- Network: Peacock
- Series Premiere Date: Jul 18, 2024
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Critic Reviews
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Truly, the show tries to be as Thrones-ian as possible and fails in all the important ways at every turn. Those About to Die attempts to weave a complex political tale with characters coming from all walks of life—and immediately trips over all of the threads used to make it.
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Hopkins is sadly underused, leaving viewers to instead spend tedious time with Vespasian’s two sons. .... Those About to Die may have cost a pretty penny to make, but all we’re left with is cheap thrills.
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“Those About to Die” isn’t a worthy successor to anything. It does just enough to pass as an expensive-looking knock-off (my god, wait ’til you see the opening credits) that Peacock can advertise in between Olympic relay races, but there’s no purpose under its shiny armor beyond another misconceived ploy for someone else’s power.
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Those About To Die is too muddled, with too many characters, to even enjoy for the sex and violence, of which there’s quite a bit.
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It’s a solid premise for a mega-budget sports drama (the 10-episode first season reportedly cost $150 million). But the execution is at once ghoulishly violent, cartoonishly soapy, and too formulaic to transcend the macho fantasies of its makers.
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Peacock’s Roman epic Those About to Die is an overstuffed, underbaked slog that slumps when the action ends.