Compare It’s Not Like That, Chapter 1 vs How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Season 1

Malcolm's choices are the main sticking point: critical viewers felt his behavior did not match the responsibilities of a pastor or attentive father.

The leads stay recognizably themselves even while making disastrous choices. Reviewers appreciated that later scenes tend to explain apparent contradictions through history, personality, and the long habits of friendship.

A major drunk-driving crash is criticized for vanishing without a police report or consequences, creating a conspicuous break in narrative follow-through.

At least one small continuity choice earned explicit praise: damage to the women's car remains visible instead of magically disappearing after the mishap. That kind of follow-through helped the chaotic road trip feel coherent.

The girls' wrestling storyline may feel contemporary and inclusive to some viewers, but it was also criticized as propaganda.

Rather than recreating the Troubles directly, the series brings their cultural aftereffects into the present through memory, language, borders, Catholicism, and inherited caution. Reviewers praised that contemporary framing for being both specific and understated.

The finale is the clearest source of frustration, particularly Lori's romantic choice and the last-minute reversal of the hoped-for pairing.

The central mystery reaches a real resolution, and several reviewers found the ending effective or satisfying enough. Others thought it was tepid, anticlimactic, overly perplexing, or too eager to leave certain characters available for more.

The finale delivers an intense, tissue-worthy emotional experience, even though its romantic outcome divides the audience.

The finale earns credit for a clever turn and for resolving major questions, but the reaction is far from unanimous. Other reviewers found it perplexing, tonally split, or less satisfying than the stronger start.

The unresolved ending clearly points toward another season, though its payoff depends on future episodes following through.

The closing hook creates interest in another season, but it also frustrated one reviewer because renewal was uncertain. The tease works as a continuation device more than as a fully comforting stopping point.

The middle episodes are the weakest stretch for pacing, with criticism that the season becomes low-key, uneven, and less compelling week to week.

The early run is commonly described as propulsive and addictive, while the later stretch divides opinion. Some liked the escalating road-trip energy; others felt the mystery stretched, repeated itself, or lost momentum near the end.

Clean imagery and thoughtful framing support the emotional tone, including a restrained apparition device that keeps Jenny's absence visually present.

The visual package is bold, atmospheric, and often beautiful, shifting from Irish landscapes to neon and ominous imagery. That stylization is also divisive: some found it cartoonish or a case of style overwhelming substance.

Conflict resolution is usually presented as compassionate and constructive, but the drunk-driving crash drew sharp criticism for lacking police consequences or meaningful intervention.

The friendship does more than trade insults: the women are pushed to own their choices and repair damaged trust. Reviewers found that reckoning genuine, especially when the story connects present behavior to older wounds.

The large ensemble is introduced clearly, while David's motives and parts of the marital history remain underexplained.

The mystery is engaging but often asks a lot of the viewer. Some found the knots involving, while others needed notes or complained about identities, side plots, false leads, and late-season complications becoming confusing.

The series balances grief, romance, parenting, and faith with warmth and meaningful stakes. Its quieter, earnest style can feel too sappy or subdued for viewers wanting sharper drama.

The dramatic material can be intimate and emotionally sharp, especially when grief, memory, and friendship take precedence over spectacle. The main criticism is that the serious mystery sometimes sits awkwardly beside the show's zany default mode.

The strongest responses call the dialogue realistic and human, especially around grief and family conflict. One critic found it too close to sentimental or unnatural.

McGee's rapid-fire dialogue is a major strength: sharp, profane, layered, and often devastatingly funny in the same breath. Its speed can demand concentration, but reviewers repeatedly say the banter crackles.

The pilot wins viewers over despite a noticeable explainer-heavy setup that sometimes feels like conventional premiere groundwork.

Flashbacks, road-trip detours, and overlapping clues often keep the mystery lively and reveal character along the way. Repeated scenes and a recurring trouble-clue-escape pattern made the structure feel formulaic to some binge viewers.

The interconnected households, church, school, and neighborhood feel fully formed quickly, making it easy to settle into the characters' shared lives.

The pubs, roads, villages, police stations, cultural references, and eccentric locals create a vivid Irish world. Some reviewers wished the increasingly large conspiracy and supporting cast had been explored as deeply as the setting itself.

It is widely seen as a welcome revival of warm multigenerational family drama, combining comfort-viewing appeal with contemporary emotional complications.

For many reviewers, the comedy-mystery-thriller blend is exactly the appeal: strange, dark, funny, and unpredictable. The dissenters found the same mixture overstuffed, uncertain of its identity, or weaker when the crime mechanics took over.

The limited violence is generally appreciated, with only school wrestling and bullying flagged as mild concerns rather than dominant content.

One reviewer specifically praised the thriller for avoiding gratuitous spectacle, with emotional consequences carrying more weight than violence. The darker material stays secondary to character rather than becoming an endurance test.

Demand for another season is exceptionally strong, with many viewers explicitly asking for Season 2 and some wanting several more seasons.

A sizeable group finished wanting more time with the trio and explicitly hoped for another season. That enthusiasm is tempered by a few reviewers who either disliked the characters or worried that the final tease could become frustrating if the story stopped there.

Faith is usually praised as sincere, welcoming, and naturally woven into modern family life rather than preachy. A vocal minority rejects the inclusive Christian portrayal as inauthentic or overly progressive.

The series is repeatedly praised for feeling unmistakably Northern Irish and Irish, from Catholicism and language to pop culture, geography, humor, and the lingering aftereffects of the Troubles. Several reviewers saw that specificity as one of its richest qualities.

Its warm, accessible style reaches beyond a strictly faith-based audience and resonates especially with families and viewers who have experienced grief or divorce.

Most reviewers found the series highly enjoyable and easy to recommend, with several calling it a must-watch or hoping it finds a larger audience. A minority saw its sensory overload and tonal excess as likely to make it a love-it-or-hate-it watch.

Grief, divorce, parenting, and faith usually feel messy, relatable, and emotionally honest. Negative responses question the pastoral behavior, consequences, and volume of issues packed into the story.

The crime plot is often proudly absurd, yet reviewers found the friendship, arguments, and emotional reactions surprisingly authentic. Even improbable situations can feel grounded when the women start talking like people who have known one another for decades.

The cast is one of the clearest strengths, with customers repeatedly praising believable performances. A small minority found the acting poor or disliked specific casting choices.

Performance quality is one of the safest bets here. Reviewers repeatedly call the ensemble excellent or brilliant, with the actors selling both the manic comedy and the heavier emotional turns.

The younger cast often earns standout praise for warmth, realism, and emotional range, particularly Cary Christopher and Caleb Baumann. One hostile response disliked how the children were presented.

The bench is unusually strong, with several tiny roles earning specific cheers and guest performers making vivid impressions quickly. A few mystery figures are underwritten, but the performers themselves are rarely the problem.

The adults and children receive distinct emotional struggles that make most of the ensemble easy to invest in. Detractors found some children unlikable and wanted serious problems addressed more responsibly.

The adult friends are given meaningful midlife frustrations, old wounds, and evolving self-understanding, with Saoirse especially well developed. Some reviewers wanted more depth for Dara, Greta, and a few supporting figures.

Several viewers finished the season in two days or said they could not stop watching. Even a more critical response still watched the full run in hopes of a stronger payoff.

This is widely described as a hard show to stop watching, and several reviewers tore through all eight episodes quickly. The main drag on the binge is repetition and a season some felt could have been shorter.

The broad response is highly positive, with many calling it refreshing, comforting, and easy to enjoy. The harshest critics found it unrealistic, overstuffed, or not worth finishing.

The dominant response is that the show is enormously entertaining, with reviewers calling it a belter, a rush of joy, great craic, and one of the year's best. Even several mixed reviews concede that the trio makes it very watchable.

Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes generate natural, lived-in chemistry that anchors the series, while the wider ensemble often feels like a believable interconnected family.

The central trio's chemistry is the clearest point of agreement. Their bickering, affection, old grudges, and effortless rhythm make the decades-long friendship feel lived in and often carry the show when the mystery wobbles.

The overall production is described as polished and well made, reinforcing the sense that this is a higher-quality entry in faith-oriented television.

The show gets strong marks for polished, detail-rich environments, especially the early-2000s material and the money visibly put on screen. Period touches and Irish locations make the world feel textured rather than generic.

Light banter, awkward family moments, and Foley's easy humor keep the grief-heavy story from becoming oppressive without turning it into a broad comedy.

The humor is frequently described as laugh-out-loud, quick-witted, dark, and unmistakably Irish, with the trio's insults doing much of the work. A smaller group felt the laughs thinned out as the series became busier and darker.

The changing relationships and twists keep the story lively and increase anticipation for another season.

The best twists repeatedly overturn expectations without feeling arbitrary, and several reviewers praised how earlier assumptions are reframed. Their sheer frequency can create whiplash, but unpredictability is a major part of the fun.

Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes earn especially strong praise for vulnerability, warmth, and emotional clarity. One critic tired of Foley repeating the same tearful expression.

Roisin Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, and Caoilfhionn Dunne are repeatedly identified as the engine of the series. Their timing, emotional range, and ability to play off one another keep the story afloat through its messier stretches.

Writing is repeatedly praised as beautiful, humane, and emotionally layered, with faith and family issues woven together naturally. A few critics call it sappy, shallow, or clichéd.

Lisa McGee's writing is praised across the set for wit, specificity, fast dialogue, character insight, and the ability to find humor in darkness. The main knock is overreach: the plot sometimes grows so elaborate that the machinery starts to show.

Tearful, heartfelt moments are a defining strength, with grief and family scenes repeatedly described as moving, hopeful, and earned rather than manipulative.

Beneath the jokes, reviewers found a meaningful emotional current about grief, regret, friendship, and the lives the women did not end up living. Small lines and exchanges often linger after their immediate punch line.

The picture is described as clean, steady, and professionally filmed, with clear visuals that avoid the murky darkness common in some dramas.

Ireland is photographed with real atmosphere, from lovely scenery and striking locations to vibrant or ominous visual shifts. Even mixed reviews often acknowledged how good the series looks.

Profanity is minimal and generally viewed as refreshingly restrained, although faith-focused guides still note occasional swearing as a content caveat.

The foul-mouthed slang and dense local wisecracks are treated as part of the show's comic identity rather than a drawback. One reviewer recommends subtitles simply to catch every fast-moving line.

The series often avoids an easy romantic resolution and can surprise viewers, but familiar child arcs, predictable tropes, and one strongly negative response limit the praise.

Opinion splits sharply here. One critic saw familiar shows being reworked and rehashed, while another argued that McGee turns the genre mash-up into an exception through meta storytelling and a distinctive comic voice.

The eight-episode order frustrates viewers in opposite ways: one critic thinks the middle is padded, while another believes the season is far too short.

Eight episodes is the most repeated structural complaint. Multiple reviewers independently suggest the story could lose one or two installments—or simply be six episodes—without sacrificing its core mystery or character work.

Grief, faith, divorce, addiction, parenting, and second chances are explored with compassion and few easy answers. Some viewers found the sheer number of issues excessive.

Friendship, memory, guilt, identity, trauma, midlife disappointment, Catholic inheritance, and the stories people tell about themselves all give the caper extra weight. Reviewers often found the emotional and cultural ideas richer than the literal whodunit mechanics.

The intertwined family story is widely praised as heartfelt, relatable, and compelling, with strong balance between adults and children. Critics cite clichés, overcrowded issues, and disappointing late choices.

The central friendship and buried-secret mystery give the season a strong narrative engine, and most reviewers stayed invested. The recurring caveat is sprawl: side plots, identities, and escalating conspiracy can become more complicated than the emotional core needs.

The opening episode is repeatedly described as charming, compelling, and an excellent start, even when its exposition feels compressed.

The opening is an immediate hook: reviewers call it a doozy, sharply funny, and fascinating. It establishes danger, friendship, and mystery quickly enough to make several viewers want to keep going almost at once.

The premiere moves confidently for some viewers, but others felt it races through exposition and romance before the relationships have enough time to settle.

The show often moves at a breathless clip, which many reviewers found electric and addictive. Others reported a sluggish middle, overstimulation, or moments that needed more room to land.

Unpredictable choices and unanswered relationship questions keep viewers wondering what will happen next, supporting continued interest without turning the show into a thriller.

The show scatters enough danger, clues, eerie imagery, and withheld information to keep most reviewers curious. Suspense is strongest when tied to the women's past; the more labyrinthine conspiracy material can blur that focus.

Strong critical notices reinforce the show's appeal beyond its enthusiastic customer audience.

One roundup highlighted a wave of four- and five-star notices and a very high critic aggregate, matching the generally enthusiastic tenor across much of the coverage. Critical dissent centers more on plotting and tone than on the cast.

Brad Silberling's direction is singled out for helping the slice-of-life material feel polished, emotionally clear, and impactful.

Direction drew direct praise for keeping the chaos visually lively and emotionally legible. Michael Lennox is singled out as captivating, while another review applauds the fish-eye choices and comic quick-cut technique.

The script is praised as carefully thought out, with layered characters and emotional moments that serve more than the central romance.

The script draws emphatic praise for its wit, character conflict, and ability to make chaos feel natural. Even when the plot is criticized, the actual scene writing and comic construction are often treated as first-rate.

The Belfast and Donegal speech is part of the fun, with slang, wisecracks, and Derry-accented digs adding a strong sense of place. One reviewer even recommends subtitles so none of the craic slips by.

The larger action set pieces add momentum without having to carry the series. One reviewer specifically liked that the comedy and character clashes remain the main attraction even when the show gets bigger.

The restrained presentation suits many families with teens, but grief, self-harm, addiction, divorce, and other mature themes make it a questionable choice for younger children.

The leads' messy flaws are part of the design, and many reviewers found their chaos endearing or outright lovable. Others found the bickering trio difficult to believe as best friends or not likable enough to sustain another season.

Costuming gets its biggest boost from Saoirse-Monica Jackson's escalating comic looks. Her wardrobe is singled out as part of what makes the character's appearances so memorably funny.

Quick cuts are used deliberately for comic effect and were praised as part of the show's energetic technique. The editing helps reinforce the frantic rhythm rather than simply documenting it.

Parents appreciated the way the show encourages conversations about difficult issues, and one older viewer found its parenting lessons personally revealing.

The 40- to 50-minute format gives the mystery room to expand, but one reviewer found that length less inviting for casual comedy rewatches. Shorter episodes would have made it easier to throw on again.

Most viewers value the wholesome tone, limited profanity, restrained sexual content, and focus on family. Mature themes and a few moral objections mean it is not universally suitable for children.

Derry Girls echoes, cameos, mural nods, and Easter eggs delighted many fans without preventing this series from developing its own identity. A few critics thought the callbacks lingered too long or made the follow-up feel derivative.

Having all eight episodes available at once suits the bingeable story, but one reviewer worried that the drop-everything release could also make the series easy to miss. The concern is discoverability, not the viewing flow itself.

Rewatch appeal is mixed. One reviewer thought a second viewing could reward the dense plotting, while another would not revisit it because the long comedy-thriller episodes are less casual than a short sitcom.

Sex is discussed or implied without graphic depiction, and several viewers praise the restraint. More conservative responses still object to dating and intimacy outside marriage.

The music is a standout for many reviewers, with early-2000s pop and Irish-flavored selections called exquisite, perfectly timed, or tremendous. One critic did tire of repeated needle drops, so the enthusiasm is strong rather than unanimous.

The tonal juggling is the season's biggest fault line. Some reviewers admired how comedy, dread, grief, and absurdity flow together; others felt the series became stressful, inconsistent, or like two different shows by the finale.

Included Prime access makes the series feel like an excellent value and worthwhile use of time. Its initial add-on placement was harder to justify for less enthusiastic viewers.

Booker stands out as an enjoyably vivid threat within the oddball ensemble. Her menace, visual presence, and blunt attitude make the antagonist side of the caper memorable without losing the show's comic flavor.