Critic Reviews

There are a few arcs on The Family that could use a little work. ... Still, those little missteps hardly detract from the thrills and chills of The Family.

Ms. Bans employs a flashback structure that keeps things lively, repeatedly revisiting the day that Adam vanished from different angles. Yes, this show is guilty-pleasure fare, but, at least after two episodes, it holds interest rather well, and it has only just begun to open all those closets where family secrets hide.

Tonally it’s a high-wire act, one that will be impressive should The Family manage to pull it off, but runs a real risk of trivializing an extremely sensitive subject.

What makes the series click are the peripheral characters. Margot Bingham plays a detective who thought she solved the case, and Florina Lima is the newspaper reporter who suspects something’s hinky with the Warrens. The best is veteran actor Andrew McCarthy, who plays the neighbor imprisoned for the boy’s murder and released after his sudden return. He is intense and scary.

The series’ exploration of the nature of a family, the personal demons of its members and how trauma can trigger continuing tragedy make The Family a worthy addition to ABC’s Thursday night drama lineup.

Although it feels overly familiar, The Family kicks off with a strong pilot. But like many series, the question is, will it keep viewers hooked? And will the “is this the real Adam or a fake” question linger so long viewers get annoyed with the tease?

While we're waiting to be further mystified, there's plenty to see, including McCarthy's scene-stealing performance as a character who might be as misunderstood as Boo Radley, or might truly be the bogeyman of our worst nightmares.

Distinguished by a top-flight cast, including Joan Allen and Andrew McCarthy, this soap is a slow but reasonably compelling burn, with abundant possibilities wrapped in its opening hours.

The Family relies on familiar, drab settings, and squeezes from them--and from Allen’s performance--real gravity and emotion. Perhaps the show’s biggest twist is that it has something on its mind.

The series isn’t necessarily equipped to deal with the true emotional ramifications of its story of kidnap as well as, say, Starz’s harrowing miniseries The Missing, but it doesn’t just gloss over them, either.