She's self-flagellating, but in a nuanced, funny-sad and heartbreaking way, mixing slapstick and pathos with intelligence and the sharpest of comic instincts. [4 June 2005, p.C25]
The real accomplishment here is creator Bob Lowry's complex, thought-provoking insights into upper-middle-class highs and lows today. [5 Nov 2004, p.3]
Rome is slow, ponderous, terribly uneven and dense, more "The Wire" than "The Sopranos" draped in togas. But those who stick it out may well be seduced by the series' cumulative effort to create a complete, if repulsive, world. This is a bold cable offering, always a little more than sword-and-sandal kitsch and rarely, if ever, kind. [26 Aug 2005, p.C1]
Judging from the first two episodes, the series remains both visually compelling and dramatically impenetrable, likely to attract ongoing fans but too confusing at this stage to attract new ones. [7 Jan 2005]
Dense, richly layered, packed with dozens of colorful characters (enough for four series), "The Wire" unfolds as a sophisticated, sometimes impenetrable and always ultra-gritty documentary. But it pays off after meticulous, devoted viewing, delivering rewards not unlike those won by readers who conquer Joyce, Faulkner or Henry James. [18 Sep 2004]
Your tolerance for all this may depend on how many crime procedurals you need on your calendar. For some, this one may prove one too many. [22 Sep 2004]
As a crime drama, "Medium" has a long way to go to match the dramatic propulsion and seductive intricacy of the likes of "Without a Trace." The storytelling is flat, even predictable, whether you're psychic or not. [3 Jan 2005]
