❮ Enlightened
Season 1
Season Premiere:
Oct 10, 2011
Metascore
Generally Favorable
74
User score
Generally Favorable
7.0
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Season Episodes
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
73% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
27% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 10, 2011
100
This engagingly uncomfortable series is not like anything you've seen before.
Oct 10, 2011
88
[The] disappointment, and the full-hearted yet misguided ways Amy imagines she might transcend it, are the real subjects of the series, and Dern and White have both seemingly spent long careers in preparation for a project exactly as ambivalent, humane, and beautifully contradictory as this.
User score
Generally Favorable
63% Positive
72 Ratings
72 Ratings
25% Mixed
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
12% Negative
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
Jun 23, 2014
10
All I can say is I love it, it is brilliant, Laura Dern is wonderful as usual, the story is excellent and the acting superb. It's very funny, all the actors are top class, especially the actress playing Laura's Mother and Laura's ex. is brilliant as well. I give it 10 out of 10.
Jan 1, 2014
10
It appears that HBO have lost the plot and failed to allow the excellent Mike White the opportunity to complete what has been a tremendous first two thirds of a trilogy that deserves to be completed. Yes, the ratings were low predictably so because the demographic it actually speaks to is 40+. But SO WHAT?! Certain TV shows are 'growers' ones that speak to generations to come this could have, no, should have, been one of them. This could have been given re-runs two generations from now: the subject matter eternal. Impeccable acting in every department, and a message that should be heard by as many people as possible. The cold hard facts for no series three are that despite critical acclaim and Golden Globes to boot, HBO lost their nerve. A once-brave company that sent the most positive of messages to its viewers; namely that entertainment comes in many guises, and that sometimes money ain't everything, have made a big mistake here. It's ironic that as I watched the end of series two of Enlightened, my next choice was the episode of the Newsroom were the key protagonists are standing up to Jane Fonda's 'big business' character and arguing for a return to something more ballsier and honest was required. I believe the saying goes something like 'actions speaking louder than words'... You still have time, HBO, to turn this around. Re-market to its true audience, let Mike White complete this beautiful piece of art, and tell the whole world why you're doing it. We all make mistakes, and sometimes, it really is that simple. Bring back Enlightened.
Sep 21, 2011
83
It's a beautiful downer of a show that becomes more revealing and absorbing as it moves along.
Oct 5, 2011
80
Dern, Wilson, Ladd, White and Sharp are excellent in this strange little vehicle.
Oct 10, 2011
63
As not-quite-there as it may sometimes be, Enlightened is interesting enough to avoid the increasingly common HBO curse of egregious self-indulgence.
Oct 10, 2011
50
As set up by White (and Dern, who's a producer and a contributor on the pilot script), Enlightened feels too lightweight to work as a short drama, and too clumsy in its attempts at humor to work that way.
Oct 23, 2013
10
It doesn't surprise me that some people don't find this show funny. I don't find Tosh.0 or Two and a Half Men Funny. People have different tastes. I think Enlightened is kind of brilliant. It's a perfect blend of dark comedy, satire, and drama with a socially conscientious flair that is desperately needed in this age. It's a show for the hopeful cynics and idealists with the ability to laugh at themselves and the absurdity they see in the world around them. Nate Fisher was annoying in his struggle for meaning and hope too, but at least Amy Jelicoe does something about it and perseveres. Turn Six Feet Under into a half hour comedy about hope in place of death, and you'll come up with something pretty close to Enlightened.
Feb 23, 2013
6
This show started off really well, being very dark and funny, but also quite touching and insiring. I liked the fact that you were'nt quite sure if Amy was still unhinged or not. She seemed very serene but at the same time there was something bubbling under the surface. Then all of a sudden it started to take itself a bit too seriously and seemed to be pushing a moral message about drug use too. The show started to act like it had all the answers. And some of the narrative became cheesy as hell. We forget our sad stories..like yesterdays dreams, or shadows in the lake or whatever blah blah, the humour just evaporated. What gives? Episode 4 just turns rubbish. I'm giving up now.
Feb 14, 2012
6
I applaud this show for being very moral and mature and praise HBO for being a cable network that finally has a show like this. The show is great at intorducing moral issues such a environmentalism & human rights through a woman who tries a little too hard to get other people to help in such causes and usually fail in very comical & dramatic ways. The show has superb acting in its cast members Diane Ladd, Amy Hill, and especially Laura Dern. Although not everyone in the cast are good actors such as Timm Sharp, Sarah Burns, and most of their guest stars while Luke Wilson & Mike White are only decent actors. This show is good but tend to very standoffish that disconnects it from viewers due to its almost all its characters being very cruel, uncaring, and unlikable leaving only the lead character Amy Jellicoe to being the only good character on the show and if the very self centered, condescending, and manipulative Amy is the only good character on this show then it's gotta be very hard to watch this show unless someone do something to the characters to make them more likable and they also have to spruce up the stories/writing in this show too because these stories aren't that interesting they are near drop dead boring so if the writers make the stories better then that along with making the characters actually likable will make this show watchable if not then well kiss this show GOODBYE.â
Mar 15, 2013
2
Oh, where do I begin? I have been asked to check the spoiler box if this review contains any spoilers. Given that nothing worth mentioning has happened in Enlightened, it'd be hard to write a spoiler. A woman has a nervous breakdown, and goes to some kind of rehab, and then comes back to her old workplace. She gets shafted and they give her a job in the hope that she moves out. Not bad, right? Yeah, well, that's all that's happened. She just sits around at her desk trying to convince people to support new age crap about meditation, as well as women's groups and other things. This show is so bland it hurts. And who ever called it a comedy-drama? There is more comedy in The Sopranos. There really is. I would have given this show 0, but I feel sorry for Mike White, who has to sit around looking sad all the time, and also because Luke Wilson made me laugh once. This show is crap. Steer well clear.
