The Undoing

:

Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 25, 2020
User Score
6.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 31
  3. Negative: 3 out of 31
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User Reviews

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  1. UncleWillard
    Nov 29, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. That was terrible! Let's make it obvious who the killer is, then throw in a bunch of red herrings and misdirection, finish it off with who we pretty much knew would be the killer. What a waste!… Expand
  2. truerock
    Nov 29, 2020
    7
    Having watched the last episode of this series, I've decided to lower my rating from an 8 to a 7.
    All aspects of the series were excellent - except, for the overarching character development that fell apart towards the last few episodes. The series was artistically a pleasure to consume - but, the story did not lend itself to taking advantage of the high quality skills of the actors,    Having watched the last episode of this series, I've decided to lower my rating from an 8 to a 7.
    All aspects of the series were excellent - except, for the overarching character development that fell apart towards the last few episodes. The series was artistically a pleasure to consume - but, the story did not lend itself to taking advantage of the high quality skills of the actors, directors, editors, etc. available to it.

    The basic idea of the script was good - but, In my opinion, the script should not have been used as it was written. If I had read it in pre-production, I would have thought it needed a substantial re-write.

    ************************************************************************************
    How could professional critics not like this series?
    The acting and directing are excellent. There is nothing not to like about it.
    I read a couple dozen professional reviews trying to figure out what I was missing and I finally did see the pattern.
    There is a large contingent of professional critics who have a personal agenda they bring to their work. In this case The Undoing is an example of wealthy-pretty-people-with-problems and they are going to not like the series on that basis alone.

    I can't object to any individual not liking a series because it does not fit their requirements for entertainment. I completely accept that.

    I have been thinking about this issue for the last 3 or 4 years and I think we have arrived at a point where people will say they do not like attractive/rich people and therefore they will not like entertainment associated with rich/attractive people.

    I'm not sure where I go with this understanding. It seems to me it is now at a point where I completely ignore the Metacritic professional critic scores and now I find the Metacritic "User Score" to be more useful. Obviously the "User Scores" are even more obvious in an extreme range of irrelevant biases - but, somehow they seem to statistically balance how to better reflect the artistic value of a specific movie or series.

    I value the opinions of professionals. They hopefully provide a higher level of insight and objectivity. I guess I would suggest that Metacritic needs to create a new score based on just a select few critics who have a higher level of objectivity in their approach to their work. I realize that might not be possible.

    I can appreciate that for many individuals, it is primarily if not wholly an emotional reflection of the entertainment's subject matter point of view - and, the emotion can be in complete disregard to artistic merit. I can accept that. Still, I am on the opposite end of this issue and am almost entirely interested in the artistic merits... even in such things as documentaries.

    Thus, this is obviously reflected in things such as preference to certain genres. Some people can not enjoy romantic-comedies. Some people can not enjoy science-fiction. There are particular plot tropes that some individuals are not able to deal with intellectually and emotionally. So, their evaluations are within a narrow context of predefined opinions which I don't think are particularly valuable to a general audience. And, it would be acceptable if the evaluations were within some reasonable boundaries of reality - but, unfortunately it seems the individuals that are most strongly detached from objectivity are likely to provide ridiculous ratings such as 0 or 10 (1 and 9, etc) that are obviously non-reflective of useful information.    … Expand
  3. geewah
    Jan 8, 2021
    7
    A beautifully shot suspense that is let down by it's predictablity. Grant & Kidman are good enough without ever stepping out of their comfort zone.

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Most Shared TV Season of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 32
  3. Negative: 2 out of 32
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Naomi Fry
    Nov 12, 2020
    50
    “The Undoing” is not subtle, which at first I didn’t mind. The pilot episode hit the exact pleasure center between mild critique and life-style porn. ... At least [“Little Fires Everywhere”] makes an attempt to contend with some of the questions of race and class that it raises. In “The Undoing,” such questions are made irrelevant.
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  2. The Times
    Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Oct 27, 2020
    80
    Initially it lacked the bitchy bite of Big Little Lies. Kidman's character seemed too bland and nicey-nicey to intrigue. Grant's performance outshone hers. ... Then it started to ripen. ... Kidman's eyeswivelling was off the charts as Grace's perfect life looked to be unravelling. Tasty. Again we seem to be gazing at the dark, maggoty underbelly of wealth and privilege. I'm definitely in.
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  3. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Ed Cumming
    Oct 27, 2020
    60
    Where Big Little Lies found a distinctive voice, The Undoing’s various virtuoso sections never quite play in concert.
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