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Critic Reviews
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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.
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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]
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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.
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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.
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While this new show is not as innovative as its predecessor ["Murder One"], it is, in its own way, similarly well paced and compelling.
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Murder in the First is an immediately engaging crime drama boasting a deep cast and crisp direction.
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This is just a straightforward whodunit--a summer escape.
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The character beats with the heroes are as familiar as the show's ensemble, but the leads do some interesting things with them.
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The show is generally well written, expertly directed (Thomas Schlamme of "West Wing" directs the pilot) and most of the performances are solid.
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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.
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Good, cleanly told newcomer that can be a bit pokey.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Little about Murder in the First feels fresh, much less first.
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Murder in the First” isn’t outright bad. It’s just an extremely derivative police procedural.
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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.
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It hasn’t yet realized that what was once groundbreaking is now wheezy and clichéd.
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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.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 34 out of 51
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Mixed: 5 out of 51
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Negative: 12 out of 51
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Jul 29, 2014
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Jul 20, 2014
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Jul 9, 2014