“Gaslit,” created by Robbie Pickering, is the rare show that has loads of fun bringing history into sharper focus. It takes the names you know, and may have read about, and shows why you should care.

For those who like to get into the nitty-gritty of history, this is illuminating stuff. And at the centre of it all is Roberts, flashing that megawatt smile and bringing depth to the depiction of a woman who in her day was often reduced to caricature.

The series can be watched as dance, a pair of alternating actorly pas de deux, set off by ensemble pieces, and is completely enjoyable as such. ... Roberts and Penn do so well playing people in love, when they’re in love, that you don’t care who they are, historically.

Gaslit is a wickedly entertaining and irreverent look at an infamous slice of American history that none of these characters are particularly proud to be a part of.

One only wishes creator Robbie Pickering had found a better way to balance this trio of intertwined stories. For in trying to juggle all three, he’s created a lopsided triangle that can give you tonal whiplash when you try to follow along, the sum never really jelling any of its sometimes brilliant parts.

"Gaslit" is a little dull, the light of its stars muddled under a huge cast and the heavy weight of history, which it reveals in uneven starts and stops. Over the course of the seven episodes given for review, it sparks the most when the minor characters are allowed to take the stage.

Stevens said that “Gaslit” means to tell the “human stories” behind Watergate. In nearly every aspect of that attempt, it fails. With Martha as the lone exception, the characters are cardboard cutouts or cartoon villains. ... Roberts simply feels miscast as Martha ... It exists to draw attention to itself but has little else to say.