The Game (2014)

:

Season 1
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9

Critic Reviews

  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Jeff Jensen
    Nov 3, 2014
    91
    The Game is next-level entertainment, courtesy of smart scripts and a cast of finely drawn characters.
  2. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Nov 5, 2014
    90
    Brooding in tone yet laced with mordant wit and tinged with sinister inference, The Game keeps us wondering what the Russian sleepers' end game might be. Having seen only the first half of the series in advance, I can only say that unraveling that mystery is so far darkly compelling fun.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    Nov 6, 2014
    80
    It's about characters and their slow unraveling along with the mystery at hand. Whithouse has assembled a superb cast of relative unknowns who support the main Hughes-Cox tandem and add layers (mother Hester, for example).
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mary McNamara
    Nov 6, 2014
    80
    Seek, stylish and superbly performed, BBC America's Cold War drama The Game offers more to look at than think about, but then there's something about espionage that almost always calls for a little eye candy.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Tirdad Derakhshani
    Nov 4, 2014
    80
    The Game is wonderfully atmospheric, stylish, and sexy. But it's a most un-Bond-like yarn. It is totally grounded in the reality of the era.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Von Doviak
    Nov 5, 2014
    75
    The first episode offers more than enough intrigue to hook fans of spy thrillers, even if some of the elements are eye-rollingly familiar.
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Nov 4, 2014
    70
    Not all that much happens, but the episodes nip along just smartly enough to sustain interest as to what this jigsaw puzzle will look like once assembled, the disclaimer being that viewers will have good reason to be ticked off if the payoff doesn’t justify the commitment.
  9. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Dorothy Rabinowitz
    Oct 31, 2014
    70
    Plenty of twisty plotting, grim atmosphere and MI5 staff with a rich variety of psychological afflictions, in six parts.
  10. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Brennan
    Oct 30, 2014
    63
    The Game struggles to stake out new territory for the genre, but it nonetheless emerges as an absorbing portrait of internecine squabbles during an ostensible Cold War thaw.

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best TV Season of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 29
  3. Negative: 3 out of 29
  1. geoIndigo
    Jun 22, 2015
    8
    Not quite TTSS but a pretty solid and entertaining romp. Main query is with the ludicrously minimal cast of MI5 - apparently the teamNot quite TTSS but a pretty solid and entertaining romp. Main query is with the ludicrously minimal cast of MI5 - apparently the team handling GB's biggest Cold War threat ever (at least attending the meetings) is a mere 5 officers: 2 seniors, 2 operational and a tech guy. Bonkers!!… Full Review »
  2. neilburnside
    May 7, 2015
    8
    A paranoid rich cold war 'spook' drama.

    I would like to point out that the opening/closing music is VERY reminiscent of the late 1970s    A paranoid rich cold war 'spook' drama.

    I would like to point out that the opening/closing music is VERY reminiscent of the late 1970s Yorkshire Television series The Sandbaggers. In fact I would almost think the music WAS written by Roy Budd from that excellent series. I do not believe this is coincidental but would suggest the current composer was influenced by that very series. Yes, I accept that the dulcimer has Eastern European roots and provides the right atmosphere, but the overall structure is too close - even at half the tempo speed of the Sandbaggers and with the unresolved ending too...    … Full Review »
  3. TantricSky
    Apr 2, 2015
    5
    Disappointing because it could have been so much better- a nice little LeCarre homage rather than LeCarre-extra light. The acting,Disappointing because it could have been so much better- a nice little LeCarre homage rather than LeCarre-extra light. The acting, characters, dialogue, office intrigues, and atmosphere are very good, but the plot is ludicrous and the- dare I say- tradecraft of the British is nonexistent, they come across as complete bumblers.… Full Review »
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