Review Pans 'The Westies' as Flat Irish Mob Drama
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- The Westies, an MGM+ crime drama starring J.K. Simmons, draws a review that calls the series a "flat take" on New York's Irish mob
- The show centers on the titular Irish gang working to profit off the construction of the Javits Center, the same glass-box venue where Hillary Clinton conceded the 2016 election
- The reviewer opens by noting the Javits Center construction "may not sound like the stuff of riveting television" and concludes "it isn't" within the series
Why it matters: A negative critical reception for a star-driven period crime drama on MGM+ — a network building out a prestige scripted lineup — signals early audience risk, since prestige series often depend on strong reviews to drive limited subscriber sampling.
