S01.E01: Pilot

[Tara Ariano]

In the premiere, NYPD detective Harlee Santos, who's part of a crew of dirty Brooklyn cops, is picked up by the FBI, which will do whatever it takes—including leveraging her daughter—to turn her into an informant against her fellow squad members.

[Primetimer]

NBC's J. Liotta take on a police-corruption double-cross is flawed in its inception...but it might still work.

Read the story

[Muffyn]

Okay, it doesn't look good. And I know it doesn't look good. But I would watch Ray Liotta in anything. Drea de Matteo is the cherry on the Ray sundae. I'm in.

[Greta]

I liked it. It's not perfect and a little too easy on the corrupt cops, but it has potential. I found JLo surprisingly good; I quickly started seeing Harlee, not the actress. 

[Cranky One]

I liked it. Put the series on my DVR.

[helenamonster]

I didn't think it was awful...after reading a few reviews I was expecting much worse. I like that's it more of a serial than a procedural, and it could have potential. I'll probably keep watching just because I'd watch Drea de Matteo in just about anything. Hopefully she gets more to do than what she had tonight.

 

Unfortunately, if this show does have a downfall, it's going to be JLo. I don't think she's a bad actress and I didn't think she was bad tonight, but I'm afraid the show is going to get too caught up in making her look good (both character-wise and physically), potentially at the expense of the story. The fact that she's an executive producer doesn't exactly assuage my fears. But we'll see. It's hard to make a blanket judgement after just one episode.

[Medicine Crow]

I have a hard time swallowing that a Mother of a teenager & a cop on the street runs around with that amount of boobage.  I'm old, but ....

[LakeGal]

I couldn't believe JLo's character shot at the door without checking nobody was out there.  That little girl or anyone could have been outside the door.

[Bama]

I enjoyed it.

 

Wozniak seems like he's going to be a character that's a lot of fun to watch - he loves his "people" and will do anything to help them. He's realistic that people are going to engage in personal vices (drugs, gambling, prostitution) and he will let that be as long as they don't bring violence to regular citizens.  But he loves power and money and judging from his manic, pacing, almost over the ledge rant in the garage, he is one bad day from going full Vick Mackey.

 

I think the Rookie, Lowman, is going to be The Cassandra and I have a feeling that's going to get old for me.

 

As mentioned above, after the first few minutes I didn't feel like I was watching "JLo playing detective", she was actually just Harlee.  I found her reactions to her situation believable and she had two stand out scenes; one, when she got taken down by the FBI - her initial instinct to go into cop mode and pretend she was just setting the bookie up to arrest him for bribery and as she realized the jig was up her facial expressions really sold me on the fact that she was seeing everything falling down around her in that moment.  The second was when she had to go wreck her daughter's car to cover up her lie.  The anger and regret and shame were very well acted.

 

Plus, her hair looks fucking fantastic.

[MrWhyt]

I didn't think it was awful...after reading a few reviews I was expecting much worse.

 

yes i was expecting a sub 5 out of 10, and this was a 6-6.5. i'll probably stick around.

[mommalib]

I like it. I think this is a show that could have staying power.

[shapeshifter]

Too humorless.

[jonesingjay]

I only caught the last fifth teen or so minutes of it. And, I enjoyed what I saw but I really like Ray Liotta and I'll watch for him.

[JAYJAY1979]

I'm not jennifer l played a good cop, she was believable as a cop in Angel Eyes.

I'm glad it will be a good mix of serial and procedural.

[mtlchick]

So I think TV is telling me that when Blue is in the title, it means "COP SHOW! You know what that means."  (See Blud Bloods, Rookie Blue.)

 

 

I found her reactions to her situation believable and she had two stand out scenes; one, when she got taken down by the FBI - her initial instinct to go into cop mode and pretend she was just setting the bookie up to arrest him for bribery and as she realized the jig was up her facial expressions really sold me on the fact that she was seeing everything falling down around her in that moment.  The second was when she had to go wreck her daughter's car to cover up her lie.  The anger and regret and shame were very well acted.

 

 

All of this.  Some of the lines were really damn hokey and cliched, but JLo can be a good actress when she wants to me.  The last scene especially as the desperation of trying to keep the lies together starts to sink in and it's barely 2 days. It's enough for me to DVR and watch this live one week and switching with Elementary. 

 

I do hope they throw Drea a bone.

[Morgan of Hed]

It was dreadful and unbelievable. The monologue at the start set the tone for me, and it didn't get better. I'm out.

As an aside, how is a cop in plain clothes possibly a wet-behind-the-ears rookie? He would have had to be working his ass off to make that rank and get out of uniform.

[TV Anonymous]

I think that while there is nothing inherently wrong with Jennifer Lopez's acting, the fact that she is Jennifer Lopez can be distracting. She is depicted as a single-mother street cop who is struggling to raise a daughter on her own and to provide for her. However, just before this show, she is in all her glorious and glamorous self criticizing and instructing contestants. Therefore viewers may find it harder to buy into the narrative of her police character.

[Febgirl]

I watched.  I"m pretty meh on it, so far, but I'll keep watching.   Spoiler tagging just in case, but 

I got a strong vibe that Ray Liotta might be the father of JLo's kid a la Vic Mackey and Danny from The Shield.

 

 

[JapMo]

I loved it...had no problem disassociating JLo on American Idol with JLo's Hallee on Shades of Blue. Jennifer is a good little actress. Not Oscar worthy, but she'll hold up her end of the show. Ray Liotta was great. His complete father figure involvement in his staff's lives is fascinating. Was rather surprised, however, that NBC allowed the word "prick" to come out of his mouth. Not offended, just surprised.

[saber5055]

I liked it okay, enough to tune in next week. JLo is quite pretty and yes, fabulous hair. I also agree the boobage was way too far out there (no pun intended), but then again, I guess male viewers have to tune in for something while the "little lady" is admiring Harlee's hair.

 

That daughter looked an awful lot like Ray Liotta. And he's overly connected to her. Is he her real father or something? Is that a spoiler for later in the season? I mean, co-workers can be close, but his relationship with Harlee/daughter is a little much. Of course, it's entirely possible I missed something while checking out hair styles.

 

I was waiting for the airbag to go off when JLo kept crashing the car. How does she explain it to the daughter, that her car is trashed? It would have been easier to make up a different excuse/lie to cover the first the-car-got-wrecked excuse/lie.

[Kerfuffler]

I too would watch the shit out of Mani PD.

[kfree9]

I watched it because I will watch Warren Kole in anything (why is he ALWAYS a cop/detective/etc. though?). Are they going to pull a "handler falls in love with subject," like Alias or something though? I wouldn't dig that too much.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Drea has to be the mole right.  I would never read a spoiler but in every poster advertising the show she's in the background looking sketchy.

 

And I agree, there was no explanation why Ray is so invested in Harlee; they just kept mentioning it without explaining why.  So I thought the daughter was Ray's also.

 

I agree with the critique "too humourless".  I need humour and lightness in any show, like LOST, The Good Wife, etc. 

 

I'll keep watching though.  I also agree with the statement that I expected it to suck, but it didn't actually suck.  

Edited January 8, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[roomtorome]

Definitely needs an injection of humor - but humor is difficult to write and for performers to deliver so maybe this crew just can't do it - 

 

Yes, her hair is fab.

 

But, I always get pissy when characters who have clearly broken the law - in a huge way given she is a cop - get caught and then act put out when there are demands made upon her.  Her bitchy attitude about what she was expected to do were really laughable.  She should be thanking everything on planet earth she is getting to stay out of prison and take care of her kid given the crap she and others are doing.

 

I guess I am never charmed by stories of cops doing this sort of stuff - I know it happens in real life but any attempt at making them likable is a complete fail for me.  

 

Vanity projects like this never grab me by the throat given that is the reason they were created in the first place, not because they had an interesting story to tell.  They don't.  It has been told countless times before.  She wanted something she could try to exhibit a range of emotions in - that's my take on the reason for this thing but good for RL getting work, always well deserved.  Too bad it is this show.

[helenamonster]

Was rather surprised, however, that NBC allowed the word "prick" to come out of his mouth. Not offended, just surprised.

 

The line that surprised me was when Harlee said to Tess something like, "A nut massage never hurts." Not in a pearl-clutching kind of way, more like a "I know it's 10pm but alrighty then" kind of way.

 

Drea has to be the mole right.  I would never read a spoiler but in every poster advertising the show she's in the background looking sketchy.

 

I hope not, since she's already played a mole/rat character before. I agree with Sarah's review that she'd probably be better suited for the lead but again, she's done that before, and did it so well that I'd rather just go back and watch the original performance than see a retread.

 

I didn't get any sort of vibe that Woz might be Cristina's father, mostly because I didn't get a vibe of past sexual history from JLo/Liotta. It seems like the crew is just really tight and he's taken on a sort of father-figure role to her because her own father is MIA for whatever reason.

 

I was really impressed by the actor who plays the FBI handler. I don't think I've seen him in anything before but the scene where he's talking to Harlee on the phone and he's all alone in the diner was delightfully creepy. The actor who plays Loman is really good too, but I have residual fondness for him since he played Thresh in The Hunger Games. His character doesn't get a lot to do in that movie but he made a pretty lasting impression 

in the scene where he kills Clove and lets Katniss go for trying to protect Rue.

[Bebecat]

Did not hate. :)

[dcinmb]

I was really impressed by the actor who plays the FBI handler. I don't think I've seen him in anything before but the scene where he's talking to Harlee on the phone and he's all alone in the diner was delightfully creepy. 

 

Warren Kole is the only reason I tuned in. He was also great on Common Law with Micheal Ealy.

[Rinaldo]

The reason I watched was Santino Fontana, but he's barely in it, and credited as a "guest star" though apparently he'll be in most if not all episodes. Three scenes, to deliver exposition that any acting intern could handle. I'll keep watching only in hopes that he gets more in some future episode.

[shapeshifter]

Warren Kole is the only reason I tuned in. He was also great on Common Law with Micheal Ealy.

I would so much rather watch that show. *Sigh* And that show had humor with the drama.

I'll only watch when convenient, which--given my work schedule for the next few months--might be never.

Liotta's character has to be either grandfather, godfather, or uncle to Harlee's kid, but I don't see him as the father unless Harlee's just raising her because the bio-mom couldn't. But then again, it's TV, so who knows?

[rose711]

I liked it.

[Texasmom1970]

Not sure yet still on the fence. Full disclosure I went into it prepared to hate it just because I am not a Lopez fan. Surprised it was okay, not great, but I think I will give it a couple more watches.

Did like that the had J. Lo in sensible shoes but the boobage, umm no. And they had to work hard for that because I don't think she is naturally that we'll endowed up top.

Also her with the young boxer, a cliche, but her with a younger man not a stretch.

I do hope they give Drea more to do love her, miss S.O.A!

[preeya]

I watched.  I"m pretty meh on it, so far, but I'll keep watching.   Spoiler tagging just in case, but 

I got a strong vibe that Ray Liotta might be the father of JLo's kid a la Vic Mackey and Danny from The Shield.

I had the same thought.

[Syndicate]

I liked it well enough but I do hope the other characters whom are considered to be part of the main cast, become more involved. I always hate it when a show has main characters who are underused or just not used at all. I also wonder how this goes beyond one season. The premise seems very limited, but then again, most TV shows created these days have a limited premise. ABC's Revenge is a good example. It lasted longer than it should have, veering off into a bunch of ridiculous new directions. I suspect if Shades of Blue is successful, it too will have to come up with a bunch of new plot points which will likely have nothing to do with the current premise.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Syndicate

[derriere]

How does she explain it to the daughter, that her car is trashed? It would have been easier to make up a different excuse/lie to cover the first the-car-got-wrecked excuse/lie.

I know, right?! Why is she such a terrible liar?

[Jillybean]

I fanwanked that the daughter won't get out of bed before the car is picked up at 7:30am the next morning.

[saber5055]

I fanwanked that the daughter won't get out of bed before the car is picked up at 7:30am the next morning.

 

Which leads to the next lie: "Honey, someone stole your car! You will have to walk to school!"

The line that surprised me was when Harlee said to Tess something like, "A nut massage never hurts."

 

No kidding. That was cable-show talk. And even on cable it would not be necessary. So yeah, maybe male/female cops talk like that to each other in real life, but it didn't do anything to help me like JLo's character. And what about the daughter getting a job to help pay her tuition? I guess me putting myself through college w/o any help from anyone makes me under appreciate kids who get a full ride, all expenses paid by someone else.

[Greta]

Which leads to the next lie: "Honey, someone stole your car! You will have to walk to school!"

No kidding. That was cable-show talk. And even on cable it would not be necessary. So yeah, maybe male/female cops talk like that to each other in real life, but it didn't do anything to help me like JLo's character. And what about the daughter getting a job to help pay her tuition? I guess me putting myself through college w/o any help from anyone makes me under appreciate kids who get a full ride, all expenses paid by someone else.

I think the idea was that a gifted musician at a school like Julliard has the expectation of long hours of rehearsal that would make a job impractical to get and/or keep. But I agree the daughter gave off quite a whiff of entitlement when she handed over the letter from the registrar. And where does she think gifts like an Alice and Olivia blouse (nice product placement, BTW) come from?

[NorthstarATL]

I watched it because I will watch Warren Kole in anything (why is he ALWAYS a cop/detective/etc. though?). Are they going to pull a "handler falls in love with subject," like Alias or something though? I wouldn't dig that too much.

When he put the wire on her from behind and she had to lift her hair, it was every scene in every romantic movie, so, yeah, I think they'll probably go there. The premise itself might get a nice twist, though, if he winds up being compromised and thereby complicit by falling for her. The idea that everyone is corruptible.

[represent]

I watched this, it's not great, but Jennifer Lopez always holds my interest when she's on screen. I won't shell out any money to see her on the big screen, but I'll watch her movies once they are on cable and I'm always entertained. She's played a cop a few time in her acting career so I knew that she'd be believable.

Do we have any shows where the female lead detective is a dirty cop? I don't think so, so that's different.

We've got Olivia Benson who is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

JLo is a believable actress and head over heels better than Halle Berry who has an Oscar so...I'll continue to check this show out for time to time.

I definitely like her acting more than I like her singing. I'm not into her music career at all.

Plus Ray Liotta is a bonus and it's good to see Audriana from the Sopranos. It's ironic, she's not the snitch this time LOL.

Edited January 10, 2016 by represent

[anonymiss]

JLO can act (and dance but not sing) so yeah, I am not surprised she was good in this. She also incorporated her past roles as a cop and a woman who boxes (Enough).

 

I hated the last scene because it was so contrived and overdone but it's fun to watch Ray Liotta like that.

Edited January 10, 2016 by anonymiss

[helenamonster]

And what about the daughter getting a job to help pay her tuition? I guess me putting myself through college w/o any help from anyone makes me under appreciate kids who get a full ride, all expenses paid by someone else.

The daughter is only in high school right now, and to me anyway it seems a little unreasonable to expect a high school student to fund their own tuition. Even if she was in college, it's damn near impossible these days for a kid to start working a part-time job in high school and then pay for undergrad all by themselves, even at state schools. Tuition rates are insane, bordering on highway robbery. I'm fortunate enough to have parents who could afford to send me to college (with the help of some scholarships) but my mom is so happy that she just sent in the last tuition check. I would never have been able to fund my own education with any of the part-time jobs/internships I've had, and at a couple of those jobs I made above minimum wage.

I'm guessing that if and when Harlee has to explain the smashed-up car to her daughter, she can just pretend to guess that someone hit it while it was parked on the street overnight.

If anything romantic happens between Harlee and the FBI handler, my guess is that it's going to be very one-sided. He seems four short of a bushel at times, and I don't see any indication that she's going to fall for the guy that's ruining her life (however good his intentions may be). He seems like he'd be more obsessive/stalker than legitimate romantic.

[SimoneS]

I was surprised how much I liked this. Her rationalization of her corruption was so realistic. I thought the full immunity that the FBI offered her was unbelievable. She would definitely get prison time. And why is there only one FBI handler? I cannot see how this show goes to multiple seasons if he already knows there is a FBI informant in the squad.

I have never considered JLo to be a good actress, but she gave a good performance. I felt for the rookie who got sucked into this corruption so quickly. I liked the music too. However, JLo and Drea de Matteo look like they just stepped out of a fashion shoot not the "tough" city streets.

I hope that this show's ratings remain solid, but I have my doubts. Gritty shows with morally compromised leading characters, especially corrupt police then not to do well on network tv.

[ribboninthesky1]

I believe this show was a replacement for The Player, and it's a worthy one. The pilot did its job, and got me interested. I've never understood the disdain for Lopez, so her presence was a draw for me, not a deterrent. Ray Liotta looks a hot mess in HD, but he's perfect for Wozniak. I'm also interested in the rookie. He'll probably be the one suspected as the mole, so I'm not hopeful he'll make it through the end of the season.

[Chaos Theory]

The premise seems limited but then I thought the same about The Blacklist. It's possible that this actually could be a poor mans The Shield with deals and double deals.

I am actually most interested in Drea de Matteo. I loved her on SOA so seeing her again is a blast. This has potential if it doesn't drive itself into the ground.

[Syndicate]

I just thought of something. At the beginning of the pilot, we see Harlee talking about something, that if we go by her demeanor, was potentially devastating or even fatal. Some are suggesting that Harlee and Agent Stahl become romantically involved. If it's one-sided and Agent Stahl turns obsessive and stalkerish, I wonder if Harlee kills him in some kind of self-defense move? Like maybe he tries to rape her, she kills him, and the rest of the team step in to help dispose of the body. This is the setup for season 2. The team are all scrambling to cover their asses while Agent Stahl's colleagues from the FBI come sniffing around to investigate his mysterious disappearance.

[ToukieSmith]

Drea has to be the mole right. I would never read a spoiler but in every poster advertising the show she's in the background looking sketchy.

And I agree, there was no explanation why Ray is so invested in Harlee; they just kept mentioning it without explaining why. So I thought the daughter was Ray's also.

I agree with the critique "too humourless". I need humour and lightness in any show, like LOST, The Good Wife, etc.

I'll keep watching though. I also agree with the statement that I expected it to suck, but it didn't actually suck.

I don't think Harlee's daughter is Ray's. Actually, I was wondering why Harlee is concerned about who will take care of her daughter when a) Ray's character would do it for her especially if he knows about the blackmail and b) the daughter is almost grown.

I was really impressed by the actor who plays the FBI handler. I don't think I've seen him in anything before but the scene where he's talking to Harlee on the phone and he's all alone in the diner was delightfully creepy.

I don't think he is legit. Just like Ray's character is playing for local drug dealer, this so-called FBI agent can be playing for a different dealer. I don't trust him, especially after he broke into Harlee's home. That was not necessary to his cause if he were legit. Also, doesn't the justice department need to be involved for immunity deals? If I were Harlee, I would need to see an agreement and have my lawyer bless it first. At the very least, she should have said yes to give herself enough time to get herself the best deal possible. I would trust the criminal that I know versus the criminal that I don't know if it were me. Edited January 10, 2016 by ToukieSmith

[ribboninthesky1]

Assuming Wozniak goes down (with or without Harlee as the informant), he can't do much for her, either.

[FortKnox]

Yeah something about the FBI handler doesn't seem right. Something tells me he and his little squad are also corrupt.

[Bill C.]

Going off the pilot...it's not a total ripoff of The Shield, but you can see its shadow looming (here, admittedly, Woz's not-quite-elite unit seems to be more openly about keeping the peace in their AOR and less about lining their own pockets--except of course Woz, and apparently this Lieutenant whatshisname).  Where it seems to be missing a beat so far is with Harlee: I kept having the sense that the show was somehow flubbing the pitch with her.  I'm not sure if it was due to J-Lo herself or the writing, but it felt like they were trying for "a complex, rootable character," missing it, and settling for somewhere around "trying to have their cake and eat it too, because she's not quite that complex."   I don't hate her, but her moments were few and far between (her talking her rookie partner down in the car, maybe that split-second when she was busted by Stahl's team, and when she was out dinging up her daughter's car).

 

On the other hand, the music or rather usage thereof was straight first-season Shield.  Utterly.  I wouldn't have been surprised one bit if Bawitdaba had popped up somewhere.

 

One thing that straight-up weirded me out, though: Agent Stahl.  I'm seriously wondering if Warren Kole is/was deliberately playing him as more than professionally interested in Harlee, because that's exactly where the hell my mind went when he broke into her house--and every single interaction they had after that really didn't make that feeling go away.

 

I'm here for Ray Liotta, pretty much.  (Drea de Matteo is a perk.)  And I'm at least curious to see how it ends, since it's a one-shot show (I'm assuming).

[Syndicate]

Going off the pilot...it's not a total ripoff of The Shield, but you can see its shadow looming (here, admittedly, Woz's not-quite-elite unit seems to be more openly about keeping the peace in their AOR and less about lining their own pockets--except of course Woz, and apparently this Lieutenant whatshisname).  Where it seems to be missing a beat so far is with Harlee: I kept having the sense that the show was somehow flubbing the pitch with her.  I'm not sure if it was due to J-Lo herself or the writing, but it felt like they were trying for "a complex, rootable character," missing it, and settling for somewhere around "trying to have their cake and eat it too, because she's not quite that complex."   I don't hate her, but her moments were few and far between (her talking her rookie partner down in the car, maybe that split-second when she was busted by Stahl's team, and when she was out dinging up her daughter's car).

 

On the other hand, the music or rather usage thereof was straight first-season Shield.  Utterly.  I wouldn't have been surprised one bit if Bawitdaba had popped up somewhere.

 

One thing that straight-up weirded me out, though: Agent Stahl.  I'm seriously wondering if Warren Kole is/was deliberately playing him as more than professionally interested in Harlee, because that's exactly where the hell my mind went when he broke into her house--and every single interaction they had after that really didn't make that feeling go away.

 

I'm here for Ray Liotta, pretty much.  (Drea de Matteo is a perk.)  And I'm at least curious to see how it ends, since it's a one-shot show (I'm assuming).

Initially, I said that I didn't know how this show, with its seemingly limited premise, could get beyond one season.  But I actually think that TPTB created this show as a multiple season entity.  My theory about Harlee and Agent Stahl could push this show into a season 2 at least.