Intelligence (2013)
CBS | Release Date: January 7, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
19
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikMar 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The good thing about procedurals is you can come and go and not miss much. The bad thing about procedurals is you can come and go and not miss much. Holloway, though, should be enough to keep you coming back. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoJan 10, 2014
Season 1 Review: Intelligence is nicely done. [20 Jan 2014]
75
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Holloway looks leaner than his Sawyer days and cleans up nice. Ory, such a spitfire on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” as both Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, seems tamed here, and unfortunately, a little dull. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Breathlessly paced and festooned with some pretty groovy computer graphics--the chip allows Holloway to walk through scenes of past destruction in his mind--Intelligence isn't trying to be anything more than what it obviously is. The show is a panoply of familiar elements anchored by a new and attractive leading man. Read full review
70
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Cast, concept, execution--there's a lot to root for in Intelligence. But they'll be pushing a big rock up the hill week after week. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: For all the talk about tech, nothing here reinvents the wheel, but the action is crisp and the dialogue breezy. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyJeff JensenJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot sets up some promising intrigue but plays like the lowest-common-denominator version of itself: muscular action, a cutout Chinese villain, a rote twist, lots of Josh. Get smarter, please. [10 Jan 2013, p.66] Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Intelligence may not be the most exciting show the new year will bring, but it is the kind of weekly adventure/mystery CBS does well--one that tells you what it is up front and is smart enough to deliver on most of what it promises. Read full review
60
HollywoodChicago.comBrian TallericoJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: I want a show like this to be ridiculous and Intelligence is at its most enjoyable when it embraces the B-movie silliness of its concept. When it takes itself as seriously as it too often does, it ends up failing dramatically. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: A proficient if initially perfunctory action thriller that benefits immeasurably from its star's gruff, bluff machismo. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: The producers provide plenty of action, much of it triggered by the understandable fact that every enemy on Earth would like to get hold of Gabriel’s microchip, or find one of his own. In keeping with CBS’ tradition of action procedurals, Intelligence will solve cases of the week as well as grapple with longer-term dramas. Read full review
58
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: For his first Monday night face-off against those two dramas, Holloway strips down to a glistening muscular torso while taking out his frustrations on a heavy boxing bag. But any visual stimulus is countered by Helgenberger’s continued struggles with the clunky lines given her. Read full review
58
Washington PostHank StueverJan 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: On the whole, Intelligence trafficks in the usual request to suspend your disbelief and then some, but it’s also mildly intriguing--especially in the idea that its macho lead character is also treated as a vulnerable prize who needs to be protected at all costs. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Margaret LyonsJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Let's just call Intelligence competently made.... It's just fundamentally impossible to care about. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: There are nice moments, especially from Holloway, whose quips are vastly more clever than the rest of the show. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Intelligence feels more like a dumb action movie. Read full review
50
The New York TimesMike HaleJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: It feels cobbled together, from the premise of “Chuck,” “Jake 2.0” and other shows to scenes and situations that recall better productions like “Person of Interest,” “Homeland” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show's special effects are relatively decent, especially when Gabriel activates his chip and can re-create events as his own personal hologram. But the stock prickly relationship between Gabriel and Riley, which will undoubtedly lead to trust and maybe something more, is tiresome as soon as it begins. Read full review
50
NewsdayVerne GayJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Lots of cartoon violence mixed with--irony alert--not enough intelligence. Read full review
50
Denver PostJoanne OstrowJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Both ["Killer Women" on ABC, Intelligence on CBS] feel like paint-by-numbers hours, unsatisfying offerings that are difficult to recall an hour after you've watched them. Read full review
50
HitfixAlan SepinwallJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Gabriel's super powers are the thing meant to set the show apart, but the Intelligence writers frequently do a poor job of differentiating how he's any different from someone wearing Google Glass.... That said, Holloway's charm did not get chopped away with his long hair. Read full review
50
PopMattersLesley SmithJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Intelligence might probe these questions more, and so become richer than the latest show about a tortured male genius outsmarting the bad guys. Or it might just settle for flashy graphics, great action scenes, and underused actors looking good. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalSohrab AhmariJan 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The action sequences that ensue are intriguing enough. The trouble is that the show doesn't trust the viewer's capacity to infer. Nor does it tolerate the slightest ambiguity. Thus we get long, dull passages of dialogue. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubZack HandlenJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s always possible that Intelligence might warm to its subject, giving Holloway more to do than look morose and occasionally quip. As it stands now, though, Intelligence is a title that serves as a punchline. Read full review
40
The WrapTim MolloyJan 15, 2014
Season 1 Review: The attempt to ground the show in reality feels unnecessary and not fun, because nothing here is all that unbelievable. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanJan 7, 2014
Season 1 Review: Maybe there’s an audience for this kind of thing--even though that audience would be better served watching Almost Human on Fox. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJan 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Networks want their shows to look like movies these days, but the Intelligence pilot makes the border of Pakistan and Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., both look like Vancouver, where the pilot was filmed. It's a minor but telling detail in this unimaginative rehash. Read full review
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