For All Mankind Star Joel Kinnaman's Other Apple TV Series Was A Star-Studded Disappointment

Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” will end after delivering six seasons of consistently compelling sci-fi drama. Joel Kinnaman leads the show, which takes place in an alternate history wherein the Soviets landed on the moon first. In this timeline, the Soviet’s triumph led to an intense space race between the USSR and the United States, which is recounted across five (as it stands) decade-spanning seasons. Every one of those seasons has been met with critical praise, making the show a nice little post-DC Extended Universe triumph for Kinnaman, and a win for Apple TV. The actor’s other Apple TV series, “Imperfect Women,” however, was not quite as successful. In fact, it was a bit of a critical flop.

Kinnaman came to prominence back in 2011 when he starred alongside Mireille Enos in “The Killing,” a remake of a Danish crime thriller series that ran for four seasons and made Kinnaman a star outside his native Sweden. After a brief setback courtesy of the messy 2014 “Robocop” remake, the actor found a home in the DCEU, playing Rick Flag Jr. in multiple DC films and TV shows. But after John Cena’s Peacemaker offed his character in 2021’s “The Suicide Squad,” Kinnaman branched out. 

Thankfully, by that point he’d already been starring in “For All Mankind” for two years. In 2026, he tried to supplement that Apple TV hit with another show on the streamer. “Imperfect Women” was an adaptation of Araminta Hall’s 2020 novel of the same name and saw Kinnaman star alongside Kate Mara, Kerry Washington, and Elisabeth Moss. Despite its solid cast, however, the show came and went without much fanfare.

Zack Snyder’s DCEU fell apart in spectacular fashion in 2023, but by that point Joel Kinnaman had moved on to other projects. He’d already made a few action thrillers with 2019’s “The informer” and John Woo’s “Silent Night” in 2023. Kinnaman also led “Icefall” which became a major streaming hit for Prime Video in 2026. Throughout all that, he was also starring in “For All Mankind,” which to this day maintains an average critic score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. His 2026 series “Imperfect Women,” however, sadly lived up to its title.

The show was created by Annie Weisman, who also made the Rose Byrne-starring Apple TV series “Physical” which ran for three seasons on the streamer. “Imperfect Women” was conceptualized as a miniseries, owing to the fact it was based on a book, which is ostensibly why we only got one season. 

The show stars Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss as LA-based friends Eleanor and Mary, who are devastated by the murder of Nancy (Kate Mara), another of their friends whom they’ve known for decades. Despite their grief, the pair decide to investigate the killing, and in the process reveal some dark secrets which lurk — as they always do — just beneath the surface of their seemingly ideal upper class existence.

Kinnaman plays Robert, Nancy’s widower. Turns out Eleanor harbors a secret infatuation with her late friend’s husband, and that’s just one of the scandals that come to light as the show goes on. The eight-episode miniseries divides those episodes into three groups, with each member of the friendship trio narrating one of those groups. It’s an interesting idea at the very least, but ultimately, “Imperfect Women” failed to impress.

“Imperfect Women” debuted on Apple TV on March 18, 2026, nine days before “For All Mankind” Season 5 kicked off. Unfortunately, while the latter earned itself a nice little 90% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, “Imperfect Woman” managed just 43%.

Randy Myers of the San Jose Mercury News gave the show two out of four stars and admitted that while it was “watchable” the plot was “dumb” and even, at times, “laughable.” The Hollywood Reporter‘s Daniel Fienberg felt similarly, noting while “Imperfect Women” wasn’t “the worst entry in television’s most exhausted genre,” it had an inescapable “blandness” and ultimately possessed “all the creative flair of an eight-year-old performing ‘Heart & Soul’ accompanied by a prerecorded track on a Casio keyboard.” 

Not every critic dismissed “Imperfect Women,” however. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian called it “escapist fun” and Aramide Tinubu of Variety even went so far as to call it an “outstanding mystery thriller bolstered by the resounding lead performances.”

Sadly, those who did enjoy “Imperfect Women” were stuck with a single season. Apple didn’t renew the show, which considering it was a mini-series makes sense. But had it debuted to stellar reviews and massive viewership, Apple surely would have figured out a way to bring it back. For now, it remains available on Apple TV. Alternatively, Joel Kinnaman’s far superior crime series “The Killing” is just waiting to be streamed over on Hulu.