- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: May 21, 2026
Critic Reviews
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More than just a spiritual successor to Stranger Things, The Boroughs is an original sci-fi that succeeds on its own terms, even if it does need to iron out a few wrinkles, figuratively speaking.
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The show's sprawling, starry cast is also a blessing and a curse. It has to spend a huge amount of time introducing (and making us invested in) a large ensemble of characters, resulting in the first couple of episodes feeling rather slow. But once warmed up, they’re a treat.
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Sadly, The Boroughs also shares with Stranger Things a tendency to stop developing characters and relationships after efficient introductions. (The exception is Wally, a gay man whose memories of the AIDS crisis complicate his every choice.) Instead, both shows keep adding portentous but vague themes until so many ideas have been articulated that only the most anodyne takeaways survive.
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“The Boroughs” provides the odd sensation of nostalgia tapping into a recent piece of nostalgia. The series too often feels like a copy of a copy. So it’s up to the cast of welcome familiars to make “The Boroughs” worth a trip. They’re all more than watchable.
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To be sure, the series even at its clunkiest is never less than perfectly watchable; any show that sees Woodard shooting at monsters or O’Hare preparing to thwack one with a meat cleaver can’t help but be at least a little amusing. But it’s a letdown for a story with bright early gleams of potential.