The Assets
ABC | Release Date: January 2, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
NewsdayDiane WertsDec 31, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Assets isn't flashy, but boy, is it effective. It just grinds away, laying down intriguing details of "asset" care and feeding, made vivid through determined performances and intense crescendos. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubSonia SaraiyaJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s got some of the same appeal [as Scandal], but at its core, it’s a strong spy thriller with a few fascinating characters, not a splashy nighttime soap. And that’s okay. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandDec 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: Rhys and Whittaker are terrific and the two big reasons to watch the series.... Speaking of assets, credibility of the story is nicely enhanced by muted cinematography and art direction, emphasizing that catching spies is done by nondescript men and women who lead seemingly normal lives and work in under-decorated offices deciphering codes and other information. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: It is tonally odd yet quite likable. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryDec 31, 2013
Season 1 Review: A scripted eight-part miniseries from a subdivision of ABC News, “The Assets” is an unexpectedly good placeholder for regular time-period-occupant “Scandal,” if perhaps a little too slow-going to connect with that show’s “OMG TV” crowd. Read full review
60
Denver PostJoanne OstrowJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: Not a brilliant effort, but worth a look. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: Truthfully, it doesn’t add much value to have Grimes’ husband Gary (Julian Ovendon) deliver a melodramatic speech, accompanied by appropriate mood music, about how he married her because he knew she wanted to save the world. Fortunately, the hunt itself has been crisply framed. Read full review
58
The Lincoln Journal StarJeff KorbelikMar 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: In Assets, I wanted more about Ames and his motives--and maybe that will come later--but this is Grimes’ story, right down to how her job affected her home life. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzJan 9, 2014
Season 1 Review: The series, unevenly written, frequently given to strange tonal lapses, is nevertheless lively, its dramatization of events abetted by its setting. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: The Assets is uneven, with some excellent scenes and quite a few bad ones. Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: Despite the often eerie parallels to the Showtime thriller, ABC’s eight-part miniseries The Assets is based on fact. That does nothing to make it compelling. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklDec 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: Spy games aren’t nearly as fun when you know who the mole is from the start. That’s the main problem with this unsuspenseful eight-part miniseries. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: It comes across as a rather dull, ineptly produced program that looks like it was filmed with dated technology in plodding style. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJan 2, 2014
Season 1 Review: he only time The Assets comes alive is when the focus falls on the soon-to-be-notorious turncoat Ames, a compellingly twitchy Paul Rhys.... The Assets reduces the complex world of espionage to laughably simplistic terms. Read full review
25
Uncle BarkyEd BarkDec 31, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Assets just can’t get untracked, lumbering through its first two hours without any sense of purpose, style or urgency. Read full review
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