The Unit

:

Season 1
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 7, 2006
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 25
  3. Negative: 4 out of 25
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Critic Reviews

  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Adam Buckman
    38
    The executive producers of this series are David Mamet and Shawn Ryan, but it has none of the panache of Mamet's plays and movies such as "Glengarry Glen Ross" or "The Spanish Prisoner," and none of the blunt force of Ryan's best-known work, "The Shield" on FX.
  2. Cleveland Plain Dealer
    Reviewed by: Mark Dawidziak
    30
    Halfway through tonight's clunky and cartoonish debut, it dawns on you that we're stuck in the middle of Operation Letdown.
  3. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    30
    The Unit hits more false notes than an American Idol tryout.
  5. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Lee Siegel
    20
    What you get is a show constricted by radical artistic compromises that it refuses to acknowledge having made. The result is an expulsion of Mamet's distinctive vision into the margins of the series, in which it wanders around like a director who's been fired from a movie yet will not leave the set.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Best TV Season of 2006
33
#33 Most Discussed TV Season of 2006
16
#16 Most Shared TV Season of 2006

User Reviews

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User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 154 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 105 out of 154
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 154
  3. Negative: 34 out of 154
  1. ReviewCritic
    Jan 3, 2012
    6
    Compelling and interesting, however the special effects are not top notch. The acting performances are also pretty good. I like the AllstateCompelling and interesting, however the special effects are not top notch. The acting performances are also pretty good. I like the Allstate guy, lol. He doesn't do commercials anymore, apparently.… Full Review »
  2. derstreber
    Sep 14, 2014
    10
    The Unit maybe one of the best tv shows I have ever seen. I loved the look, the style and everything. It was perfect. Such a shame that it wasThe Unit maybe one of the best tv shows I have ever seen. I loved the look, the style and everything. It was perfect. Such a shame that it was discontinued just to produce one more useless NCIS spin-off.
    Kick all NCIS stuff out of your program except ne original one that was really good and go back producing The Unit. Dennis Haysbert was awesome btw.    … Full Review »
  3. Innovationrules
    Jul 20, 2011
    10
    The Unit represents one of the most compelling hours of television anywhere and anytime. I am flummoxed by the critics average score, otherThe Unit represents one of the most compelling hours of television anywhere and anytime. I am flummoxed by the critics average score, other than to say critics are generally against any TV drama that purveys the military in anything approaching a favorable light.

    In fact the drama is many times so gripping that the episode becomes difficult to watch. Is it too much for at least some home viewers to reach star status?

    Ultimately, I believe the the show suffered from two flaws that lead to its failure; one common and one not so common. The common one is that in 5 years the characters did not evolve enough to deep the deeply faithful viewership alive. The show was at its best presenting the army's best soldiers in impossible situations, but floundered in the continuing Kafkaesque moments with wives and girlfriends.

    The second flaw was the wife story line. It was frustratingly unrealistic. No one, and I mean no one, can watch even 1 season of absolutely shunned wife long suffering and comparatively uneventful story lines while being complicitly lied to, and not be frustrated. Not even Jonas would not tell the love of his life what he was doing. The evolution in the last season was a band-aid to this issue, not a solution.

    Kudos to the writers and the producers of an absolutely brilliant idea and some of the best writing on TV. But Andy Griffin shows are dead. People need to change. It's part of the fun.    … Full Review »
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