‘All’s Fair’ Is All Over The Place — But Somehow, We’re Already Hooked

Perhaps I’m just missing Doctor Odyssey but I’m giving All’s Fair an extra minute to make its case.

Like many curious and intrepid television watchers, I spent late Monday evening watching not one, not two, but three episodes of Ryan Murphy‘s brand-new legal procedural, which boasts an all-star cast including Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson, and Glenn Close. Unlike many Hulu subscribers who played the first three episodes, I watched the show in order to relay my own thoughts, opinions, and verdict on whether it’s worthy of a watch to other, possibly hesitant watchers. I fear I’m not ready to deliberate.

What gives me pause about the show is the dramatic tonal shifts from scene to scene, episode to episode, and, possibly most surprisingly, character to character. With many of Murphy’s other shows in recent years — Doctor Odyssey and 9-1-1, for example, the tone is almost immediately discernible: soap opera-ish with a touch of parody. On the other end of the spectrum, you have your American Horror Story and your Monster anthologies: deadly serious with almost a sickening level of depravity mixed in. All’s Fair: jury’s still out.

From the moment the show first introduces us to Allura (Kardashian), Liberty (Watts), and Emerald (Nash-Betts), it feels like the series is going more for the standard set by Doc Od and 9-1-1 — even their names are a little kitschy — but then there are these incredibly dramatic and shockingly grounded scenes that make me question where it’s all going.

In some ways, All’s Fair feels a little like someone’s rendering of a legal procedural but told through a girlboss lens. There are nuggets of truth and wisdom in each case that the female-led law firm takes on, but even those are contained within the confines of a puzzling shell about who this show is for. It comes off as though someone in the writers’ room — or perhaps Murphy himself — binged Suits during the pandemic and thought, “What if we remade Suits … but make it slay?” Honestly, that wouldn’t even be an issue with me, though. It just needs to know that’s what it is and go confidently in that direction. The waffling is the problem.

That said, there are also moments where one can see the potential for something good to be buried underneath the superficial layers. I’m optimistic that the show uses its additional seven episodes in Season 1 to un-hang the jury and tell the audience what it’s actually trying to say. Is this a show about lady lawyers battling the man one case at a time? Is it actually about scorned women helping scorned women and how it’s all a vicious cycle? Do they even know what their greater purpose or guiding principle is? After three episodes, it feels like the answer is no.

If I am one thing, though, it is gracious. I’m willing to hear the show out through at least the first season, especially given that it might be the only one — who knows with Murphy these days? I have hope that it will turn into less “shallow diva divorce attorneys” and more “complex and layered litigators who work for the greater good.” I think they can get there. Maybe.

How To Watch All’s Fair

The first three episodes of All’s Fair are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes drop Tuesdays at midnight ET.

If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $10.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.

If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $12.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $32.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.