- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: May 21, 2026
Critic Reviews
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The series’ writing is rarely up to the level of its actors, and Woodard in particular gets shortchanged by a character arc that runs all the way from morose to glum.
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Though The Boroughs doesn’t go too deep below the surface when fleshing out its main characters, it’s still easy to root for their mission and desires while empathizing with their personal struggles and flawed moments of selfishness.
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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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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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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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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.