind of what our serial k*ller, Joe Carroll, has intended.

Because when Ryan Hardy brought him down, he didn't see that coming.

This is a narcissistic, brilliant mind.

"And an FBI agent from Brooklyn was my demise?"

That's not gonna do. So he spends eight years in prison coming up with a way to write his masterpiece, and he's placed Ryan Hardy at the center of it.

I need a strong protagonist, a flawed, broken man, searching for redemption, and that is you.

Bacon: The time that I was the most alive is the time that I was tracking and busting Joe Carroll.

So being brought back to the FBI-- it's like a man reawakening.

So he had access to a legal library?

Actual books or digital files?

Digital. Everything's archived in the library server.

He had internet access?

He would've been restricted.

Because that would stop Joe Carroll.

Joe Carroll, while he was in prison, had gained internet access, and with that internet access, he had sort of started contacting people.

Then they realized that the same people he was contacting on the internet were actually visiting him while he was in prison.

So they start to realize that there's a following here-- that there's actually a cult of serial K*llers.

Drop the w*apon!

Lord, help my poor soul.

Ma'am, ma'am, look at me. Look at me.

You can just hand that thing to me.

I never think it's gonna be okay.

Williamson: I came up with the back-story for this show several years ago when I was doing all this research on serial K*llers, and, of course, the Gainesville Murders.

I found that so insidious just how he m*rder*d all those women.

Then when they actually found him, I was like, "oh, he was just a vagrant in the woods?

Wouldn't it be better if he was, like, this, you know, sort of this charismatic professor, and he had some sort of great literary purpose?"

Then I took sort of an idea I had about a cult and just merged them together.

She'd never suspect them, and now they're taking her straight to Carroll.

It's like they're his followers.

Have you pulled the GPS? Where are the satellites?

I knew you'd show up eventually.

Do something! Move!

I got a phone call, and they said Kevin Bacon is looking to do a TV show.

He actually is interested in television.

And I went, "Yeah, but--"

I mean, it was beyond my wildest dreams. We can't get Kevin Bacon.

Bacon: I read the script, and I couldn't put it down.

So many times when I went, "Oh, wow. I did not see that coming."

And I also saw a part that had the three things that I was looking for.

One was that the character be heroic.

Two is that if he's going to be heroic, he has to be damaged, complicated.

And the third thing was that the stakes have to be about life and death.

Who let him have this?

Woman: - Anyone could have.

"Dear Ryan, I enjoyed your book.

Have you ever considered a sequel? Best, Joe."

I think he's letting us know that he plans to k*ll again.

Bacon: I think that Ryan Hardy has a very, very deep kind of connection to Joe Carroll.

I think that I admire Joe Carroll in a strange sort of way.

Williamson: Joe Carroll is a Professor of Literature.

He sort of specializes in the Romantic period.

Edgar Allen Poe is his favorite due to sort of the gothic romanticism of everything he writes, and just sort of how death is about beauty.

And I think that's the nature Carroll's operating from in his mad, mad mind.

He really is the devil squared, you know?

He's a really bad man.

He's incredibly manipulative.

He's manipulating all the time.

Have you slept? You look tired.

It's important you take care of yourself, preserve your strength.

He's kind of up above everybody else, looking down, because they're all scrabbling around in the gutter trying to work out what the heck he's gonna do next.

Carroll: You gotta toughen up, Ryan.

You're dealing with depraved minds, sick and twisted.

That's what makes the story so unpredictable.

James Purefoy is gold.

When he looks at you in the eyes, it's a little scary, cause you don't know if he's going to kiss you or k*ll you, you know?

He does have that ability, and I think that's what makes a great villain.

And he has a wonderful chemistry with Kevin Bacon.

She almost d*ed-- the woman you profess to love.

Poor thing. That was the entire point.

It was for you.

The scenes that James and I have together are--

I mean, for lack of a better term, they're very much cat and mouse.

It's kind of like when the two big gorillas get in the same cage, and that's always exciting to watch.

You saved the day.

How does it feel to be victorious?

To k*ll the villain?

I didn't k*ll him.

That wasn't part of the plan, was it?

You have to believe that this hero and this villain are connected and tied together in this sort of intense way, so you need two riveting actors.

I feel that's what I've got with Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy is I've got this amazing duo of actors that can really just go at each other constantly.

And it's so much fun to watch.

Why are you doing this, Joe?

The challenge, Ryan. Accept it.

You've barely even started.

I have so many surprises waiting for you.

We know about the cult.

I'm not a big fan of that word.

I like to think of them as my friends.

Do you have any friends, Ryan?

I will be your friend, even though you slept with my wife.

Williamson: At the core of the story is this love triangle.

Basically, you have good versus evil, you have your hero versus your villain, and the woman in between them.

Professor Matthews.

Yes?

I'm Agent Ryan Hardy, FBI.

Can I speak with you?

Sure.

Claire Matthews, played by Natalie Zea, is sort of the love interest.

Not just for our villain but for our hero as well.

Try Edgar Allen Poe. You should talk to my husband.

He knows a lot about that time period.

You're married?

Yeah. Yes, I'm married, Agent Hardy.

Why? Are you flirting?

Natalie Zea: Claire Matthews-- she's married to James Purefoy's character, Joe Carroll.

And she, throughout the investigation and the trial, ends up becoming very close to Ryan Hardy, and a relationship is formed.

Kiss me.

Are you sure you want me to kiss you?

Uh, yeah. I'm very sure. I've been sure for a long time.

Zea: We have the benefit of flashbacks, so we're able to see how the relationship developed initially and how it's going to redevelop.

I want the audience to root for them to get together, but at the same time, it's almost an impossible love.

I'm sorry I didn't call you. I belong in your past.

You deserve more.

Annie?

Williamson: Maggie Grace plays Sarah Fuller. And Sarah was a sorority girl back when Joe Carroll was k*lling girls on campus ten years ago. And it turns out that she was the only victim who survived, because Ryan Hardy saved her that night.

[Sarah screaming]

And so, she's his trophy. She's the one thing that he holds up that he did right.

Nothing's gonna happen to you. I promise you that.

I really appreciate you calling.

I'm just, uh, happy to hear you're safe.

Maggie Grace is wonderful, because she's playing this woman who we show in a flashback what happened.

And so, we see in present day why she's so traumatized by it.

[Gasps] Oh!

Sorry. Just letting you know there's two officers outside the door if you need them.

Sure. Thank you.

One of the first things that happens, when they realize in the pilot that this is bigger than just Joe Carroll and that he has a following is when they bring a specialist.

Hello, Mr. Hardy. I'm Agent Debra Parker. I'm new to the party.

Annie Parisse is the actress who plays Agent Debra Parker, who comes in, and she sort of partners up with Ryan Hardy.

Marshall Turner thinks I should dismiss you.

But he's remembering you for the man you were ten years ago, not the man you are now.

And there's a difference?

I hope so.

'Cause Joe Carroll has cast you as a main character in his psycho sequel, so I can't just kick you to the curb.

She's going to be a very unpredictable woman, a very mercurial character.

I wanna see Joe.

So you can break his other hand?

She is already surprising her fellow agents.

I think Carroll's--

Carroll's using Poe's work as a religion.

He's speaking to people through gothic romanticism.

Find the ones with additional disorders. Jackpot.

And her area of expertise is going to shine some light on how Joe Carroll is working.

I think it's time we use that word nobody wants to use.

So, we have a cult.

Shawn Ashmore is wonderful in the role of Mike Weston.

He's this young agent and sort of-- and sort of trying to become what Ryan Hardy used to be.

He's young, he's eager, he's smart.

He's a technical wizard.

Carroll never visited the same web address twice, which suggests he's using various URLs.

Who with?

Well, there's the rub.

Every time I access an IP address, it mutates.

The reason he's included in this case is because at Quantico he did his thesis on Joe Carroll, so he knows the case.

He knows Poe. He knows the poetry.

He knows Ryan Hardy. He knows everything about this case.

Williamson: So they chose him for his knowledge and what he could bring to the case, and now he's got this opportunity to work with his hero Ryan Hardy, and it's sort of fun to watch how the mentor-student relationship develops.

Jordy looks to Carroll the way Carroll looks to Poe.

It's a godlike kind of worship.

Is Carroll really that powerful?

He can inspire people. It's a gift.

Ashmore: Mike respects Ryan Hardy.

I think he knows that he was the one guy that could catch Joe Carroll the first time, and he's probably the only guy that can do it this time.

Who are all these women?

All names of women in Poe's life and work that d*ed.

Williamson: This show is evolving.

What starts as a very, sort of small story about one man and his little group of followers sort of opens up, and week to week to week it grows and grows and grows until it becomes sort of a nationwide epidemic and problem for the FBI--

Man: I've got eight, maybe nine different handwritings.

I want an analysis on each one. How many prints?

Four. Complete. Several partial.

This is so much bigger than we ever imagined.

You're going to want to see this.

What is that?

Carroll is teaching him how to become a serial k*ller.

A show like this we're constantly doing research for because we're dealing with the world of serial K*llers, the FBI-- you know, the FBI has opened up their doors to us and have been wonderful with letting our actors go out and trail with them and spend time with them.

I think Kevin Bacon has visited the FBI in New York several times and-- as well as Annie Parisse and Shawn Ashmore.

They've all sort of done their research.

I did the regular sort of ride along, you know, FBI.

You're looking at that, but what you're really focusing on is other people.

Carroll could easily convince an unbalanced brain to do this.

It's an exertion of power, theatrics.

Went to the Federal Building in Los Angeles, and hung out at the FBI there.

It was really interesting just to go talk with them, just sort of get the rundown on what it's like riding to a bust.

Federal agents. Open up.

And what it's like the first time you kick down a door and run into a room where you don't know what's going to happen.

Hit it.

Man: Clear the room!

Man #2: Room clear!

Our FBI agents are part of the BAU, which is the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and the agents I met with at the FBI were also part of the BAU, and I spent some time with one of their special agents, and he walked me through how they would set up a command center, which we have in our script.

He walked me through how they would set up a man hunt.

All the elements of our script that I understood cinematically, but I really didn't understand the reality of, the FBI was able to kind of take me through.

I have an address.

Tetersburg is too close. He'd never risk it.

Unless they're hiding under our nose.

Go. Take Weston...

And Ryan.

Call ahead. Have the local authorities meet you there.

Every time we have a question, I have a woman at the FBI.

I just call up and go, "Well, what about this?"

And she'll go, "Yes," or she'll go, "I cannot answer that, but it sounds like it might be right."

I think what's really great about the style of the show and what separates us from other shows is that we're not going so far into the world of fiction.

We're sticking with, this is what they really do and this is how they would really operate, and they have to move so quickly, figuring these things out, and that's the thing I learned most about the FBI, is they're human.

They're not superheroes.

They have to deal with real life challenges and decisions on the fly.

I came alone, Joe.

Isn't that what you wanted?

[Woman, crying] No. No!

No!

Bacon: I think the show needs to be as realistic as possible because that's what makes it scary.

It's not zombies. It's not aliens.

It's not vampires.

It's a gritty, gritty, kind of real show.

Hello, Ryan.

The show, to me, I want it to feel real and I want it to feel cinematic, and so we have Marcos Siega, who I've worked with in the past and he's this wonderful director Marcos has done a wonderful job of sort of creating this handheld visual, sort of a, everything's unsettling.

And action!

Go around back! Cover back!

So even when you think the camera's not moving, it really is, and there's this sort of ever-present heartbeat going on throughout the entire series, even in the most still moments, and I think that's sort of, that was sort of Marco's design, which I thought was quite wonderful.

[Bang]

Don't sh**t. I'm unarmed.

Man: It's you. We've been waiting for you.

Man #2: Keep them out! Keep everybody out!

Get back. Everyone back. Get back.

It's a style that is very fluid.

It doesn't require a lot of specific lighting.

There's no big dolly moves.

It's handheld. It's organic.

I want it to be creepy and mysterious and not to know what's coming around every corner, and that direction came from Marcos and from Kevin, talking about that it was going to be dark and moody.

Where is she? How did she get out here?

I don't know.

I think that the look of it is fantastic.

It's edgy and dark.

Ballinger-Gardner: I feel like this show has more in common with films than I do some television shows.

It just has that sort of raw, gritty-- it's handheld, so it moves very fast.

Kevin Williamson: I would liken it to 24 if I could.

What I liked about 24 was it was that sort of nail-biting thriller, that every single week you felt like you were getting this movie.

Parisse: It's that kind of storytelling, where you almost can't keep up.

When you have so much happening in every episode, you're sort of just digesting one piece when you're being taken over to the next thing.

[Sighs] Get the lights.

Get the lights!

Bacon: It's just really exciting for an audience.

My dream is that people will come into work on Tuesday morning and stand around the water cooler and say, "Could you believe what happened last night?"

One of the things I like most about this show is that I don't think there's a lot on network television quite like this, or even on cable.

As a writer, you sit down and you try to come up with something you haven't seen before, and we've all seen scary shows.

We've all seen m*rder stories.

We've all seen crime, serial-k*ller type shows, but I just wanted to sort of do my version of it.

I want to do sort of a cable show on network television.

I want to do the world's scariest show, but I also want it to be emotional and intense and dramatic.

Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.

In order to make the stakes high, people die-- people that you see, people that you grow attached to, people you don't like so well.

No one is safe on this show.

They could all die at any moment.

With somebody writing like that, it just feels that much more lifelike and also that much more terrifying because you truly can't count on what's coming next.

You shouldn't be here. You know you're going to die.

I hope people are continued to be surprise, not just by the fear element, but by the twists and turns that the characters take, and the growth of the characters.

You should get some sleep.

Don't go.

I don't trust anyone but you.

This show feels very immediate, very scary, very real.

You never know what's going to happen.

You never know who's safe.

You never know who's going to go next.

You never know who could be the bad guy.

Weston: There's been a new development.

Three bodies were found m*rder*d in the last six hours.

It's just kind of a chilling, you know, idea that anybody at any moment in any part of your professional or personal life.

He could've gotten to them, and they could be part of his cult.

I've never seen a show like this on prime time.

It looks like a movie, and it has a sort of a sense of dread and reality about it.

It gets under your skin in a deep and disturbing way.

Parker: He's conditioned them.

The only way to truly live is to k*ll.

I think, week after week the fans are going to get a really amazing ride.

It's going to be a fast-paced thriller.

Bacon: I think there's always going to be surprises.

I've read eight scripts, and every single time, as I'm going through, I go, "Whoa, I did not see that coming".

I didn't think that character was going to go in that direction, or I didn't think that person was going to die.

And I think it's scary as hell.

I mean, I think it's one of the scariest things on television.

What's my sequel about, Joe?

It's going to be a collaboration.

We're going to write this together, Ryan.

Writing about m*rder and mayhem is my happy place, but I'm getting to do this now with Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy and Annie Parisse and Shawn Ashmore and Natalie Zea, so it's been very exciting for me to be able to do this, and so I think, if people give it a sh*t, they'll get emotionally involved.

This is merely the prologue. This is just the beginning.

I'm trying to infuse it with great characters, great drama, great relationships, all told under this umbrella of a thrill ride every week.

If this ends with anything other than your death... you better plan on a rewrite.