Blood & Oil

"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!

This prime time drama isn't a typical soap. People expecting a "Dallas" or "Revenge" glamour with high fashion and mansions won't find it here. It's set in rural oil fields. An ambitious young couple arrive in a town set to boom from oil discovery and tangle with local big wig couple. Quite a bit happens in the pilot with some things that seem a bit over the top to grab your attention like cars going off the road twice in 1 episode.

The main cast is watchable and attractive. Newcomer Rebecca Rittenhouse is pretty enough - not too glam to be unbelievable. Chace Crawford transitions well from Upper East Side to blue collar. Don Johnson has always been quite watchable and hasn't let himself go. Amber Valetta plays the ultimate second wife well. She was great in Revenge and looks to be a scene stealer here.

You want to see what happens hopefully it won't give into irritating clichés - the bad son seems a bit clichéd.

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.

Loved the first show.... I found it powerful. I could have easily watched another hour of this. Don Johnson continues to capture his audience with a bold and demanding character. I have enjoyed his work over the years and will in this series as well it appears. All of the actors supplied electrifying performances which kept my attention from the get go. The outdoor scenery supplies a freshness to the show however the brassiness of the writing gives it a superb twist. Never thought of South Dakota as a place of drilling for oil, one thinks of Texas, so this show could provide that area of the United States with a new look. The thrill of what would happen next kept my sense alert and attentive in the moment. I look forward to the next episode.

Young couple Billy (Chace Crawford) and Cody LeFever (Rebecca Rittenhouse) are trying to cash in on the oil boom in North Dakota with a few washing machines. They crash the truck and lose everything. Billy discovers a deal of a lifetime. With the help of Clifton Lundegren (Barry Corbin), he does a deal with oil tycoon Hap Briggs (Don Johnson) only to be double-crossed and lose it all again. Hap's family includes his equally ruthless trophy wife Darla (Amber Valletta), his black sheep son Wick (Scott Michael Foster) and his golden child Lacey. Jules Jackman (India de Beaufort) is the bar owner at the center of the action. Wick's ill-advised plan to rob his own father goes horribly wrong and sheriff Tip Harrison (Delroy Lindo) investigates.

I'm sure this show was developed back when oil prices were high and it was still the wild, wild west. The show is a little late which is normal operations for the traditional networks. It doesn't really matter if they place the show a few years earlier than present day. No matter what, this is a functional nighttime soap opera for the most part until tonight. This was the 5th episode. The order has been reduced to 10 episode. With its anemic ratings, it's highly doubtful to be renewed.

I'm willing to go along with some unreasonable stuff in this show but Billy is too hard to take. He's whiny and idiotic. He's annoying as hell which is a bad thing for the lead. In the latest episode, he has blackmail material against Hap. For some reason, his morality keeps him from disrupting Hap's marriage. Every move he makes screams "Idiot". Cody is the nagging nice wife and she's only better by comparison. Her workplace gets robbed and she decides to press the alarm right in front of the robber. The funny thing is that the show would be more dramatic if this lead couple actually does smart things or at least normal things.

Don Johnson does exactly what the show needs him to be. He's a cool villain. He's also able to bring multiple dimensions to his character. The son Wick is also a great character. The father son relationship is a Greek tragedy. The Briggs family has real potential. If this show keeps going, it would be advisable to make this the Briggs family show.