Crisis
NBC | Release Date: March 16, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
12
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
NewsdayVerne GayMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis ultimately gets its priorities straight by giving viewers a reason to care--about the characters, outcome and mystery. Read full review
83
Newark Star-LedgerVicki HymanMar 17, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot offers a number of interesting swerves, and Anderson and Mulroney are always watchable, but Crisis shares sustainability issues with CBS' "Hostages." Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandMar 17, 2014
Season 1 Review: Exciting and twisty, Crisis is the show that CBS thought it had at the start of the season with Hostages. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot is terrific, and it was directed by Phillip Noyce, whose credits include the Harrison Ford movie “Clear and Present Danger” and the pilot of ABC’s “Revenge.” Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis takes kids in jeopardy, class conflict and adolescent (and national) insecurity and stirs them into a surprisingly effective thriller. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: The story itself relies on a series of coincidences that may be improbable, but the character responses feel authentic. Read full review
75
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: With its frantic pacing, ­vicious masterminds and ­valiant law enforcement agents, Crisis might remind you of Fox’s “24.” Not the best seasons of “24,” but still. There’s a lot to be said for a show that works up a sweat trying to surprise you. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis may not be great, but it works. [24 Mar 2014, p.35]
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: The main characters are well-drawn and well-played, particularly by Mulroney, Taylor, Gross and (as you'd expect) Anderson, and the structure already seems reliably sturdy. Read full review
75
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesChuck BarneyMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: Based on Sunday's pilot episode, Crisis has the potential to be one of the spring season's most addictive network offerings. It's intense and suspenseful. Read full review
70
The OregonianKristi TurnquistJun 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Based on the first two episodes available for screening, Crisis is more promising than other recent network attempts to create a series that tells an ongoing story. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraMar 17, 2014
Season 1 Review: Taylor and Gross balance just the right amount of competence and bewilderment, while Mulroney emotes the pain of a rejected father. The pilot is all but stolen by Joshua Erenberg, who plays the kid Finley rescues. Read full review
70
Cleveland Plain DealerMark DawidziakMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's moving so fast that the missteps never turn into a full-fledged fall. More than compensating, Anderson and Mulroney deliver big time, while Gross and Erenberg make a surprisingly winning odd-couple team. If there is a weak link in this cast, it's probably Taylor, who has yet to convince us she's a savvy and experienced FBI agent. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: For now, it’s an intriguing enough premise to warrant continued attention. Read full review
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: The mood music in Crisis can be over-wrought at times--and downright over-bearing when a male vocalist breaks into “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” But the first two hours are nicely paced and eventful, with the ad hoc partnership between Marcus and an initially resistant Susie gaining traction as the stakes increase. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: The first chapters are compelling enough, but after Hostages, it's hard not to be skeptical when we've just seen how quickly this sort of heightened situation can lapse into overheated nonsense. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: [So far] the show has the elements of a gripping yarn.... But there was a vibe of something tedious when one of the kidnappers announced: "Today the bug is king"--and if Crisis really goes there, some of us will be tempted to run away. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubEmily VanDerWerffMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s gloriously stupid, but not always aware that’s what it’s doing, which leaves it in a messy middle ground--too bad to be good, too good to be bad. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyJeff JensenMar 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: There's some interesting cheek to the pilot, particularly the villain, but rote directing and too-serious acting muffle the fun. [14 Mar 2014]
50
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikMar 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: A little over the top--well, actually, a lot over the top--the pilot is filled with one eye-rolling surprise after another. Read full review
50
The WrapTim MolloyMar 19, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show does a good job of setting up a lot of conflict in a very short time, but I'd be more invested if I got to know the characters more — and if they had more dimension..... It felt too contrived. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Margaret LyonsMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis is just the bowl of gravy. It tastes okay on its own, I guess, but you can't really make a meal out of it. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's marginally more engrossing/less ridiculous in its pilot than CBS's fall flop, "Hostages." Read full review
50
SlateWilla PaskinMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis needs to lean more Blacklist: If you’re going to be dumb, at least be a good time about it. Read full review
50
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis is efficient without really ever becoming enticing. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandMar 13, 2014
Season 1 Review: Do cliches abound? Do they ever. But Crisis is moderately entertaining thanks to well-paced direction, some competent character development, and the presence of Gillian Anderson in the pivotal role as a take-no-prisoners corporate CEO. Read full review
40
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMar 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: The dialogue is flat, the plotting is boring, the characters are predictable, and the whole show only serves to remind one what well-paced programs like the net's "The Blacklist" or the premiere of "Believe" do well. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanMar 17, 2014
Season 1 Review: Crisis comes out of the chute as flat as any recent thriller on network television--actually more so. There’s barely an ounce of believability in it. The casting seems woeful and the acting isn’t going to get you to the second hour. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverMar 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: You don’t have to take Crisis too seriously; it will happily do that for you, spreading its pompous misery evenly among a cast large enough to fill at least three or four mediocre TV shows, if you count all the teenagers. Read full review
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