Day Break
ABC | Release Date: November 15, 2006
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
14
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorGloria Goodale
Season 1 Review: It's good, complicated drama, sometimes hard to watch, but more compelling evidence that the best storytelling for adults these days is on the small screen. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: "Day Break" asks viewers for faith, to believe unanswered questions will not go unanswered forever, and that every episode will be worth experiencing. For now, I'm willing to take that leap of faith, because the action is swift, the acting is taut and the premise is cool. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: It's a one-of-a-kind thriller that rewards your attention with nonstop action, endless surprises, exciting cinematography and a great assortment of characters. Read full review
80
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: Intense and fascinating. Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: A well-made rocket ride that's closer to 24 than anything else on TV. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Diggs is a very good actor. Attempting to pull off a complicated scenario like this would be tough for a vet, let alone someone who made his bones in musical theater. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: Because Hopper can radically rejigger events for better or worse -- a decision that prevents one disaster might cause another - Day Break... feels like the first video-game-era series. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Season 1 Review: Following the show will require some effort for viewers accustomed to less demanding fare. Read full review
70
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: After the nerve-jangling first episode, I predict you’ll be hooked. Read full review
70
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: The thing is, if you can let go of the "Groundhog Taye" problem, it's a decent little thriller with a sci-fi twist. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: "Day Break" has enough suspense and clever turns to tempt viewers to stay and see how the next day breaks. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 1 Review: At its best, Day Break has a Choose Your Own Adventure feel... [It] just needs to get those pages flying a little faster. Read full review
60
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: It may not be blessed with the most felicitous dialogue of all time, but “Day Break” is a solidly constructed and fast-paced drama. Read full review
60
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: "Day Break" is an intricate, imaginative series designed to make you ask questions at every turn, but the killer will be, "What else is on?" Read full review
60
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: As much fun as it might be for some of us to start our Wednesday nights watching a shirtless Taye Diggs get out of bed - just as it was once fun to watch Agents Mulder and Scully chase goblins and ghosties and things that go bump in the night - these TV conspiracies have a way of ending badly. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: There's a fine line between mysterious and just plain mystifying, and "Day Break" lurches over it. Read full review
50
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Slick, predictably convoluted and pumped up on conspiratorial dread, "Day Break" may be a trifle late to the serial thriller party. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesPaul Brownfield
Season 1 Review: You begin to feel strung along on an errand whose complexities can't mask the fact that the main character isn't great company. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: At some point, your head will explode. Read full review
50
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Spend two hours tonight with this murky, muddled serial, and you may already feel as if you've been trapped in this day for an eternity. Read full review
50
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: Intriguing and confounding though it is, this is anything but easy, funsy television. In fact, there are times when a viewer may feel he's being punished almost to the same degree as Detective Hopper. Read full review
50
SlateTroy Patterson
Season 1 Review: Diggs has considerable magnetism, but it would take the charisma of a cult leader to disguise the fact that this show sometimes reads like a '70s conspiracy thriller as interpreted by the makers of Bad Boys II. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: "Day Break" is both dark and frustrating. Read full review
40
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: The upside to the series is that Diggs is good enough and the production slick enough that, for a while, you might be willing to play along the don't-think-too-hard-about-it premise.... [But] Hopper's day becomes pretty boring after a while. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: "Day Break" doesn't quite work, not only because of its redundancies but because its story line becomes simultaneously convoluted and pointless. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Season 1 Review: And you thought Lost could be confusing. At least it doesn't give you a headache just thinking about it. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: They say insanity is performing the same action repeatedly and hoping for a different outcome. For ABC and "Day Break," insanity may be expecting viewers to watch the same day over and over and be interested in the infinite minor and major variations. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: The season's silliest new action-fantasy-adventure. Read full review
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