Twitter

Where to Stream:

The Following

The great thing about living in the age of streaming is that you don’t have to miss a single episode of your favorite show ever again. You can start from the beginning, catch up, or relive all the most thrilling moments whenever you want. The downside of that privilege it that it’s harder than ever to jump in to a show in the middle of its run. So, it’s with great delight that I can tell you that despite its penchant for plot twists, you can totally jump in season three of The Following when it debuts tonight on Fox.

No, really. I’m not lying. How do I know that you can jump in tonight and understand what’s going on? Because I had never watched a single episode of The Following and I was able to not only follow along — no pun intended — with the first two episodes of season three, but I also really enjoyed them.

Here’s what I knew about The Following before I saw the season three premiere:

Kevin Bacon was the “good guy” and James Purefoy was the “bad guy.”
James Purefoy ran some kind of Edgar Allen Poe-inspired murder cult that brainwashed people into being murderers.
Shawn Ashmore and Jessica Stroup were good guys on Kevin Bacon’s team.
Sam Underwood played a pair of psychopathic twins who liked to murder people.

That’s what I was able to glean from television commercials, blog posts, and my own mother’s own scattered commentary. Of course, you need to know a tiny bit more for season three…

Namely, Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy was able to successfully capture his arch-nemesis, Joe Carroll (James Purefoy). You know those psychopathic twins? Their names were Mark and Luke Grey, and their mother was a scheming cult leader named Lily Gray (Connie Nielson). Ashmore’s Mike Weston killed Lily Gray because she killed his father. Then, Jessica Stroup’s Max Hardy shot one of the twins, Luke, during a shootout. So, it seems like the good guys won the day, but not without consequences. Mark Grey is on the lam and Max and Mike’s romantic relationship is strained.

That’s it. That’s essentially what you need to know. In fact, I would even argue that you could go into season three of The Following completely clueless. The show does a really good job of explaining everyone’s backstory either with flashbacks, exposition, or just by letting the actors illustrate their relationships with good old fashioned physicality. It’s almost like a throwback to the law procedurals of yesteryear, and I find that rather charming.

In a strange way, I actually kind of like the idea of starting The Following at this point in its saga. I’m a diehard fan of all things Hannibal Lector and season three of The Following feels like the very first Hannibal book, Red Dragon. In that story, we follow a shellshocked, but brilliant, FBI agent named Will Graham as he’s pulled back into the field to solve a string of grisly murders. At some point, he has to turn to his former nemesis, Dr. Lector, for advice. So, to watch Ryan Hardy debate whether or not he should turn to Joe Carroll for advice on a string of horrifically staged murders made me feel like I was watching a whole new take on Red Dragon (that isn’t Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal).

The most important thing you need to know is that The Following is starting a new chapter with season three. The show is no longer about the tension between Ryan Hardy and Joe Carroll, but rather the aftershock of their personal war. How have their actions affected the crime world? How will their sins return to haunt them? Is there ever such a thing as a noble killing? I personally find that really interesting. It’s kind of what pulled me into Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs in the first place. If you slay a monster, does that mean you’ve become one?

The Following debuts on FOX tonight at 9 PM EST. [Where to Stream The Following]

Like what you see? Follow Decider on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation, and sign up for our email newsletters to be the first to know about streaming movies and TV news!

[Photos: FOX]