The Huntress

What lends this passionate new USA Network drama series much of its idiosyncratic energy is an exceptionally committed performance from the exquisite Annette O'Toole. [24 Jul 2000]

Played straight, it would surely be tiresome. But presented as an off-kilter spoof, and draped around a winningly drawn central character, the premise has promise.

The series ... is graced by a quirky charm that brings to mind such classic shows as "The Rockford Files" and "Magnum. P.I." [24 Jul 2000]

If the series is to find its legs after tonight's shaky first installment, it will have to recapture the movie's spirit. [26 Jul 2000]

The comedy dominates so much that the forcefully dramatic situations - when O'Toole's character explodes with a verbal or physical outburst, for example, or when they're put in physical jeopardy - seem woefully out of place, almost like spoofs. And even those don't seem to be taken seriously by the characters, so why should viewers react any differently? [26 Jul 2000]

To become more than middling in tone and entertainment value, the show will need to let loose its based-on-fact restraints and allow the punches and punch lines to flow with greater freedom.

Some nicely realized mother-daughter moments fail to make up for the abundance of bad dialogue in the abundant confrontation scenes. [26 Jul 2000]