The Audacity

It’s a lot to stuff into one series and sometimes “The Audacity” does suffer from trying to do too much. But what it does accomplish is to deliver a solid right hook to the tech world and that hit proves to be acerbic, relevant and unbelievably on target, as are the performances from Magnussen and Goldberg.

He [creator Jonathan Glatzer] avoids the mistake here that he and the other writers made with “Succession”: You don’t hate everyone. Mr. Magnussen’s performance, indelible and relentless, will define the warped values of a Musky-Zuck era for those inclined to hate it anyway.

While it takes a while to get to its point, the first season wraps up relatively promisingly, and the series has already been renewed for a second season. It's easy to see how The Audacity could grow into a truly astute show as it continues, but as a viewer, you can't help wishing it made itself worth investing in during its early stages.

The Audacity Season 1, Episode 1 has some potentially interesting plotlines, but little in the way of new ideas, and a protagonist that you'd avoid like the plague at a party. Fingers crossed it's just a bug and not a feature.

The cast is very good and the dialogue good enough, but because few of these characters are developed beyond a handful of identifying characteristics, it’s a generally cold, dispassionate watch.

“The Audacity” is admirable and exasperating at the same time — much like the tech moguls the show tries to skewer.

[Billy Magnussen] keeps the whole thing from collapsing in on itself through sheer force of his unnerving, enervating performance. His Duncan is a shallow, callow man, but at least that feels purposeful.