Enlightened: Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 10, 2011
  • Season #: 1 , 2
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
view
per page
  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Linda Stasi
    Oct 10, 2011
    100
    This engagingly uncomfortable series is not like anything you've seen before.
  2. Uncle Barky
    Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Oct 7, 2011
    100
    It's HBO's most mature half-hour series ever, rising above the material worlds of Sex and the City and Entourage to offer a road worth taking in pursuit of a "higher self."
  3. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Sep 21, 2011
    91
    Dern is fantastic as Amy--you cringe as her histrionics drive people away, and cringe again as she tries to suppress her feelings behind a veneer of New Age peacefulness.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Oct 10, 2011
    90
    Enlightened is to my mind the most interesting and ambitious series of the fall season.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Phillip Maciak
    Oct 10, 2011
    88
    [The] disappointment, and the full-hearted yet misguided ways Amy imagines she might transcend it, are the real subjects of the series, and Dern and White have both seemingly spent long careers in preparation for a project exactly as ambivalent, humane, and beautifully contradictory as this.
  6. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    Oct 7, 2011
    88
    It might be unwatchable if Dern, who's excellent, didn't allow Amy's laughable obtuseness to be pierced by glimmers of empathy and acceptance. [ 17 Oct 2011, p.40]
    All this critic's reviews
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Oct 24, 2011
    83
    By this third episode, the tone has become open, generous, and alert to every sort of character.
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Sep 21, 2011
    83
    It's a beautiful downer of a show that becomes more revealing and absorbing as it moves along.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 30
  3. Negative: 8 out of 30
  1. shellview
    1
    This is one of the worst shows I have seen on HBO. The Dern character is so unlikeable and pathetic I cringe at her every word. She is "Enlightened" and feels she is on a mission to change the world. The kind of person most people go out of their way to avoid. The supporting characters are one dimensional and annoying as well. I watched two episodes, the second to see if maybe I missed something but it only got worse.… Full Review »
  2. greenhorses
    10
    This series is a call for those who are tense and trying to keep up with a good life with success but ruining it at the same time...and that's it! What can be more identifiable nowadays in a world full of rational power? This approach to the spiritual subject in the edge between a life lesson and a parody makes it special for me. The humor and the characters are a lot like those of a Todd Solondz film. I love the ending. Watching the last scene in the elevator made me think of a spiritual enlightened direction of the authors. Dern and White should stay as a team for a long time. This is the most comfortable fiction show I've ever seen.… Full Review »
  3. Hilary
    5
    This was...weak. Laura Dern is way better than this. I hope it improves. It's also not that funny. Take comedy out of its description. HBO needs to retool this.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »