“Half Man,” as you probably can guess, is a bit of an endurance test. But it has a storytelling mightiness and an acting fury you can’t deny or ignore. It wrings you out, and leaves you in awe of all involved.

“Half Man” is an excellent but difficult watch. A viciousness runs through the narrative, and countless acts of violence depicted. For those who stick it out, the final episode features one of the most emotionally shattering scenes on television.

Half Man can be emotionally obliterating, and some of the particularly brutal sequences may permanently burn themselves into the viewer's brain. But the series is artful in its approach, avoiding using violence simply for the sake of shock value.

Gadd proves he’s not a one-trick pony (or reindeer), but “Half Man” never entirely takes flight.

I came out moved—devastated, really—but ambivalent about whether its payoff had been worth the pain.

Gadd has a knack for creating appealing, recognizably human side characters. But they can’t make up for the lack of substance at the center of “Half Man.” .... It’s probably not a good sign when the only people you care about in a show are the ones your hero mistreats.

It doesn't even take all six episodes for the story to become one-note, dull and tedious, even as it piles on innovative moments of torment for its characters.