The reviews split evenly, with a slight lean against. Most critics agree the cast is the reason to watch: Lisa Kudrow, Cristin Milioti and Diane Morgan are singled out repeatedly, even by writers who dislike the rest, and Samuel L. Jackson and Leslie Jones are credited as its voices of sanity. The kinder notices call it a sharp, cathartic send-off to a wretched year, with the election-night coverage and Charlie Brooker’s short, cutting descriptions of public figures drawing the warmest words.
The reservations cluster on the writing. Several critics find the satire broad and familiar, a recap of a year too painful to be funny yet, and the Evening Standard says it is weaker than Brooker’s Screenwipe and that seventy minutes is too long. The spread is wide: NME finds it hilarious and cohesive, while The Hollywood Reporter and Vulture call it hacky and limp, a special that feels as long as the year it describes.