History YMMV / TheFollowing

* ViewersAreGeniuses: You were all paying attention the day they discussed [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Poe]] in American Literature Class, right?

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Allison Mack's guest appearance on a show about a cult became this post-NXIVM.

* HarsherInHindsight: Joe Carroll mentions to Hardy that [[spoiler:when he dies, so will Hardy]]. Not even two weeks after [[spoiler:Joe's death]], FOX cancelled the show. Meta LampshadeHanging doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The villains are AxCrazy homicidal maniacs who gleefully commit ''very'' brutal on-screen murders and we see a lot of the story [[VillainProtagonist from their point of view]]; by and large they are selfish, unrepentant and prone to MoralMyopia, and their competence ranges from Villain Sues to {{Big Bad Wannabe}}s (Joe himself starts as the former and devolves into the latter). The ''heroes'', though, are not the most comfortable people to follow either: Hardy is a vengeful KnightTemplar prone to ProtagonistCentredMorality who allows the villain to dictate his moves; the FBI have many fair WhatTheHellHero critiques to make of him, but they tend to be incompetent and stupid in their own right as both they and Hardy get many minor characters killed; Agent Weston and others become steadily more brutal due to Hardy's influence; and civilian characters (whether major like Claire or one-shoters) are out of their league and make dumb decisions to varying degrees. It becomes difficult to root for anyone the longer the story goes on, particularly since the series so often relies on FridgeLogic, {{Idiot Plot}}ting and DiabolusExMachina to move things forward. As a result, the ratings took a big knife to the gut in season two (and cut down to less than half in season three), albeit no more so than anything else that aired on Fox in calendar year 2014.

* IdiotPlot: The success of Carroll's followers is largely reliant on both local and federal law enforcement being unbelievably incompetent, such as killing followers when they should be trying to capture and interrogate them for information, or not trusting or sharing plans or lines of investigation with one another leading to getting in each others ways. This gets less and less excusable as the series goes on because the villains become increasingly unhinged and out of control themselves and past a certain point they are only getting away with their crimes because the heroes are just bad at their jobs.