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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
13
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
The PlaylistJun 7, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Valerie Armstrong’s smart show imagines one of those wives breaking free of the sitcom structure in a show that’s half-sitcom and half something much darker. In the first four episodes, some of the momenta sent to press drag after a fantastic first episode, but this is never a boring show, and it’s often incredibly clever.
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Jun 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
I would hesitate to deem “Kevin” a triumph or a disappointment on the basis of what’s been made available for review, but it’s conceptually ambitious and never dull. Certainly it has been intelligently conceived and acted with commitment and spirit. Taken individually, the drama might feel too familiarly dreary, the comedy too drearily familiar, but their juxtaposition and synthesis does produce something original, and definitely worth a look. And Murphy is terrific.
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Jun 18, 2021
Jun 11, 2021
Season 1 Review:
It’s fascinating to see this series toggle back and forth between two vastly different genres — but that also means we have to spend a lot of time inside the profoundly unfunny sitcom world. ... Things might get even more interesting if Kevin steps off the sitcom stage at some point and has his own single-camera storyline. Maybe there’s something deep and disturbing lurking behind that man-child exterior.
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Jun 7, 2021
Season 1 Review:
It’s a credit to those tasked with bringing Armstrong’s vision to life that the first half of the season screened for critics nails it more often than not — especially once Allison starts finding ways, however small or significant, to push back against her restrictive narrative.
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ColliderAug 15, 2022
Season 2 Review:
It's hard not to wish that the story had gotten more experimental in pushing its format a bit further than it did, though it certainly would have been ambitious to try to take flight on the small runway of a final season of only eight episodes. Thankfully, the destination it arrives at helps to smooth over the many bumps in the road — with a final shot that puts it all in an unexpectedly profound and poetic perspective.
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The GuardianAug 27, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The conceit – a happy facade in front of friends and family, bleak realism when she’s “off” – is a good one. ... The problem comes as the series unfolds. ... We end up watching two increasingly unrelated narratives – the better of which keeps getting interrupted by a clunking 90s sitcom, complete with dull storylines about get-rich-quick schemes or the boss coming to dinner that neither illuminate nor complicate Allison’s story, nor create any thematic symbiosis.
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Jun 17, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The self-awareness is smart, and the series as a whole will change the way you look at the next Kevin Can Wait-esque tomfoolery. But it’s an experiment with diminishing returns. After a couple of episodes, you won’t want to be trapped in the sitcom world any more than Allison does.
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RogerEbert.comJun 10, 2021
Season 1 Review:
When it works, the jarring tonal discordance is “Gone Girl” levels of darkly humorous. ... But at a certain point, the show’s experimentation might end up as a distraction rather than a creative expression. ... “Kevin Can F*** Himself” would be better off if it eventually focused on their lives and the overlaps between them instead of focusing primarily on the sitcom gimmick.
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Jun 7, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The writers do an excellent job making the "sitcom" scenes authentically hacky and unfunny; unfortunately, that means about 30 percent of each episode is… hacky and unfunny. ... Halfway through the season, I'm still seeking any feeling that the main characters aren't just misshapen archetypes.
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Jun 10, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Sure, there are tangents for “Kevin Can…” to explore, including a clean-cut guy (Raymond Lee) Allison knew in high school who’s returned to town. There are also hints of her attraction to a bad boy mechanic. But the main story feels limited and quickly stretched beyond a point where the concept ceases to be novel.
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Jun 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Petersen's Kevin is an outstanding living cartoon of a man, but has no redeeming qualities. You won't wonder why Allison wants him out of her life – you'll want him gone too. If only the gray-toned dramatic side of her existence offered respite. No such luck. ... Murphy's strong performance and the solid enough premise hold the possibility of some kind of turnaround.
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TV Guide MagazineJun 17, 2021
Season 1 Review:
While the execution can't be faulted, the real problem with Kevin is that once you get it, there's not much else to get. The mock sitcom, with a dimwitted neighbor and other conventions, is just numbing. And Allison's journey from wistful dreamer to calculating and hapless schemer, though authentically played, is a downer. [21 Jun - 4 Jul 2021, p.11]
Jun 15, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The pilot is a promising start. The next two episodes, whether they’re focusing on the bad multi-cam or Allison’s budding friendship with former flame Sam (Raymond Lee), feel flat. The fourth episode begins steering the show toward something darker and more potent. ... There’s a series here. I’m just not sure if it’s worthy of the premise.
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Jun 7, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Kevin Can F**k Himself is a series about rebellion with a format that feels rebellious in only the most superficial sense, an effective visual statement that ultimately doesn’t do much more than very slowly mash together two eminently familiar TV staples, the bland sitcom and the escalating problems faced by a character who breaks bad.
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The PlaylistAug 17, 2022
Season 2 Review:
Every time the show threatens to get legitimately dark and thrilling, Murphy looks ready to go for the ride but gets left at the starting line by writers willing to circle the same themes instead of going anywhere with them. There’s a certain irony in how a show about a woman who was underestimated her entire life did the same thing to its leading lady.
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Jun 18, 2021
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