MovieChat Forums > The Following (2013) Discussion > What are some of the most bone headed mo...

What are some of the most bone headed moments of the series...


Not necessarily plot holes, just dumb moves on the characters parts, a few that come to mind:

- Ryan Hardy going to that cult camp to capture Joe and instead of waiting for back-up he throws his celluar phone away and proceeds alone (we all know how that turned out).

- After deducing that Lily is a follower instead of playing it off and arresting her, he gives her the menancing I know who you really are look - of course she runs and gets away.

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The moment in season one where it is revealed that Joe had built his network of serial killers by utilizing/posting on message boards from behind bars.



No one takes anything that anyone writes on these things seriously.

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I had to eliminate this series from my autorecord list following the third episode of the second season. I simply could not stomach the absurd story plots and utter incompetence by Ryan and the FBI.

Admittedly, I am not one who possesses an unqualified support for law enforcement (it's due to personal past experiences like; being pulled over for being "in the wrong neighborhood," which I was unaware was a criminal action).

I apologize for the digression. But, I still do not believe law enforcement in the US to be nearly as incompetent as portrayed in this series. Ryan and his colleagues's pathology for stupid decisions was unbearable. Ryan alone, extended their criminal longevity with his bone-headed decisions. The series was like an instructional series of "what not to do as law enforcement."

I have traveled to more than 25 nations, as well as lived abroad, so I have considerable experience involving the comparison of US law enforcement to others; American police already possess an international reputation for being corrupt and hyperviolent; shows such as this merely serves to reedify such notions.

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Dumb is shooting suspects dead by deliberately aiming for the lethal spots like heart and chest. You'd think that maybe just once or so they would aim for the legs or thighs when they are standing 5 to 10 feet away. So they don't end up killing an important witness. Talk about dumb.

Dumb is thinking that by sticking a knife in someone's gut, they are going to immediately and soundlessly die. It takes agonizingly long and painful minutes to bleed out from a gut wound or a lung puncture by knife.

I can't point out all the specific times this has happened in the series. It is a constant.

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So many it's even hard to make a list. This is without a doubt the single most stupid show pretending to be serious and smart I have ever seen.

Just my favorite eye roll moments of the end of season 1:

- Mike spots Sheriff "Rodrick" at the police station. Rodrick didn't see him.
Option A: Wait until he's gone and notify the rest of the FBI to get him arrested and interrogated.
Option B: Confront him, alone, by brandishing a weapon in a crowded police station where nobody knows you and he is the blameless sheriff.
Guess which one this FBI agent picked.

- Rodrick escaped (shocker!). The whole FBI is pointlessly looking at satellite pictures trying to find the house where the rest of the cult is.
NOBODY thinks about just checking the GPS and tracking data for his sheriff car. Why? because he visited the mansion a number of times with it and that would have spared us the other 2 seasons.

- Cult is on the run. Small town mayor decides that everyone will be much safer if they all get together in one place to make sure it's easier for the cult members to hide out and massacre the whole town. FBI's response: sounds good.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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my god, THE reason i jsut stopped wathcing cold turkey was the moment the female kidnapper and the lil kid left the house and got standing still by the fbi guy and the local cop. And ALL OF A SUDDEN the loacal cop is a part of the following too. Thats wayyyy to easy.

When youre out of reasonable storyline just add a random follower that was undercover all the time -_- so origional.

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Theres so many I tried keeping a list and it got tiresome.

This show makes the FBI look incredibly stupid, arrogant, and incompetent. I seriously doubt they are this bad in real life.

I think the worst offenses are just barging in with the absolute bare minimum of people. In most cases they could have easily called for backup and waiting to observe the locale for hours or even days. There was rarely any need to invade quickly. So yeah, thats my major complaint.

The other is they apparently never do any background checks on ANYONE they get help from, on top of which they supposedly have video of every single person who ever visited Joe in prison.

Its always way too late before they realize what was going on.

BUT, if they made good decisions this show would have been over in episode 3.

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Oh, and of course theres all the massive technical problems that accompany crime dramas.

Biggest one is that white people turn yellow when they die. That never happens in the series. Also, the vast majority of people soil themselves when they die. That doesnt seem to happen in the series.
That blonde girl, Heather, would not have been fun to dance and play with if she were dead all day.

And every law enforcement agency in the world trains their people to never relinquish their weapons. Ryan did it in every episode and it always worked out badly for him and usually one other person.

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I think my favorite is every single time Ryan demands of any other character, "WHERE IS JOE?!"

Why would it be that easy, that all you'd have to do is ASK? In the middle of a hostage situation? And then ask again in the middle of another hostage situation?

No doubt inspired by 5 year old child on a 3 hour car ride.

Also: how does the one twin get his face wrecked by Weston but his Colgate smile stays perfect?

Why not though? He took a couple bullets and bounced back up like a goddamn weeble wooble, why not take a frenzy of fists to the face and not even crack a tooth?

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