- Network: Apple TV+
- Series Premiere Date: May 12, 2023
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Critic Reviews
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A convoluted mess, despite great potential.
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The show favors stereotype over specificity. “City on Fire” is a much more earnest, less jaded show than “Gossip Girl” or “The O.C.”; its protagonists are still teenagers, but ones who wax rhapsodic about the city they idealize. When their show fails to demonstrate any real understanding of that city, though, the characters are projecting onto an empty slate.
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The series knows what it should say and advocate for, but has absolutely no idea how to do it. The worst part is, even at its most basic level, the show is incapable of conveying the gravity of one of its most tragic elements.
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The acting is abysmal and cliched, but I don’t want to pick on anyone individually because the writing is so bad that I’m not sure they had a chance.
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The show unsuccessfully scrambles to keep its early promise from falling through its fingers, with a collection of truly unbelievable plot twists and hilariously hammy acting choices that pour gasoline all over an already raging flame.