Sleeper Cell

:

Season 1
  • Network: SHOWTIME
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 4, 2005
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 57
  3. Negative: 9 out of 57
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User Reviews

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  1. DQS
    Jul 20, 2007
    5
    Wildly uneven episode to episode, and character to character. The dialogue seems borrowed from Tom Clancy novels (which is not a compliment) and most of the characters are two dimensional (some less than that). If you're watching just for action - search elsewhere. If you're watching for a dialectic on America's confusion of Islam with Terrorism - search elsewhere.
  2. JudyT.
    Dec 9, 2005
    4
    This is an average show. Showtime should take some pointersfrom HBO. I agree with one critic you said that the show was extremely uneven, just when you think their going to do something unexpected they do just the opposite. I think the cast is good, Oded Fehr is great but they give him no character to play. As far as I'm concerned they should have just had the show about the cell and This is an average show. Showtime should take some pointersfrom HBO. I agree with one critic you said that the show was extremely uneven, just when you think their going to do something unexpected they do just the opposite. I think the cast is good, Oded Fehr is great but they give him no character to play. As far as I'm concerned they should have just had the show about the cell and the FBI trying to track them down. They Earley is a good actor, his character is dumb. He says all the rihgt things at the right time and I don't know about anyone else but I think Farik would have caught on to this guy after the first episode in real life. My last criticism is the love interest. Give me a break, I'm a woman, a black woman and I like romance just as much as the next gal, but it's out of place here. And why a white woman, come on it just turned me completely off. I have started to flick the channel a lot going back periodically to see if they've learned from their mistakes. So far they haven't.… Expand
  3. DavidB
    Aug 24, 2006
    6
    Intriguing in it's premise, but with an undeniably shallow treatment of the causes and psychology of international terrorism. Absolutely not in the same league as 24 in terms of action or individual performances.
  4. DanteV
    Dec 12, 2005
    5
    This is truly an average show that has a very sexy premise and had a lot of potential. However, the writing is so poor and the production values pretty bad, that it can't rise above the tantilizing premise. For example, having an Israeli actor (Oded Fehr) playing a hardcore Arab terrorist is very strange indeed. The main character Darwin looks like he is sleepwalking throughout the This is truly an average show that has a very sexy premise and had a lot of potential. However, the writing is so poor and the production values pretty bad, that it can't rise above the tantilizing premise. For example, having an Israeli actor (Oded Fehr) playing a hardcore Arab terrorist is very strange indeed. The main character Darwin looks like he is sleepwalking throughout the show. Also, some of the production values just look very cheap. However, in the end, it comes down to the writing. It seems like they drew up a 10 point plan and lesson of the day with the first episode being how the cell works, the next one being how terrorists fund their operations, then the moral dillema within Islam to be a terrorist or now, and so on. The writing is so bad that during some scenes, I expected Oded Fehr (Farik) to grow horns and a fang to represent the devil. There are some good moments in the show, but, I can't remember them right now. The love interest angle is really bad. Overall, this subject could have been handled much better with a complete overhaul of their writing staff. Cliches run about in this show.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best TV Season of 2005
29
#29 Most Discussed TV Season of 2005
11
#11 Most Shared TV Season of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 26
  3. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gillian Flynn
    58
    All of Sleeper Cell's didacticism would be forgiven if it were more entertaining. [2 Dec 2005, p.67]
  2. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    80
    This engrossing and unnerving nail-biter is a rare treat: a thriller with a brain and a soul.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    50
    Despite laudable elements -- particularly the magnetic Oded Fehr as the cell leader -- [the] series is too uneven to dub this ambitious mission a complete success.
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