Mercy Street

:

Season 1
  • Network: PBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 17, 2016
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
6.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 43
  3. Negative: 13 out of 43
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User Reviews

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  1. scooter261
    Jan 24, 2016
    2
    I couldn't have been more disappointed. As stunned as I was by the egregiously bad acting and unremitting use of every Civil War cliché they could pack into the first episode, even more surprised am I that other reviewers think Mercy Street was any good. Costumes and photography are the only reason I didn't give this a 1. Question: Why did one sister have a southern belle accent and theI couldn't have been more disappointed. As stunned as I was by the egregiously bad acting and unremitting use of every Civil War cliché they could pack into the first episode, even more surprised am I that other reviewers think Mercy Street was any good. Costumes and photography are the only reason I didn't give this a 1. Question: Why did one sister have a southern belle accent and the other did not?… Expand
  2. shellview
    Jan 18, 2016
    3
    What a disappointment. Watching "Mercy Street" I felt as though I had fallen into a history/medical/social course 101. The acting is just pedestrian as is the writing. Sadly disappointingly boring as I had looked forward to this period drama produced by PBS. I found nothing interesting in the premiere that would get me to watch episode 2.
  3. cshaws
    Jan 19, 2016
    1
    My wife and I second shellview's review. This has to be the worst pbs series we have seen in years. Its like they had checklist to go through with speeches perfectly placed at each strategic point. Wooden acting and dialogue. Hey my wife has been a nurse of 35 years and she was the first to give it a thumbs down.
  4. jeremyp
    Jan 23, 2016
    6
    This is too weak a show to belong in Masterpiece. The Brits can get away with this yawner, but not the Americans. It just plods along with no interesting characters or plot development. Sort of like "The Knick" without steroids or good acting.
  5. demitriosnc
    Jan 26, 2016
    2
    Awful dialogue, embarrassing acting, atrocious accents, nice costumes as they tried to out do "Gone with the Wind" - and, missed. Missed episode 1 - thank goodness! Watched 16 minutes of the second episode and cringed in my chair. Looked over at my wife and she was frowning. Turned off - for good. Wrote PBS and told them that they had wasted their hard begged-for money. I should haveAwful dialogue, embarrassing acting, atrocious accents, nice costumes as they tried to out do "Gone with the Wind" - and, missed. Missed episode 1 - thank goodness! Watched 16 minutes of the second episode and cringed in my chair. Looked over at my wife and she was frowning. Turned off - for good. Wrote PBS and told them that they had wasted their hard begged-for money. I should have just wrote: Scooter261 - What you said!… Expand
  6. Melliegirl
    Feb 5, 2016
    0
    The acting is poor...the writing is thin...the slaves are clean and happy. Very strange that this production is aired on the same network that broadcast Ken Burns' wonderful Civil War series. This isn't a documentary, I realize; but it lacks the substance necessary to make it a drama worth watching. It's a Downton-wannabe, with a conscience, and it fails on both counts.
  7. meeems3
    Feb 6, 2016
    0
    It is difficult to become engage in a drama, not matter how interesting or how well written the script if the acting is atrocious. These characters populating this series look like amateurs anxious for the day to be over so they can stop pretending. Actors should dissolve into their characters and none of these do. Perhaps it is a matter of poor casting. But it seems like there isIt is difficult to become engage in a drama, not matter how interesting or how well written the script if the acting is atrocious. These characters populating this series look like amateurs anxious for the day to be over so they can stop pretending. Actors should dissolve into their characters and none of these do. Perhaps it is a matter of poor casting. But it seems like there is rampant disinterest by the actors in their roles. They are more irritating that engaging and their lines are more recitations than dialogue. Awful, Awful and disappointing. That anyone gave a rating higher than 5 is surprising. I'm also disappointed that PBS standards have been lowered to this extent.… Expand
  8. JennetP
    Jan 26, 2016
    4
    A hospital in a Union-held city in the Confederate south near the start of the Civil War: what a great setting for a historical series! Human lives caught in vast political conflicts and changes, pure dramatic gold! Unfortunately the humans on the show aren't very life-like; they're allegorical figures illustrating historical ideas and social themes. E.g. a southern belle, wearing a whiteA hospital in a Union-held city in the Confederate south near the start of the Civil War: what a great setting for a historical series! Human lives caught in vast political conflicts and changes, pure dramatic gold! Unfortunately the humans on the show aren't very life-like; they're allegorical figures illustrating historical ideas and social themes. E.g. a southern belle, wearing a white crinoline dress the size of a parade float, returns to her family's neoclassical mansion to find it full of Union and Confederate wounded. Naive aristocrat . . . lost heritage . . . carnage on BOTH SIDES! I get it! Of course, so would a fourth-grader under anesthesia for a tonsillectomy. By the end of the first episode, my butt ached with all the blows from the Clue Paddle. The few concessions to good storytelling tend toward the melodramatic and improbable. E.g. at the neoclassical mansion, the southern belle finds, out of tens of thousands of Virginia soldiers killed and wounded nearby, her sister's sweetie! Irony chaser: she was actually looking for her own! I'm so disappointed in the writing that I have trouble appreciating anything else. The BBC this ain't.… Expand
  9. jchap1022
    Jan 24, 2016
    0
    Once and done for this Tar Heel. More stereotyped Southerners getting their noses rubbed in slavery of which only a very small percentage of the population owned. There are the stereotypical dumb Southern belles, loopy old fathers, carpetbaggers, Yankees telling Southerners how to do things, and so on. Hmmm...sounds like a former neighbor of mine from Massachusetts who prided himself onOnce and done for this Tar Heel. More stereotyped Southerners getting their noses rubbed in slavery of which only a very small percentage of the population owned. There are the stereotypical dumb Southern belles, loopy old fathers, carpetbaggers, Yankees telling Southerners how to do things, and so on. Hmmm...sounds like a former neighbor of mine from Massachusetts who prided himself on having all the answers and being the first one out the driveway during the occasional snow storm.… Expand
  10. Knighthawk81
    Jan 19, 2016
    7
    I like the Civil War period in history, so I was excited about "Mercy Street," which is set at a field hospital in Virginia during the Civil War. There are some interesting actors and some great potential here. That's why I'm rating it the way I am. The pilot was a bit slow at times, but I think this could develop into something different, interesting, and compelling.
  11. rachelnicoll
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    I particularly like the attention to historical details and yet captivating story lines. Great acting and writing. The sets are fabulous and the costumes gorgeous.
  12. shoulderoforion
    Feb 5, 2016
    5
    I gave this a 5 even though I didn't get through the entire first episode, simply too much bloody gore for me to sit back and enjoy the acting, history, or period pieces, looks well produced but after one leg amputation & enough blood being sloshed around to fill a swimming pool I decided this wasn't going to be the series for me.
  13. ChargerRodger
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    I loved the show. I thought the story-lines were very interesting and I want to know more. I thought the scenery and wardrobe was wonderful. I especially enjoyed the acting, I though it was the strength of the show.
  14. burstallcross
    Jan 31, 2016
    9
    It's been a long time since PBS has attempted a series on this expensive scale, and it shows. It' good to know that Americans can also recreate our history, not just the Brits! So far, three episodes in and thoroughly enjoying it - a tad predictable, and doesn't have writing by Julian Fellowes, but well worth watching and applauding - it hits the most important target, characters inIt's been a long time since PBS has attempted a series on this expensive scale, and it shows. It' good to know that Americans can also recreate our history, not just the Brits! So far, three episodes in and thoroughly enjoying it - a tad predictable, and doesn't have writing by Julian Fellowes, but well worth watching and applauding - it hits the most important target, characters in ambivalent situations who you can come to care for. The Civil War, to most Americans, has been reduced largely to caricature - any series avoiding that gracefully get my vote.… Expand
  15. lesliesimmonds
    Feb 1, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very disappointed that this potentially great series is so full of cliches and hackneyed characterization. There is simply nothing original here, and so sophomoric. For example. a barely adolescent boy slave doesn't suddenly decide to become a freeman because he can walk through a gate and join a bunch of free street boys he doesn't know. The historical/psychological reality would be doubt and fear...not an on-the-spot decision. Think of women living in unhappy marriages since the beginning of time; they didn't just suddenly decide, Oh, boy, I'm leaving this marriage and going to be free. It would be terrifying to contemplate and actualize "freedom," because of so much that would be unknown and unfamiliar. How much more thoughtful and compelling if we were to see the complexities of choosing freedom from a situation that may be oppressive, but not abusive. In this drama, so far, there is little or nothing sufficiently complex in plot and characters. Too bad. Can't believe Ridley Scott is involved.… Expand
  16. historynurse
    Feb 7, 2016
    1
    Possibly the worst PBS show ever. I am a nurse and an historian. This dreadfully clichéd, poorly acted, and sophomorically written piece of misogynistic trope is not worth watching. It is not historically accurate, lacks any complexity or nuance, and couldn't be worse if it tried. I don't mind the gore- have been a trauma nurse for years- but the gore is stupidly gratuitous in this show.Possibly the worst PBS show ever. I am a nurse and an historian. This dreadfully clichéd, poorly acted, and sophomorically written piece of misogynistic trope is not worth watching. It is not historically accurate, lacks any complexity or nuance, and couldn't be worse if it tried. I don't mind the gore- have been a trauma nurse for years- but the gore is stupidly gratuitous in this show. The stereotypes portrayed by the nursing and physician characters are not only unidimensional but well worn, inaccurate and insulting. Honestly, does PBS think that this trash is what viewers want? Will this stimulate donations? I think not. Were it not for everything else on PBS that is excellent, I would never donate again. PBS, you owe every professional Civil War historian and nurse and physician in the US an enormous apology.… Expand
  17. TedBloch
    Feb 20, 2016
    10
    A very realistic renderering of problems that occurred during the Civil War. So relieving to see real acting instead of the usual reality yv which seems to be the only thing that exists theses days. Mary Eilabeth Winstead as Nurse Phinney is especially outstanding. Unfortunately, only one more episode left to go.
  18. enufwthelogin
    Feb 21, 2016
    1
    The acting is unbelievably bad. Everything in the nineteenth century had to be the fulfillment of a stereotype, I suppose. This show isn't even worth a 200 character review.
  19. CaptainMarvel
    Feb 26, 2016
    3
    We gave it three episodes because we wanted to like it. I believe there is absolutely wonderful fodder for a great series here. There's an abundant source of conflict, an interesting period in time, and lots of topics to explore (politics, war, courage, medicine, slavery, etc.).

    However, it comes across so very poorly. Every character seems to wear his/her particular thing on his sleeve    We gave it three episodes because we wanted to like it. I believe there is absolutely wonderful fodder for a great series here. There's an abundant source of conflict, an interesting period in time, and lots of topics to explore (politics, war, courage, medicine, slavery, etc.).

    However, it comes across so very poorly. Every character seems to wear his/her particular thing on his sleeve and be somehow one-dimensional even when they are going to change at some later point. It is very clear what each and every person is going to "learn" as time goes by from the moment you meet the character. There were opportunities to fix this in writing, direction, acting, etc. but nobody seems to transcend the problems this material has. Or perhaps what they got was way way worse than we realize and they're all putting in a herculean effort to get it up to where it is.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Most Discussed TV Season of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Denver Post
    Reviewed by: Joanne Ostrow
    Jan 27, 2016
    50
    Unfortunately the storytelling lacks subtlety. The good and evil characters are too starkly one or the other. The camera tends to flag ideas or objects in advance and make points too obviously.
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  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    Jan 21, 2016
    60
    Trying to do justice to the stories of abolitionists, freed slaves, Confederate sympathizers, wounded warriors, their harried healers, and history itself is probably a too-tall order for the six episodes PBS envisions as a first season. The series, though, isn't afraid to be entertaining, and it shouldn't have to be.
    Read full review
  3. The Lincoln Journal Star
    Reviewed by: Jeff Korbelik
    Jan 19, 2016
    75
    If you can get past the sermonizing, there maybe a story worth seeing here.
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