The reviews divide almost evenly, and the split follows the show’s lifespan: the first season is received warmly, the later ones much less so. What critics agree on is the cast. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman are praised across the run, Enos for an understated Sarah Linden and Kinnaman for making Holder the character worth following. Michelle Forbes and later Peter Sarsgaard are singled out, and the direction and sound design are credited with real atmosphere even by those who dislike the writing.
The complaints cluster on pace and plotting. The Hollywood Reporter admires the slow build; Vulture and Variety find it sluggish and overextended, with mysteries that meander rather than tighten, and Vulture calls the writing hackwork dressed as art-house drama. The Guardian notes the remake sits in the shadow of the Danish original. On the final season, Paste is forgiving and Den of Geek finds it bingeable but indecisive. The spread is wide, from near-rave to dismissal.