Critic Reviews

Morals is raw, interesting, intelligent, sometimes funny (sometimes not), violent (but not overly violent) and unlike anything on TV at the moment.

It strides the line between comfortable and bold with enough confidence to become charismatic.

It's the seamy, violent and enticing world of TNT's utterly riveting new 1960s cop drama Public Morals, a world so different than the one Hollywood usually shows you...that you almost expect Rod Serling to step out from behind a bush, warning that "you're traveling through another dimension..."

Burns gives us a good old-fashioned crime tale, just the kind of thing we need to end our summer.

It clicks, crackles and arrests attention with a blend of compromised cops, assorted criminals and homier family values.

A picaresque, briskly written and quickly captivating series that is neither afraid nor ashamed of entertaining its audience.

Public Morals gets going at the end of the pilot when one of the underbosses of the Irish mob is murdered, which sparks a war between various gangs, including the cops. But the action in this drama is there to serve the characters, who are always unique and engaging.

Gloss aside, Morals can be impressive in its slow-burn storytelling, and scenes are often visually stunning. [21/28 Aug 2015, p.96]

Public Morals gets better as the activities of the Irish Mob become more ominous and the show represents an overall advance for TNT.

The storytelling bounces quickly and seamlessly from vice cases (Burns' own father was a New York policeman) to family troubles (Muldoon's kid has run-ins with the nuns at school) to mobsters big and small. All the stories are connected, and the cast is universally great.