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FOX 'The Following' will leave a mark, Purefoy and Bacon shine (VIDEOS)

By April MacIntyre Jan 7, 2013, 2:55 GMT

One of the better network dramas coming is FOX's taut new psychological thriller "The Following," starring Kevin Bacon as a near-fatally wounded FBI agent who's brought out of retirement to pursue convicted serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy of "Rome" fame) who he was able to put away years earlier.

Possessing a voice as dense as British triple clotted cream, Purefoy's Prof. Carroll could talk the most pious into a compromised moral state.

This learned fellow is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe to the point of extreme madness. The professor leads a growing group of motley souls who each have fatal flaws making them susceptible to becoming acolytes to his cause.

Fox's "The Following" sees Bacon cast as a former FBI agent, still wearing the scars (pacemaker from stab to the heart) of his work putting away Carroll, a professor-of-literature-turned-Poe-inspired-serial-killer who has escaped from prison and recruited dedicated disciples via the Internet.

The series opens this Jan. 21.  For Bacon, "The Following" marks his first regular TV role. He and Purefoy are pure chemistry as their cat and mouse game is ramped up, as Carroll once again becomes a threat to the general population.

The 15-episode first season was created by Kevin Williamson ("Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "The Vampire Diaries" and "Dawson's Creek"). His new effort "The Following" is as gruesome and horrific as any cabler drama with more free reign to shock and scare and audience.

Don’t Miss the Series Premiere of the Highly Anticipated Thriller

Monday, Jan. 21 @ 9/8c on FOX