Shades of Blue is an American crime drama television series created by Adi Hasak for NBC. The series premiered on January 7, 2016. It is set in New York City and stars Jennifer Lopez as Harlee Santos, a single-mother NYPD Detective who is forced to work for the FBI's Anti-Corruption Task Force, while dealing with her own financial and family problems.
The series is loosely based on the novel Shades of Blue: 30 Years of (Un)ethical Policing by Michael Rudolph.
In March 2017, the series was renewed for a third season. NBC later announced in April 2018 that this would be the final season, and that it would consist of 10 episodes. The third and final season premiered on June 17, 2018, and the series finale aired on August 19, 2018.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Jennifer Lopez as Harlee Santos, a corrupt NYPD Detective with the Street Crimes detective squad in the NYPD's 64th Precinct and an FBI informant for the FBI's Anti-Corruption Task Force. She is a single mother to 16-year-old Cristina; Cristina's father was abusive, and shortly after his release from prison in 2005, Harlee framed him for murder. She joined Wozniak's crew after he helped cover up her frame job. After getting arrested by the FBI in an anti-corruption investigation, she becomes a reluctant informant against Wozniak in exchange for immunity. She eventually sacrifices her career and freedom to bring down the corrupt Intelligence Unit, and is sent to prison for three years.
Ray Liotta as Lieutenant Matt Wozniak, a corrupt NYPD Lieutenant who is the commander of the 64th Precinct's Street Crimes detective squad and the main target in an FBI anti-corruption investigation. He is a 25-year veteran of the force, and before that spent six years in the United States Marine Corps. He is very close to Harlee, whom he considers a daughter, and Harlee's own daughter, Cristina; this stems from the guilt he feels over the death of his own daughter Anna-Kate, from a drug overdose at age 19. After Harlee sacrifices her career and freedom to bring down the corrupt Intelligence Unit, Wozniak drives her to prison and takes in Cristina per her wishes.
Drea de Matteo as Detective Tess Nazario, an NYPD Detective in Wozniak's crew who wrestles with her personal life, most notably her marriage, which eventually ends during the series. She is reassigned to patrol as an officer in season 3 due to the fallout of the events of the previous season's finale but is promoted back to detective in the series finale.
Warren Kole as Special Agent Robert Stahl, an FBI Special Agent assigned to the Anti-Corruption Task Force, and Harlee's handler. He develops an obsession with Harlee which, after crossing multiple lines, leads to his indefinite suspension and eventual termination from the Bureau. Stahl then goes rogue and after temporarily kidnapping Harlee, becomes obsessed with trying to bring her down by any means necessary, even by killing those allied with him and attempting to frame her. Near the end of the series, he corners Harlee inside her home, only for her to shoot and finally kill him with Cristina's help.
Dayo Okeniyi as Detective Michael Loman, a rookie NYPD Detective assigned to the 64th, who initially struggles to stay straight amongst the corrupt actions of his co-workers but embraces the dirty cop lifestyle by the end of the series.
Recurring
Leslie Silva as Gail Baker, an FBI special agent in charge, and an old friend of Harlee's, who assigns her as the mole under Stahl's supervision.
Santino Fontana as David Saperstein (season 1), a detective who is part of Wozniak's crew. Wozniak kills him after being led to believe that he is the FBI's mole.
Michael Esper as Donnie Pomp (season 1), a corrupt lieutenant in Internal Affairs who uses his position to protect Wozniak and his crew. He is later killed by Loman in self-defense and his body is cremated by Wozniak.
Lolita Davidovich (season 1) and Margaret Colin (seasons 2–3) as Linda Wozniak, Matt's wife
Annie Chang as Molly Chen (seasons 1–2), an FBI special agent and Stahl's partner. She later has herself reassigned after becoming very uncomfortable with Stahl's growing obsession with Harlee.
Mark Deklin as Joe Nazario (season 1), Tess' husband, who eventually becomes divorced from her.
Erica Ash as Erica (season 1), Loman's love interest
Kathryn Kates as David's mother (season 1)
Stephen Lang as Terrence Linklater (seasons 1–2), a corrupt DEA agent in league with Wozniak and Pomp to pull off an armored car heist, only to betray the team and steal most of the money before fleeing the country. He later returns and is captured by Harlee and Wozniak, who aim to use him as a bargaining chip to get out from under the FBI's thumb. However, Stahl instead prevents this by murdering Linklater in cold blood and his body is cremated by Harlee and Wozniak.
Antonio Jaramillo as Miguel Zepeda (season 1), Harlee's violently abusive ex-boyfriend and Cristina's father. Wozniak and Harlee conspired to frame him for murder in order to keep Harlee and Cristina safe. He is later released and tries to reconnect with his daughter but is repeatedly stalled by Harlee's attempts to keep Cristina away from him. Harlee eventually kills him in self-defense after he attempts to rape her at gunpoint. His disappearance becomes a focus point in season 2 as Stahl attempts to uncover the truth behind it.
Production
In February 2014, NBC gave a 13-episode straight-to-series order. A teaser trailer was made available on June 3, 2015, containing statements by Lopez, Ray Liotta, and Drea de Matteo. The series premiered on January 7, 2016. On February 5, 2016, NBC renewed Shades of Blue for a 13-episode second season, which premiered on March 5, 2017. On March 17, 2017, the series was renewed for a third season. NBC later announced on April 4, 2018, that this would be the final season, and it would contain 10 episodes. The third season premiered on June 17, 2018.
Casting
Lopez was given the main role in 2014. On February 26, 2015, Liotta, de Matteo, Vincent Laresca and Warren Kole were cast as Lt. Matt Wozniak, Det. Shirley Nazario, Det. Tony Espada and Agent Robert Stahl, respectively. Dayo Okeniyi was given the role of Det. Michael Loman. On March 30, 2015, Hampton Fluker was cast in a recurring role as Det. Marcus Tufo. On April 8, Sarah Jeffery was cast as Santos' daughter, Christina. On April 13, 2015, Gino Anthony Pesi was cast in a recurring role as Assistant District Attorney James Nava. On June 15, 2016, Anna Gunn joined Shades of Blue's second season in a recurring role.
Filming
Filming for the first season began on June 5, 2015, for the second season in July 2016, and for the third season in April 2017.
All filming took place in New York City.
Themes
Character Harlee Santos is an NYPD detective who is a single mother. She is corrupt, taking bribes and protection money so that she can provide for her daughter. When confronted, she is forced by the FBI to go undercover and investigate her own squad. In their book, Reel Latinxs: Representation in U.S. Film and TV, academics Frederick Luis Aldama and Christopher González suggest that Santos is depicted as duplicitous and traitorous. They argue that the show follows a Latina-as-mamá stereotype. Conversely, Willa Paskin, writing for Slate magazine, argues that Santos is presented too sympathetically and generously: she is "down-to-earth and competent, flipping from flirtatious to distressed, maternal to infuriated."
Reception
Critical response
The show has received mixed reviews despite praise for Lopez's performance. On Metacritic, Shades of Blue has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 28 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show is rated 57% based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's consensus reads "Solid performances by Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta fail to lift Shades of Blue above the ranks of the pedestrian network procedural".
Writing for USA Today, Robert Bianco gave the series two stars out of four, calling it "a thoroughly ordinary reworking of pretty much every crooked cop show and movie you've ever seen". Slate reviewer Willa Paskin criticized the show as "moderately terrible", though praised Lopez's performance as "hugely appealing" and called her "the show's one reliable pleasure". In a more positive review, Yahoo!'s Ken Tucker called Lopez's work "solid" and felt the series was "perhaps the best dramatic work she's done since her first-rate film, Out of Sight". Molly Eichel from The A.V. Club gave the series a C+ rating, saying that "While the plot starts out cut and dried, it becomes more twisty and turny in a way that will eventually bring the audience back to the opening scene of a makeup-less, de-glammed Santos confessing her sins into a camera". Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture wrote that "Shades of Blue isn't a deep show, but it's a sensationally effective one. It knows what it is (a compacted, melodramatic, commercial TV-friendly gloss on one of those '70s and '80s Sidney Lumet police-corruption thrillers) and it rarely steps wrong."
Broadcast
In India, Shades of Blue premiered on Colors Infinity on January 8, 2016, and aired shortly after its U.S. counterpart. In Canada, Shades aired on Global, at the same time and day as it aired on NBC. In the Netherlands, Shades was aired on Wednesdays on Fox. In Latin America, the series premiered on April 7, 2016 on Universal Channel. In Australia, it premiered on the Universal Channel on August 2, 2016. In the United Kingdom, Shades of Blue premiered on Sky Living on July 13, 2016. In Italy, it premiered on pay-platform Mediaset Premium on September 22, 2016 and then aired as a free broadcast on Canale 5 from July 5, 2017. In Bulgaria, the series premiered on October 3, 2016, on Fox Crime. In Germany, it premiered on RTL on October 18, 2016. In France, it premiered on March 13, 2017 on France 2. In Greece, the series premiered on September 3, 2018, on Makedonia TV.
