Tonight, ABC is unveiling their big new TV series, Last Resort. It looks like a winner but goodness knows enough of those have ended up cancelled. Is Last Resort really worth watching?

On Last Resort officers on the submarine Colorado are ordered to destroy Pakistan via a secret channel. Something doesn’t seem right so they require confirmation. They’re subsequently fired upon and are then hunted by their own country as a cover-up ensues. The cast of includes Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

Interesting concept but, is Last Resort really worth your time? Here’s what some critics say:

Hollywood Reporter: “That’s partly because the pilot for Last Resort feels more like a big-screen movie than the start of an ongoing series, so viewers will have to trust that the show’s creators, Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdusek, haven’t backed themselves into a corner and that there are plenty more storylines to follow… Last Resort has a large cast with several stories that Ryan should be able spin out to keep the viewers’ interest well beyond the pilot. The game is to hang in there for at least four episodes and see whether a solid movie premise can turn into a watchable weekly series.”

USA Today: “[T]his is a show walking a tightrope, and next week it falls off, as the relative restraint of Thursday’s pilot is thrown over for an overdose of melodrama. Too many performances become too broad (whether it was his choice or the director’s, the last thing this show needs is Robert Patrick chewing the scenery as the sub’s master chief), and too much of what happens in Washington raises concerns that the conspiracy plot is going to spiral out of control, as has happened in so many other shows.”

TIME: “The second episode is a decently encouraging answer to the worry I had about the strong pilot: can this idea work as a TV series, not a movie? And look: any show that manages to remind me at once of Lost, BSG and Felicity gets some mileage with me. In its early hours, Last Resort lays in enough plot and character provisions to potentially last a long, long journey.”

SF Chronicle: “Still, the show, co-created by Shawn Ryan of The Shield, is weirdly watchable, the way a hamster spinning a treadmill is watchable: You have no idea why it does what it does, but the movement can be engaging.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “I’m hoping they’re just sort of setting up the rest of the season and there’s more Last Resort greatness coming our way. Even if that doesn’t turn out to be the case, don’t miss Thursday’s premiere. It truly is must-see TV.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Last Resort is going to need that rich blend of characters and plots. The pilot is sensational — a suspenseful, cinema-quality grabber. But once it lands on Sainte Marina, the sub becomes a large prop floating in the harbor and you’re left with a battle zone Gilligan’s Island.”

Charleston Gazette: “The show is a bold step for ABC not just because of its content, which is unlike anything else on network TV, but also because of its target audience. Last Resort will definitely appeal to men, a demographic ABC hasn’t necessarily neglected but has never really catered to.”

Boston Globe: “The premiere, tonight at 8 on Ch. 5, contains far too much incident, including but not limited to an attack on the Colorado, the political manipulation of the crew’s families at home in the States, and some conflicts involving a Navy SEAL (Daniel Lissing) at the NATO station on the fictional island of Sainte Marina where the sub will finally dock. It’s like watching a full day of 24 in an hour. I can easily imagine a more deliberate version of Last Resort that spreads all the action from the first episode across the entire first season. But still, there are worse problems than ambition and a glut of ideas. All of the material crammed into tonight’s episode is both intriguing and tensely directed (by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale), raising a host of strong possibilities for the show’s future.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “It’s a shining moment for Mr. Braugher, who adds gravitas to any project he’s involved in. Because of his presence there’s reason to be hopeful that Last Resort can improve, but first impressions suggest the writers of Last Resort are waging an internal battle bet-ween grounding the show in some semblance of reality and allowing it to spin out into cheap soap opera territory.”

Miami Herald: “Last Resort’s premise alone promises a pretty good action thriller. But co-creator (with Karl Gajusek) and writer Shawn Ryan has produced something much bigger and better than an exercise in bang-bang. Last Resort is layered with political paranoia and personal tensions.”

What do you think? Have you watched Last Resort on ABC? If so, will you watch again? Would you recommend it to a friend?