Failed writer becomes cult leader!

Let this be a warning to all of you!

Until recently, I was watching the show, The Following.  But ultimately, it think it's an example of a story built on a premise that doesn't work.

I mean, really -- a cult leader sending his followers out to kill people?  That would never happen!

O.K..... Well, in this case it's more like proof that real life can be stranger than fiction.

For this show, I just didn't buy it.  These aren't mindless Manson zombies, but highly functioning, cunning, meticulous planners -- who outsmart the full F.B.I. at every turn.

They are followers of a failed writer, whose ideas about Gothic romance they are captivated by.  (Begs the question of -- if the writer's ideas are so powerful he can gather followers to kill for him -- why did his book fail?)  He sends them out to kill and, not so incidentally, to make Kevin Bacon's life as miserable as possible -- not sure which is more important to him, actually.

Problem is, as I see it, most romantics aren't psychopaths and most psychopaths aren't romantics.

So it is up to the show to try and prove the writer can be so seductive and charming and manipulative, that he can entrap not just one or two followers -- but dozens.  (Note to F.B.I. -- every follower so far visited him in prison.  Just saying...)

They've got a charismatic actor -- James Purefoy -- but they really don't convince me he's able to convert these followers.   (Especially through prison glass -- hey!  I think I'll follow this guy, who's serving multiple life sentences!  Okay, again a case of real life can be stranger than fiction.)

The show also has Kevin Bacon being Kevin Bacon -- which is always entertaining.

The show goes all in on the premise -- but I just couldn't quite suspend my disbelief.  And I'm a fantasy buff.  But I insist that there be internal consistency.  (I couldn't watch 24 for the same reasons...)

It shows the importance of having an initial premise that works.  If that doesn't happen, nothing you do -- good acting, plotting, camera work, etc. will save you.

I'll buy the most outlandish premise -- but you have to convince me, you have to make it work.