Viewership
Reasonable Doubt had its pilot episode aired as a special on ABC on November 10, 2022. The episode attracted 1.8 million viewers and scored a 0.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. [24] TVision, which utilizes its TVision Power Score to evaluate CTV programming performance by factoring in viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps and incorporating four key metrics—viewer attention time, total program time available for the season, program reach, and app reach—calculated that Reasonable Doubt was the fourth most-streamed series from August 19—25, 2024. [25] Luminate, which measures streaming performance by analyzing viewership data, audience engagement metrics, and content reach across various platforms, calculated that it was the tenth most-streamed streaming original series during the week of August 23–29, 2024, with 190.7 million minutes of watch time. [26] TVision later announced that Reasonable Doubt was the twentieth most-streamed show during the week of September 23—29, 2024. [27] Reasonable Doubt ranked No. 4 on Hulu's "Top 15 Today" list—a daily updated list of the platform's most-watched titles—on October 4, 2024. [28]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.80/10 based on 9 critics' reviews for season one. [29] Metacritic assigned the series a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [30]
Daniel D'Addario of Variety asserted, "Reasonable Doubt plays like the juicy soap Shonda Rhimes would never write; its excesses, often, grab and hold our attention." [31] Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter praised Emayatzy Corinealdi's performance, saying, "Corinealdi is lots of fun to watch as Jax, and she's blessed with scripts that allow her to embody multitudes," and wrote, "Reasonable Doubt serves up plenty of the juicy thrills and emotional dilemmas that wine-soaked group chats were made for." [32] Nina Metz of Chicago Tribune gave the series a grade of 3 out of 4 stars and said, "There's a lot to like about "Reasonable Doubt," which is sharp and fun and moves at a good clip. And it's smart about keeping things just this side of ridiculous." [33] Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the show a B+, stating, "Reasonable Doubt is enjoyably Shonda-esque, in that it's a steamy, speed-plotted soap built around a morally ambiguous female power player whose life is filled with ridiculously attractive men. But Mohamed also weaves in frank and nuanced stories about marriage, parenting, and the importance of (and challenges with) female friendships," and complimented Corinealdi's performance. [34]
