| 80 |
New York Daily News David Hinckley
It sounds soapy, but it's all handled well enough, and with enough humor, that we believe it. |
| 60 |
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
In spite of some talented actors, it all seems more scripted than lived, referring not the world but a world of things you've seen on TV, handled well enough to make Mercy passable, but never exceptional, television. |
| 60 |
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
If Ozzie and Harriet, the original sitcom mom and dad, might have some trouble recognizing themselves in any of this, surely Houlihan, the bullied boy-toy nurse of M*A*S*H, will raise a clenched fist of solidarity with the hardbitten Iraq war veteran Veronica Callahan of Mercy. |
| 60 |
The New York Times Ginia Bellafante
The class divide is ugly and pronounced, much more so than on “Nurse Jackie,” where Jackie’s best friend is a surgeon happiest in the proximity of $600 pumps. Quickly, Sonia’s aspirations are shown to be untenable. |
| 60 |
Washington Post Tom Shales
Looking for a show to stave off "ER" withdrawal? Have Mercy; it's (you'll pardon the expression) strong medicine. |
| 50 |
Variety Brian Lowry
Grading on a curve amid TV's viral nurse outbreak, the series proves more engaging than "Hawthorne" and less dour than "Nurse Jackie." Initially, though, it just doesn't quite possess the requisite spark that would leave people begging for Mercy. |
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times Paige Wiser
Any effective moments are outweighed by thumpingly obvious sentimentality, hospital stereotypes, and undignified "girl talk." |
| 40 |
Hollywood Reporter Randee Dawn
Ultimately, despite an attempt to raw up the scene with topical war references, Mercy ends up being just another hospital soap opera that audiences have seen, and seen done better. |
| 37 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
There are some remarkably good actors going to waste here, most of whom will no doubt wipe this showoff their résumé the moment they get the chance. |
| 30 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
Mercy is a bunch of played-out hospital cliches placed together in hopes of being the next “Grey’s.’’ |
| 30 |
Newsday Verne Gay
There's no reason to pile on here, but this show needed many more months of gestation before getting thrown to the wolves. |
| 30 |
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
Mercy isn't just derivative; it's stridently, obnoxiously derivative. |
| 30 |
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
When it comes to Mercy, they (and we) should probably expect none. |
| 30 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Unlike "Jackie," nothing in Mercy feels real or believable, particularly the naivete of the recent grad student newbie nurse, who acts as if she's never been in a hospital. |
| 25 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Mercy echoes all the worst efforts of "Nurse Jackie" without the brilliance of Falco to make you forget the shortcomings. Hell, it makes "Hawthorne" seem almost watchable. |
| 12 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
Mercy manages to stumble across a few not-awful moments here and there, but the bad moments are so cringe-inducing that the show ought to come with a warning label telling consumers this derivative melodrama is potentially toxic. |
| 10 |
TV Guide Matt Roush
Yes, I saved the worst for last. NBC’s mawkish new nurse melodrama Mercy has no mercy. |
