Audience viewership According to Onyx Collective, the
UnPrisoned premiere was Onyx Collective's most-watched Hulu premiere, and the series was the most-watched Hulu Original scripted series so far in 2023, as of March 2023.
Critical response The
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes reported an 93% approval rating with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A snappy comedy with weighty themes in tow,
UnPrisoned lets Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo bounce off each other to delightful effect."
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Daniel D'Addario of
Variety praised the performances of
Kerry Washington and
Delroy Lindo and complimented the dynamic between the characters, calling the show a "family story with genuine heart." Kristen Baldwin of
Entertainment Weekly gave the show a grade of B+, writing, "The eight-episode season follows a fairly predictable path, and some of Paige's flights of fancy play more silly than funny. (Her chats with "Little Paige" largely work, though, because McIntosh is such a fierce little comedian.) Quibbles aside,
UnPrisoned is the type of show that's still a rarity on TV: An intimate, heartfelt comedy about one family's piece of the Black experience." Angie Han of
The Hollywood Reporter applauded the performances of Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo and described the series as "messy but fascinating." Joel Keller of
Decider asserted, "Winning performances by Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo make
UnPrisioned a fun show to follow, despite the heavy intergenerational subject matter that's explored on the show."
Accolades == References ==