The reviews lean positive but are split almost down the middle, and even the admirers share a reservation or two. The acting draws the most consistent praise: nearly every critic, including the two who dislike the series, calls the cast first-rate, and Den of Geek singles out Katey Sagal as Gemma. Those who warm to it see a family drama and a Shakespearean tragedy dressed as a crime thriller, with the club politics and character work counting for more than the shootings. The Ringer, writing a decade on, goes furthest, calling it often excellent and occasionally better than that.
The dissent is about violence and pace. The Hollywood Reporter finds the savagery gratuitous and the characters hard company to keep; Variety, after two episodes, judges it stuck in neutral with people who lack dimension. Even the positive notices concede blustery talk and a familiar antihero template. The spread is wide, and the two negative reviews are the earliest, filed on the opening episodes.