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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
16
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
ColliderJun 15, 2022
Season 2 Review:
It all manages to leap above the high bar set by the first [season], landing on something both raucously funny and reflective. Each joke is packed full of meaning that explodes into interesting places that never fall into any tropes, pushing back against our expectations to great comedic effect.
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Apr 19, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Comedy vet Helms brings his confident energy to the role, and meets his match in co-star and relative newcomer Schmieding, who balances his rigor with a down-to-earth and equally captivating performance. ... There are a few chaotic moments (including an appearance by Paul F. Tompkins) that seem rushed, but the show finds its footing pretty quickly. Plus, it’s just a ton of fun. The series has a vibrant, heartwarming spirit.
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Jun 16, 2022
Season 2 Review:
Rutherford Falls keeps the momentum going up until the credits roll. Not only is Rutherford Falls an enjoyable watch, but the sitcom thoughtfully dissects American culture and centers Native stories. There’s no dearth of excellent television right now, but this heartwarming, funny, and boundary-breaking show is a must-see.
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Jun 17, 2022
Season 2 Review:
Rutherford Falls is at its best when it keeps the spotlight on the (fictional) Minishonka Nation, including cultural center curator/Nathan's bestie, Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) and ambitious casino owner Terry Thomas (Michael Greyeyes). With Nathan's painfully misguided civic pride no longer the show's focus, season two is free to explore more interesting topics. ... Congrats, Rutherford Falls — you've gone from a show with promise to something pretty darn delightful.
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May 5, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Deft. ... As satire, “Rutherford Falls” is gentle rather than lacerating — even demons may be good people in Schur’s comic cosmology, may even be Ted Danson — and the story more personal than political. ... By not turning people into talking points, Ornelas, Schur and Helms leave their characters free to become who they are in complicated ways, rather than what they are in obvious ones — to stand for themselves.
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Apr 22, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Rutherford Falls is a smart comedy that takes a view of indigenous people that most TV shows, even recent ones, have just not made the effort to take. It helps that Helms and Schmieding are appealing leads and have good chemistry as lifelong friends Nathan and Reagan.
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Apr 22, 2021
Season 1 Review:
[Producer Sierra Ornelas'] fingerprints are clearly visible — highlighted, certainly, by the work of the five other Native American writers on the show — in the complexity written into all of these characters. ... "Rutherford Falls" may not be the funniest comedy on TV, but it uses its sweetness to draw us into necessary conversations about how we might better and more honestly Iive together.
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Apr 19, 2021
Season 1 Review:
An ambitious comedy series about the lingering tensions surrounding the story of America — as we tell it, and as it really was. ... It feels a little disappointing that the show is built around a somewhat clueless, borderline-annoying white dude. This isn't to say that Nathan is a bad guy.
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Jun 15, 2022
Season 2 Review:
The new and improved Nathan makes for a far more likable character than the clueless, self-absorbed son of privilege we met last year. But having allowed the character to evolve, Rutherford Falls seems at a loss with what to do with him anymore. ... Rutherford Falls‘ humor runs more wry than gut-busting, this time with even less emotionally explosive drama to tip it off course. And the show hasn’t lost its knack for balancing big-hearted comedy with incisive cultural commentary.
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May 5, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Where the sitcom shines — and, like early “Parks,” shows a promising upward trajectory — is in fleshing out the Minishonka community. ... The show’s biggest problem is structural, but it’s fixable. “Rutherford Falls” treats Nathan as a colead, but really Reagan is its center. She’s at the fulcrum of all the tensions, and Schmieding is an out-of-the-box charismatic star.
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TV Guide MagazineApr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Gentle but knowing satire about cultural appropriation. [26 Apr - 9 May 2021, p.7]
Apr 22, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The equally promising and frustrating result, which debuts on Peacock April 22, bears evidence of some significant growing pains, combining ambitious, intriguing ideas and slow, overly delicate storytelling. ... The show is at its best when it stops apologizing for Nathan’s ignorance and starts spending more time with other characters.
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Apr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Rutherford Falls’ biggest pitfall is its saggy pacing — the pilot, which runs a (rather unfunny) half-hour, feels twice as long. There’s also both too much and not enough table-setting in these early installments. ... The bond between Nathan and Reagan is supposed to be the show’s heart, but the tenuous alliance between Reagan and Terry is easily its most engaging.
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RogerEbert.comApr 21, 2021
Apr 22, 2021
Season 1 Review:
There’s a caustically funny show buried somewhere beneath “Rutherford Falls.” ... But by playing both sides of a very hot topic, “Rutherford Falls” fails to hum, roar or even sputter to any satisfying degree. You can feel the brakes being applied, and the consequent lurch. The one truly sympathetic character in the show is Nathan’s best friend and pariah-of-the-reservation Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding).
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