Compare How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Season 1 vs A Thousand Blows, Season 2 Review

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.

One major action set-piece is criticized for confusing editing that turns the sequence into muddled visual chaos.

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.

One episode-one review finds the premiere merely okay, criticizing how little it seems to accomplish.

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.

The relatively quick one-year turnaround is welcomed, especially in a streaming landscape where long gaps between seasons are common.

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.

One sharply negative take finds the premiere poorly structured, with many scenes but too little meaningful progress.

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 season closes its central saga in style, giving the ending a satisfying sense of resolution without completely sealing off the future.

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 script is mostly solid, but one review criticizes it for skipping over details too conveniently.

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 drama comes from the characters’ battles outside the ring, where grief, guilt, family damage, and survival carry real weight.

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.

The show remains striking to look at, from foggy cobblestones to ornate interiors and Halloween-lit streets.

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.

Mary Carr is a major draw for some viewers but a serious irritant for at least one critic, making character appeal unusually polarized.

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.

The darker second season keeps the rough charm of the first while making grief and consequence feel heavier, a shift one reviewer calls an ideal progression.

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.

Fans of historical crime drama are especially well served, with the period setting, underworld politics, and boxing giving the season a distinctive flavor.

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 fights and gang clashes land hard, with several reviewers calling them brutal, visceral, and thrilling. Even with less boxing overall, the action that remains is consistently well received.

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.

The Victorian East End feels increasingly lived-in, with rivalries, streets, institutions, and social pressures forming a convincing world around the characters.

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.

Steven Knight’s writing is often praised for deeper character work and a more confident second-season structure, though one sharply negative review finds the script too shallow and simple.

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 boxing is especially convincing, with blood, fatigue, and physical wear rendered in grounded detail. Historical dramatization is more flexible, though most reviewers accept the license.

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.

The season broadens its reach beyond boxing devotees, and reviewers say its historical-crime focus should especially appeal to viewers who value character, atmosphere, and moral ambiguity.

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 season is much darker overall, but the Forty Elephants still provide some welcome levity.

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.

The episode-to-episode rhythm is uneven: several reviews cite a slow or dragging start, but many say the pace improves sharply once the season gets moving.

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.

A malicious, sexist gang leader is singled out as an effective supporting antagonist, giving the early conflict extra bite.

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 plotting is a mixed point: some praise a more streamlined story, while others find parts muddled, convenient, or slow to establish their purpose.

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.

The East End streets, pubs, and interiors are widely praised as richly realized and atmospheric. The only notable complaint is that some digital-looking backgrounds undercut the otherwise strong sets.

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.

Six episodes is the clearest recurring structural complaint. Multiple reviewers feel the season ends before all of its storylines have enough room to develop.

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.

Most reviewers find the season highly watchable, gritty, and fun despite its darker mood. A small minority find parts of it shallow or weak.

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 supporting cast receives strong notices, with several secondary performances singled out as standouts rather than filler.

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.

The overall pace divides opinion: some enjoy the more patient, character-led approach, while others find the opening slow or the season overly setup-heavy.

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.

Season 2 still has inventive ideas, but multiple reviewers think it feels less fresh, less surprising, or more conventional than the first season.

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.

The season’s treatment of colonialism, racism, class, and immigrant experience adds weight beyond the crime and boxing plot. Reviewers especially respond to Hezekiah’s Jamaican history and the power dynamics around him.

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.

The late-season twist earns direct praise as a strong payoff even from a reviewer who prefers Season 1 overall.

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.

The best episodes create real white-knuckle tension, especially during sieges, gang clashes, and escalating schemes. Even critics of the pacing often acknowledge the season becomes gripping.

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 season’s ideas about colonialism, racism, gender, and class are presented as part of the drama rather than detached commentary, giving the period story contemporary resonance.

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.

Season 2 generally earns praise for pushing its damaged characters through grief, recovery, ambition, and consequence. A few reviews still find some arcs underdeveloped or too functional.

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.

The camera work is repeatedly singled out as a strength, especially the close, punishing boxing coverage and foggy East End imagery.

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 cast is the season’s clearest strength, with the leads repeatedly praised as commanding, convincing, and emotionally layered. Even more critical takes say the performances keep the drama gripping.

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.

Interest in another season is high, with several reviewers explicitly saying they would return for a third round.

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 ending is generally seen as satisfying and offers useful closure, even while leaving room for more story.

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 sharpest dialogue is praised for giving the women’s-rights material extra bite and depth.

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.

The lead trio are repeatedly identified as the heart of the show, with reviewers praising their chemistry, intensity, and emotional conviction.

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 season is broadly viewed as strong, darker, and more character-driven, though not always as fresh as the debut. The biggest criticisms are conventional choices, thin stretches, and a few too-neat resolutions.

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.

Reviewers repeatedly praise the move beyond simple boxing drama into grief, moral ambiguity, colonialism, racism, class, gender, and survival.

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 season repeatedly lands hard emotionally, from heartbreaking storylines to character breakdowns and confrontations that reviewers found genuinely moving.

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.

Erin Doherty’s natural cockney-adjacent speech is presented as an excellent fit for Mary Carr, helping the character feel convincing rather than performed.

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 six-episode run is easy to burn through in a weekend, with one reviewer explicitly recommending it as a binge.

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 ensemble is praised for working as a true collaborative unit, helping the central trio and surrounding cast feel connected rather than isolated.

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 back-to-back production pays off in a transition that feels unusually seamless, with Sugar’s characterization in particular reading as a genuine continuation rather than a reset.

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.

The period costumes are consistently praised as sumptuous and convincing, helping sell the Victorian setting.

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.

Early critical reception is described as very strong, with the season reported as matching or slightly exceeding the first season’s acclaim.

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 direction is praised for confident atmosphere, grounded physicality, and attention to what violence leaves behind rather than spectacle alone.

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.

One reviewer repeatedly notices green-screen work, saying it weakens the otherwise convincing period sets.

The ensemble balance is uneven. Some reviewers like how the season spreads attention across its trio, while others think Mary dominates and Sugar, Treacle, or the boxing side get shortchanged.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Most reviews praise the grime, costumes, sets, and historical texture as immersive and authentic. One reviewer is less convinced, arguing that visible green-screen work weakens the illusion.

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.

Federico Jusid’s score is praised for its propulsive, mechanical pulse and for keeping tension moving forward.

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 boxing itself is praised, but several reviewers miss the heavier ring focus of Season 1. For some, the reduced boxing opens space for richer character drama; for others, it leaves the sports side undercooked.

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.