Black Box

Black Box creates compelling people while smartly pondering identity, relationships, connection--it doesn't need the amped-up atmosphere.

This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to storytelling does not help Black Box to be taken seriously.

Reilly, who is British but who has a convincing American accent, is a sturdy lead. She nicely holds her own in her confrontational scenes with Redgrave. She projects an intelligence that is essential to her role, and in her manic scenes--dancing alone on a balcony ledge or becoming hypersexual--she manages to keep from sliding into full-on caricature. But the writing is too often lazy.

First, Catherine at times feels stylized, like a character from a ’30s movie. It’s alluring and distracting. Second, none of the other characters pops out enough so we’re immediately eager to find out what will happen next.

A show so deeply flawed and absurdly derivative you will wonder if you, like the main character, are experiencing a manic episode.

The unusual medical cases feel like a way of marking time until Dr. Black can once again go off her meds and turn into a sex fiend in a show that might as well be called “Fifty Shades of Grey Matter.”

This is, hands down, the worst series of the year, with the most annoying lead character in a season with many annoying lead characters.