Critic Reviews

Powered by Whitaker's performance and pertaining commentary on racism, this series is enjoyable at times and too lengthy at others. That said, if you don't mind a slow-pacing mystery with a few twists and turns that don't necessarily reinvent the wheel, Emperor of Ocean Park will make a good companion.

As “Emperor of Ocean Park” plods through 10 long episodes, the tone shifts from a study of identity politics to a murder mystery to a political thriller to a full-blown conspiracy story. Key scenes are often rendered in maddeningly frustrating fashion.

The series struggles from the start to balance its potboiler thrills with family drama, however, and by the second half is getting lost in its own weeds. At ten hours, the season feels simultaneously overstuffed and overlong.

Interesting ideas get lost in a soup of petty personal dramas, cheap conspiracy-thriller antics, and a time-hopping structure that messes mightily with the show's pacing. And when stretched across an agonizing ten-episode The Emperor, I'm afraid to admit, has no clothes.