- Network: ABC
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 22, 2014
Critic Reviews
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They need to put a bit more thought into the mysteries themselves, which lean toward the clunky. But the appeal of the stars and the premise should buy them some time.
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Forever isn't betting the future on plot mechanics, however, but on chemistry and that obscure object of desire called "sex appeal." These leads have it--in spades.
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Everything in the first episode suggests that Forever has a better shot at successfully combining procedural conventions and a high-concept than, say, Intelligence or Almost Human.
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The mysteries he and Martinez tackle are rather pro forma, but that's not what tends to keep shows like Castle and Bones on the air season after season. It's more about enjoying being in the company of these charismatic characters, and there's strong chemistry between the debonair Gruffudd and the earthy De La Garza.
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Gruffudd's characterization is a bit uneven; sometimes he's gruff and aloof and still pining over the loss of his World War II-era love, yet he's able to turn on the charm when he wants to.
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Forever isn’t the freshest new show this fall, but its classiness is appreciated.
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Gruffudd carries the series well and brings a trustworthy and genuine presence to the role of Henry Morgan. However, after viewing two episodes, it is unclear where the series is going in the long haul.
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The pilot episode of Forever struck me as the first half of a pretty-good-but-not-great movie; whether it can sustain itself as a TV series remains to be seen.
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Hirsch is, as usual, wonderful and more than capable of taking Abraham's story line wider and deeper than well-meaning banter and bromides assigned him, but in early episodes the story seems determined to showcase its more predictable aspects.
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Forever is not a bad show--the pilot is pretty well made for what it is--but aspects of the premise feel awfully familiar.
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Despite its strong cast and potentially interesting premise, Forever fails to distinguish itself among a network landscape littered with quasi-serialized crime procedurals.
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Too much of Forever is either overwrought or half-baked. But Gruffudd is mighty handsome as Henry. Jaunty, too. So the series is well-equipped from that standpoint.
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Forever is an easy hour because Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower) is a fine, quite likeable actor, and the mystery-of-the-week procedural continues to be candy for views.
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The show does have a spark when Henry and a detective named Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza) interact.... The actual crimes in the first two episodes, though, feel like the same old same old, immortal medical examiner or not.
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It's all fairly disposable, though at least the show lets Gruffudd use his native accent, and he has an interesting relationship with Judd Hirsch's Abe, the one man who knows his secret.
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Monday’s premiere has to work hard to get you to suspend disbelief, but the actual crimes, in both the Monday and Tuesday episodes, are well plotted. Gruffudd’s Morgan isn’t quite as much of a social misfit as Jonny Lee Miller’s Holmes on CBS, but he’s a good actor and pairs well with both de la Garza and Judd Hirsch.
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Forever makes for a breezy hour of entertainment that is nonetheless remarkably forgettable.
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You have to be a huge Gruffudd fan to stick with this one. And I’m not.
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[There's] a lot of dying and when that's added to the death or deaths of the week--this is a one-note procedural after all--the morbidity starts to mount on a series that's already weighed down by clumsy mythology and storytelling.
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Depends on how willing you are to suspend your disbelief that a man who's immortal couldn't find something else to do with his endless time than hanging around a morgue.
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There is, inevitably, the promise of chemistry developing between the central duo, but even that only makes the series feel more mundane than its concept.
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The show is so bland and forgettable that it gives me no real reason to return.
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ABC’s new crime-solving drama about an immortal medical examiner is nothing more than a shameless “Sherlock” ripoff.
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Forever comes off like a show a couple of drunks scribbled out on a cocktail napkin.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 253 out of 295
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Mixed: 12 out of 295
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Negative: 30 out of 295
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Sep 25, 2014
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Sep 23, 2014
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Feb 8, 2015