Blood & Oil

I watched the pilot episode for Blood & Oil and this new soap, set during the oil boom in North Dakota, held my attention from start to finish and has an engaging, attractive cast of characters. There is the wealthy oil baron (Don Johnson), his power hungry wife (Amber Valetta) and the black sheep son, who is unable or unwilling to please his hard driving father and despises his stepmother. Then, there is the working class couple who comes to the boomtown to seek their fortune (aptly played by Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse). These characters are well cast and very appealing, with good chemistry between them. Chace Crawford is especially good as Billy and shows that he has grown up since Gossip Girl.

The themes of family dysfunction, love and money and power struggles don't break any new ground, but that's what the soap opera genre is all about. I enjoyed the pilot, the actors and the character development and am looking forward to future episodes.

Don't know if today's evening TV viewing audience is ready for another "Dallas" or "Dynasty" type show, but here is comes with "Blood & Oil". Don Johnson (Miami Vice) returns to prime time as oil tycoon Hap Briggs, with a family (Amber Valletta, Scott Michael Foster and Miranda Rae Mayo) full of angst and ready for trouble. Johnson also executive producers with others, and luckily he managers to keep out of his own way while on screen. Playing the innocent card, and ripe for "oil creed picking," are the sexy Chase Crawford (Gossip Girl) and his innocence TV wife Rebecca Rittenhouse (Red Band Society). The writing is on the wall regarding the marriage of these families, so get ready for turmoil. As "Blood & Oil" is nighttime drama, the series writers are moving a mile a minute, tossing out and crossing story lines like there is no tomorrow. At this point, the series concept appears plausible. However, many of the sets are too perfect and sometime incorrect (i.e. the hotel Crawford initially stays in appears run down, yet inside the room is extremely large and the bathroom is spa like). For now I'm sticking around to see what happens next in North Dakota.

It's improving by making it into a drama instead of a soap. The characters are very sexy, good acting and strong female roles. They could do a lot with it. This is the home of Custers last stand. I like it when they speed things up -- have characters move fast as no one here has time to sit around. The last episode seemed to imply that they would bring in something about the Indian casino. I hope they do . In Williston there was a coffee food truck run by a group of older ex strippers another hope based in reality as they showed a food truck. I liked the pick up truck chase as you have to drive your trucks fast and hard around here.

Interesting setting - check. Great chemistry between lead actors - check. Solid supporting cast - check. Story moving along briskly - check. Great cinematography - check.

This promises to be just the right kind of slickly done action-soap-opera, a world with modern-day-Wild-West intrigue. This show reminds me of Hell On Wheels, despite the obvious anachronism of being set in modern times.

It is filmed well, the couple who are the main protagonists have genuine chemistry. They don't seem like "actors", "acting to be a couple" - at all.

The characters have believable motivations, and the show has heart.

Heart is something that's been present in many shows of the 90s and earlier, regardless of their objective quality, but in the cynical age of today it has been lost. "Breaking Bad", for example, a great show otherwise, didn't have heart. Many shows of today find it safer to stick to cynicism and negative humor.

"Blood & Oil" is refreshingly earnest - it doesn't twist itself into a pretzel to manipulate the viewer. As result, its emotion is simple and therefore relatable. When you feel for someone in this show, you feel it with them.

Whoever's in charge of this show, has a clarity of vision. Let them never lose it.

"ABC's" new series "Blood and Oil" has all the themes of modern day soap operas which shines at night it has sex, lust, greed, and revenge! Set in North Dakota during the modern day oil boom, a young man named Billy(Chace Crawford)and his wife move to town to start a new life for love and money! Soon upon meeting oil tycoon and business magnet Hap Briggs(glad to see the great Don Johnson working again)Billy strikes it rich with oil gold! However life at the top sure does come with some drama as this series shows everything from murder and greed which blends well with sex as old Hap is a ladies man even having a mistress, and Hap has a hard headed son who's in the way it's all in the family with drama! Overall well done series that has all the elements that make a night time soap a winner check out "Blood and Oil" it's one slick drama!