Critic Reviews

Kindred is a show that challenges the many assumptions within that answer, presenting a compelling, thought-provoking scenario in a well-written and expertly directed package.

It's not something one expects to binge breathlessly in a weekend. But this gripping adaptation, developed and exec produced by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), expands Butler's groundbreaking exploration of America's racist history into a profound puzzle-box thriller. ... Newcomer Johnson is absolutely mesmerizing as Dana.

“Kindred” is a sharp exploration of history, national and personal. ... Johnson makes the character so vivid that the complications around her can at times feel ancillary. It’s in Dana’s relationship with the worlds around her, old and new, that the show feels most alive.

FX’s long-awaited Kindred doesn’t quite dazzle in the same way that the very best recent novel-to-TV adaptations have done. ... But this series does, for the most part, do justice to the metaphor at the center of Butler’s masterpiece. That’s another way of saying that you shouldn’t miss it. ... When Kindred really achieves excellence, it’s usually through Johnson’s extraordinary performance.

In all, "Kindred" is a reasonable, economic realization of Butler's classic story grounded by Johnson's naturalistic and potent performance, one whose strengths compensate for the strange lack of chemistry with Stock – who does a fine job, don't get us wrong. ... They work well enough to keep the audience invested in their unexpected journey, even at its most harrowing, as well as buying our interest in the possibility of continuing beyond eight episodes.

The writing is very smart, illuminating without feeling expository, and an utterly fantastic scenario is made more digestible, if not necessarily believable, because the characters behave the way people would if they found themselves in such a situation.

It is a haunting, horrific story, told with nuance, care and excellent timing by creator Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

There is potential for Kindred to go awry if she show’s writers end up concentrating on the wrong side of Dana’s time travel adventure. But it’s definitely an intriguing premise that brings up so many questions that we’ll keep watching to see if they’re answered.

Kindred's first season is thematically rich but narratively sluggish. Yet, like the soap operas Dana adores, it ends on a cliffhanger that makes it hard not to wonder what happens next, and there's enough promise in these episodes to hope the story doesn't end here.

If you enjoy stitching together clues, “Kindred” might keep you hooked long enough to finish the first season.