Murder in the First
TNT | Release Date: June 9, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJun 8, 2015
Season 2 Review: Murder in the First is peerless in its ability to engage viewers with its devastating, insightful use of the procedural. Read full review
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJun 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Murder in the First looks to have sturdy underpinnings. Bochco at this point has been around too long to learn entirely new tricks. Still, this is easily his best new series since NYPD Blue tried to break molds more than two decades ago. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKyle AndersonJun 4, 2014
Season 1 Review: With a season-long focus on a single case, the story has plenty of breathing room, and the San Francisco setting feels particularly natural. As unnecessary things go, Murder is exquisite. [13 Jun 2014, p.75] Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Murder in the First, a masterfully paced balance of tricky whodunit and character development, seems to have benefited from both Bochco's hits and the misses, as well as the cable-led experimentation with shorter seasons. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Like most of the best cable shows, Murder in the First strips the production and the cast down to the essentials, then executes them well. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: While this new show is not as innovative as its predecessor ["Murder One"], it is, in its own way, similarly well paced and compelling. Read full review
80
Cleveland Plain DealerMark DawidziakJun 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Murder in the First is an immediately engaging crime drama boasting a deep cast and crisp direction. Read full review
75
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: This is just a straightforward whodunit--a summer escape. Read full review
75
HitfixAlan SepinwallJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: The character beats with the heroes are as familiar as the show's ensemble, but the leads do some interesting things with them. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show is generally well written, expertly directed (Thomas Schlamme of "West Wing" directs the pilot) and most of the performances are solid. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Nobody is likely to remember Murder in the First 18 years from now, as TV aficionados do "Murder One." But viewers who want to watch a mystery unfold and follow the twists and turns without having to sweat it should be more than satisfied. Read full review
75
NewsdayVerne GayJun 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Good, cleanly told newcomer that can be a bit pokey. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryJun 5, 2015
Season 2 Review: A solidly crafted if mostly undemanding piece of summer entertainment, shifting to a new high-profile case with a ripped-from-the-headlines quality. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithJun 5, 2015
Season 2 Review: There’s a large cast and its characters grow in increasing depth. Read full review
70
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Bochco and his team of writers find more character depth than we commonly see on TNT & USA programming, which is nice, but the show does feel a little flatter and more predictable than fans of Bochco’s best shows may expect. The mystery may be dull but the cast finds a way to elevate it. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryJun 5, 2014
Season 1 Review: The previewed hours establish the series as crisp and watchable, while perhaps shrewdly shifting and expanding the earlier show’s lens from defense attorneys to the detectives assigned the case. Read full review
67
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: There’s nothing wrong with whipping up some comfort food, of course, but Murder might leave you hungry for something more challenging an hour later. Read full review
60
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: The characters may be shallow, but that doesn’t keep the show from giving the easy pleasures of reading a quickie mystery novel. And a few of the actors are entertaining despite the limitations of the script. Read full review
50
PopMattersLesley SmithJun 8, 2015
Season 2 Review: In this second season, only a mild intellectual puzzle stretched over far too many episodes. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: Little about Murder in the First feels fresh, much less first. Read full review
50
The Detroit NewsTom LongJun 6, 2014
Season 1 Review: Murder in the First” isn’t outright bad. It’s just an extremely derivative police procedural. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJun 5, 2014
Season 1 Review: Viewers who crave a nostalgic kick for single-case crime dramas of the late 1990s might find something to like here but for viewers seeking a more contemporary style of storytelling, there are no TV firsts in Murder in the First. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubEmily VanDerWerffJun 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: It hasn’t yet realized that what was once groundbreaking is now wheezy and clichéd. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonJun 11, 2014
Season 1 Review: That no one acts in a manner remotely plausible during Murder in the First, regarding either the law or human life, will have viewers feeling like they're just being moved through the system. Read full review
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