The Comey Rule: Season 1

"American politics is so preoccupied with the participants as characters and partisans. Comey doubles down on that unfortunate tendency."

"Because this series works from Comey’s own tell-some book, A Higher Loyalty, the rationale for his actions lands with the soft touch of an absolution-seeking defense. As Ray would have it, Comey’s problem is that he’s virtuous to a fault."

"Once we get into the fraught nature of the Clinton investigation—and just as the team, including Comey’s new second-in-command, Andrew McCabe (a superb Michael Kelly), realizes they’re standing on a land mine of partisan undermining of the FBI—the story gets compelling."

"It's hard to imagine that Comey, polished and well-acted as it is, will sway many hearts and minds. Those who support Donald Trump are highly unlikely to watch, and those who don't — well, a dramatic re-enactment of the events surrounding the 2016 election may feel less like entertainment and more like ideological torture porn."

"The series has a sensibility that’s as traditional and straight-arrow as Comey thinks of himself. But it does get more compelling as it progresses, particularly in part two, when Donald Trump fully enters the picture."

"Like everything else about the Trump presidency, The Comey Rule seems unlikely to change any hearts or minds. There's nevertheless something useful about seeing the dry pages of nonfiction brought to life, in a production that's hardy flawless but whose stellar casting represents showboating in the best TV sense of the term."

"Daniels is especially good at showing us Comey's thoughtful, accessible, reassuringly calm expression when faced with terrible problems and pressures. ... Donald Trump, played by Brendan Gleeson, skillfully avoiding caricature, a challenge for a real-life character of excesses and exaggerations."

"As constructed by writer-director Billy Ray, “The Comey Rule” will be a gripping yarn even to those already familiar with Mr. Comey’s history. And its cast of familiar faces will provide a degree of amusement to a narrative that’s not otherwise a lot of fun."

"Against all odds, The Comey Rule actually manages to accomplish what should be the primary goal of any dramatization of true-life events - it successfully recontextualizes Trump's election and early presidency."

"The show's narrative cleanness -- the upswing and the downswing, a big rupture in the center, and values carried throughout -- generates a sort of tidiness throughout that looks a lot like writerly laziness."

"There is both good and bad in this miniseries, but what I found most interesting was how its meaning shifts to fit your perception, and not the other way around."