It’s entertaining and engrossing.

Only Visnjic, immaculately groomed and vaguely continental, seems to understand that this over-the-top story requires not only a constant flame to boil the plot but a flirtatious sense of fun. [11 Mar 2013, p.45]

Yet, for all its exciting twists, Red Widow recycles too many gangster-movie cliches.

All told, there's enough here to stick around a little while, but this is one of those premises almost designed to strain plausibility over time.

The odds are better that viewers will see Red Widow as a formula series trying desperately not to be a formula series. In the process, it's not very exciting. Or compelling.

[Red Widow] threatens to box its characters into a dead-end world from which viewers see no escape.

Red Widow feels focus-grouped and dramatically scattered. All of the show's characters, right down to Marta's Russian mob-boss father (Rade Šerbedžija) are so clichéd that the episodes begin to feel like dramatizations of TV Tropes entries.

This show is amazing has a intriguing plot and is full of drama! Abc has really captivated me with its characters and the extent the must go too stay alive! This how has all the drama a mother of 3 needs because this woman does anything for her family to ensure their safety. On that note she's not afraid to get dirty to make sure she is not threatened and that's what keeps me watching plus theirs a little romance to it which is exciting!

Love this show. Please do not cancel! Really Love this show Red Widow. Red Widow is truly a winner. I too give a 10! Lots of drama, money, family superficial reality that makes a good show! Try it, promise you'll like it.

Based on the Dutch series Penoza, Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell), steps into big shoes boldly with a small budget to back her up. While the pilot throws everything at you, it's possible that with patience, this series could develop into an addictive drama better than Mob Doctor, and reaching high for the sophistication of its Dutch counterparts. Not since Stieg Larsson's trilogy, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", and the beloved character and toast of Europe, Detective Sara Lund (Forbrydelsen/The Killing), or even Borgen, have we seen such a rush to rewrite these filmmakers in our own image. Red Widow has all the right elements including an unusual love interest, two sons who, with development, will tug at our heartstrings, and the lead who almost favors Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, filmed in Marin County near San Francisco where Red Widow is also filmed. I'm extremely hopeful.

The pilot is a tragic wreck of some housewives serial against weeds and breaking bad, with no survivors, only pale and feeble zombies. Best of the show: that Anson Mount from Hells on Wheels. He dies, but after playing the part with dignity.

While Breaking Bad excelled at portraying the precarious balancing act between the Criminal and Domestic life for it's protagonist, Red Widow fails spectacularly. With a dreadful delivery of a potentially rewarding plot, Marta continually bemoans her situation and lack of a viable means of escape while ignoring every potential way out offered to her by those who would gladly help remove her from her predicament. The only saving grace of Red Widow is the standout performances of Visnjic, Goss, Newman and Šerbedžija, who bring an air of depth to the otherwise bland and uninteresting collection of characters.