Ransom (2017)

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Season 1
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 1, 2017
Season #: 3, 2, 1
Metascore
46

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
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Critic Reviews

  1. Uncle Barky
    Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Jan 3, 2017
    58
    There are likely to be more to come on a network that only occasionally fails to keep its crime hours in play for multiple seasons. Ransom is easier to take than some of them, and with a hero who doesn’t have to brandish a gun to get the job done.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chancellor Agard
    Jan 3, 2017
    58
    In general, lack of energy is a problem for this show. It’s missing that electricity that makes investing in yet another great man procedural worth it.
  3. The Detroit News
    Reviewed by: Tom Long
    Dec 30, 2016
    58
    It’s not bad television, really. It’s just by-the-CBS-book television.
  5. Los Angeles Daily News
    Reviewed by: Rob Lowman
    Jan 3, 2017
    50
    For what it is--something serviceable to fit in CBS’s Saturday lineup--Ransom will do, but pretty much is a square peg fitting in a square hole.
  6. Boston Herald
    Reviewed by: Mark A. Perigard
    Jan 3, 2017
    50
    Ransom needs some stirring. Ex-cop Zara Hallam (Nazneen Contractor, “Heroes Reborn”) rounds out the team, and she gets little to do in this hour, a crime one can only hope will be rectified in future episodes.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: David Wiegand
    Dec 30, 2016
    50
    "Ransom" is a perfectly adequate, by-the-numbers broadcast TV thriller. There are a lot of shows just like it, some better, some worse, and they help pay the bills for broadcast networks.
  8. Reason.com
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Jan 8, 2017
    40
    Mostly it's just an even more egregiously boring version of all the other CBS police procedurals with their cookie-cutter characters and plots.
  9. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Dec 31, 2016
    40
    I never shook the feeling that I was watching something that, from cast to the overall aesthetic, we weren't meant to see on American network TV.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Neil Genzlinger
    Dec 31, 2016
    40
    What is supposed to bring us back to this series is the prospect of regular doses of hostage-taking and hostage-saving, a sort of clickbait of TV plotting. Is there a bigger cliché in law enforcement television than the "put the gun down," "take your finger off the detonator," etc. standoff?
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    Dec 30, 2016
    40
    A "laundry folder" through and through.
  12. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Dec 30, 2016
    40
    A pedestrian procedural, "Ransom" follows the team at Crisis Resolution as they resolve kidnappings and hostage situations in the most rote, CBS fashion you can imagine.
  13. CNN
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Dec 31, 2016
    30
    It's pretty uninspired even by CBS procedural standards.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
3.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 36 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 36
  3. Negative: 18 out of 36
  1. Ripandread
    Jan 11, 2017
    0
    After watching two episodes of this program I took it off my “DVR List” because I found the acting to be very stilted, especially from theAfter watching two episodes of this program I took it off my “DVR List” because I found the acting to be very stilted, especially from the lead character. As for the episodes, they are mediocre at best.… Full Review »
  2. tonycrosse
    Feb 1, 2017
    0
    I could not agree more with everything that my fellow 'metacritics' say about this less than average show EXCEPT nobody has mentioned theI could not agree more with everything that my fellow 'metacritics' say about this less than average show EXCEPT nobody has mentioned the unbelievably dreadful soundtrack. If you're not sure what it sounds like have a quick listen, it, on its own, was enough for us to delete after only 2 episodes.… Full Review »
  3. insert_here
    Jan 21, 2017
    0
    Another incredibly stupid show from CBS. They've got that formula perfected. Stupid story lines, stupid writing, really cute actors for aAnother incredibly stupid show from CBS. They've got that formula perfected. Stupid story lines, stupid writing, really cute actors for a stupid audience.… Full Review »
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