Mercy
NBC | Release Date: September 23, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
7
Negative:
9

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: It sounds soapy, but it's all handled well enough, and with enough humor, that we believe it. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: The class divide is ugly and pronounced, much more so than on “Nurse Jackie,” where Jackie’s best friend is a surgeon happiest in the proximity of $600 pumps. Quickly, Sonia’s aspirations are shown to be untenable. Read full review
60
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: Looking for a show to stave off "ER" withdrawal? Have Mercy; it's (you'll pardon the expression) strong medicine. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: In spite of some talented actors, it all seems more scripted than lived, referring not the world but a world of things you've seen on TV, handled well enough to make Mercy passable, but never exceptional, television. Read full review
60
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: If Ozzie and Harriet, the original sitcom mom and dad, might have some trouble recognizing themselves in any of this, surely Houlihan, the bullied boy-toy nurse of M*A*S*H, will raise a clenched fist of solidarity with the hardbitten Iraq war veteran Veronica Callahan of Mercy. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Grading on a curve amid TV's viral nurse outbreak, the series proves more engaging than "Hawthorne" and less dour than "Nurse Jackie." Initially, though, it just doesn't quite possess the requisite spark that would leave people begging for Mercy. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: Any effective moments are outweighed by thumpingly obvious sentimentality, hospital stereotypes, and undignified "girl talk." Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterRandee Dawn
Season 1 Review: Ultimately, despite an attempt to raw up the scene with topical war references, Mercy ends up being just another hospital soap opera that audiences have seen, and seen done better. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: There are some remarkably good actors going to waste here, most of whom will no doubt wipe this showoff their résumé the moment they get the chance. Read full review
30
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: There's no reason to pile on here, but this show needed many more months of gestation before getting thrown to the wolves. Read full review
30
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: Mercy is a bunch of played-out hospital cliches placed together in hopes of being the next “Grey’s.’’ Read full review
30
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: Mercy isn't just derivative; it's stridently, obnoxiously derivative. Read full review
30
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: When it comes to Mercy, they (and we) should probably expect none. Read full review
30
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Unlike "Jackie," nothing in Mercy feels real or believable, particularly the naivete of the recent grad student newbie nurse, who acts as if she's never been in a hospital. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: Mercy echoes all the worst efforts of "Nurse Jackie" without the brilliance of Falco to make you forget the shortcomings. Hell, it makes "Hawthorne" seem almost watchable. Read full review
12
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: Mercy manages to stumble across a few not-awful moments here and there, but the bad moments are so cringe-inducing that the show ought to come with a warning label telling consumers this derivative melodrama is potentially toxic. Read full review
10
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: Yes, I saved the worst for last. NBC’s mawkish new nurse melodrama Mercy has no mercy. Read full review
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