Watching The Looming Tower, you're right back at that point in history, watching it all tumble down again struggling to understand how and why it happened.

This [is a] handsome, ambitious drama series.

This miniseries is an accurate, informative, and somewhat shocking retelling of actual events in American history that's as entertaining as it is jaw-dropping to those who couldn't read through the transcripts of the 9/11 Commission Report.

On the evidence of the first episode, it is quite a gripping series, and there are two fantastic performances at its heart.

Guns, bombs, complicated intrigue in terrorist drama.

If you want to understand how the most important episode in modern history happened, this landmark series is the place to start.

The three episodes made available to critics are masterful and smart in how they use our knowledge of what happened on 9/11 to supply retroactive suspense to the events of the late 1990s.

Anchored by strong performances by Daniels, Sarsgaard, and Rahim, The Looming Tower turns an unflinching eye on its subject matter, making neither pristine heroes of its American protagonists nor two-dimensional villains of its antagonists.

What should be Greek tragedy ends up just being pretty good streaming drama.

Futterman and Gibney have earned my trust, if not my optimism.

As a story with something to say, it falters. Luckily, the caliber of the people involved keeps it from falling...when The Looming Tower does reach equilibrium, it's a gorgeous piece of work.

... The Looming Tower is a taut, tense restaging of the internecine squabbles between the FBI and the CIA in the lead-up to 9/11.

I'm such fan of Alex Gibney's many documentaries, it's no surprise that his adaptation of Lawrence Wright's "The Looming Tower" (Hulu, streaming) would have a similar, immediate impact.

The Looming Tower, despite its high stakes and its ostensibly true story (though many details have been changed), is a cop show. A really well-done cop show, admittedly, but a cop show. And more power to it.

It's a bitter history lesson, artfully delivered at a time when we're still coping with the aftermath.