Copper

BBC America | Release Date: August 19, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper has much to recommend it: action, passion and great performances arising from an exploration of classic American themes. Read full review
91
Uncle BarkyEd BarkAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's both a promising and foreboding series, with class warfare an ever-present force that wants no part of any idealized forms of truth, justice and the American way. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyRay RahmanJun 14, 2013
Season 2 Review: The semi-procedural widen its scope, bringing in more civic intrigue without losing any of that Law & Order: Historical Stabbing Unit grime. [21 Jun 2013, p.60]
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper spins somber stories of gold. Read full review
83
NewsdayDiane WertsAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: The characters hold promise, the show looks swell, the stories reflect rich history and the makers have earned our trust. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: Filmed with a muddy palette, the premiere hums with menace. There's lots of low-down action, with brass knuckles applied. Read full review
80
Denver PostJoanne OstrowAug 21, 2012
Season 1 Review: The second hour is more engrossing than the first, and is easily rich enough to keep us coming back for more. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: A half-dozen plots routinely swirl around Copper, banging into each other. Levinson and the cast never let them unravel. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: Its unyielding moral passion, exemplified in the character and pursuits of its hero, Detective Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones), is the life force that propels this powerful--and powerfully violent--tale of New York City, 1864. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: Those [dialogue] imperfections never jolted me out of the spell Copper casts. Read full review
75
RedEyeCurt WagnerAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper doesn't open as confidently as I had hoped (or as its pedigree might lead one to expect), but given the classic themes, rich time period and great acting, I trust it will keep my interest. Read full review
70
PopMattersDorothy Burk VasquézJun 24, 2013
Season 2 Review: Copper reveals not only the grim living conditions of 19th century New York, but also the implications of unchecked police power. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: There's enough to recommend about Copper that it's worth tuning in to see how the series develops. Read full review
70
PopMattersChris ConatonAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: If it strains our credulity at times, Copper also assumes our intelligence, specifically, for introducing us to an unfamiliar world and, rather than explaining every simple detail, expecting us to keep up with plot and context. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper has come to entertain, not to educate, and it discharges that duty well. Read full review
67
NewsdayVerne GayJun 18, 2013
Season 2 Review: Intriguing cop show in Civil War New York--though neither the cop part nor Civil War part are entirely convincing. Read full review
67
HitfixAlan SepinwallAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's a promising framework for a series, and the first two episodes of Copper work in fits and starts. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoAug 31, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper lacks the brains or kick to lift it above being a period piece. [10 Sep 2012, p.41]
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonAug 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: So far, it's certainly no "Homicide," in which the dialogue was always crisp and unexpected.... But when Copper puts down its billy clubs and delves deeper into its characters, the series has great possibilities. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: Everything about the show feels just a bit off: underfunded, insufficiently cast and flatly written. Read full review
63
New York PostLinda StasiAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: The scenes are always gritty and often very violent, which makes great TV. However, the dialogue? Whew. I mean, seriously? "She is waiting for you with breath bated!" Read full review
60
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: As it is, the decent but unspectacular Copper comes off as "Deadwood Cop," minus the Milch. Read full review
60
Washington PostHank StueverAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: All of these characters and situations are mildly interesting, but it's difficult to know from just a couple of episodes if they're ever going to become desperately interesting. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: The first two episodes are so full of clunky explanations that it's impossible to forget for a moment you're watching a TV show. Read full review
50
TimeJames PoniewozikAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: while the opening episodes set up this material, they don't do much with it, getting bogged down in a sensationalistic, but not especially well-plotted, child-prostitution story. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: Copper has the same problems that AMC's Hell on Wheels does, which is that there's an excellent show there somewhere, just not on the screen. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryAug 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: While the story does capture a sense of the times--and provides intriguing glimpses into the Manhattan of 160 years ago--as constructed, this can't help but feel like "Deadwood" lite. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzAug 20, 2012
Season 1 Review: If the actors were stronger--or, to be fair, if the show had had a better sense of how to tap whatever talents they possess--they might have been able to sell the material. No such luck. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMike HaleAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's missing exactly the elements that make you want to watch those British shows on BBC America: energy, irreverence, a sense of humor and, crucially, consistently good performances. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushAug 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: It doesn't lack in ambition. It's in the stilted, stiff execution where things fall apart. Read full review
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