Courtesy of ABC
Everything is wrapped up in a neat little bow for the finale of Blood & Oil. So who made it rich, who weathered the storm and whose dreams came true? Let’s bitch it out…
Sigh. Finale episodes make me so nostalgic because everything always ends up right in the world. Add in the Christmas element and bam! my sentimental side is showing its true colours.
Billy (Chace Crawford) tries to have it all like his sometimes mentor /sometimes nemesis Hap (Don Johnson). When Cody (Rebecca Rittenhouse) wants to go back home to Florida, however, Billy is forced to choose: his marriage or his oil. Considering the oil isn’t an option, the choice is simple. That is, until Alex the doctor (JD Pardo) tries to manoeuvre the oil deal to break up Cody and Billy. Man, that Cody must have some secret power over men. The sweet, doe eyed girl from a small town gets under Alex’s skin so much that he plays around with a trillion dollar oil deal for a girl he met the day before.
Suddenly, Cody has a choice to make as well. Alex plays to her do-gooder side and offers her the opportunity to be a pharmacist in Haiti with Doctors Without Borders. Let’s not forget – and this is an important point – they met the day before. But let’s put that aside for now. Alex’s scheme naturally puts Billy in a tough place. Everyone is relying on him for a trillion dollar deal, and a little pep talk from Hap provides just the push Billy needs to decide he can have it all. The thing that is most baffling to me is that Billy could have contacted Cody at any point during the day to let her know his plan. Or talk to her. Or tell her he wants to be with her. But no. Instead Billy decides to leave it until the LAST.POSSIBLE.MOMENT. Alas, his girl isn’t about to leave without him (even though she totally should), so all is right in the world. Alex’s secrets are exposed, Billy is a (rich) hero and he and Cody go home to save their marriage. The small town kids who came to the bustling city of Rock Springs have conquered it in their own way and go home winners.
Courtesy of ABC
Now I want to pivot to the ridiculous scene between Hap and Wick (Scott Michael Foster). Over the course of this abbreviated season, I have come to love Wick, so its hard for me to remember back at the beginning of the season when he held a gun in his dad’s face and pulled that random oil robbery. However, the past has come back to haunt Wick. Or so he thinks. Hap finally gets the proof he needs that it was Wick who tried to kill him and in a dramatic turn of events, pulls a gun on his own son. And then dissolves into tears?! I mean… what?! The billionaire who hasn’t shown one ounce of emotion the entire season, who has an affair with his son’s girlfriend, all of a sudden not only forgives, but also takes the blame for Wick’s gun-toting ways to the FBI??? It makes no sense, but in keeping with the thematic finality of it all, father and son bury the hatchet and we get to see an emotional hug. Sigh. There’s nothing quite like a finale to bring people together.
If that conversation is hard to believe, sadly it isn’t the most unbelievable part of the episode. Jules (India de Beaufort) finds out that she is pregnant one day, submits a paternity sample the following day and not only receives the results the same day, but also gets the real results after the lab makes a mistake? Apparently everyone should move to Rock Springs because their health care system is working at top speed. Now I will admit that I was pretty happy that it there’s a mistake and that the baby isn’t Hap’s. There was just something so dirty about the thought that Jules’ boyfriend’s dad is the father. Now that I have come to love Wick and Jules, I’m very happy with the ending of their story. Plus: Jules made a deal that Wick would be proud of and swindles Carla (Amber Valletta) out of a significant amount of money in her quest to live out her dream of a family to call her own. That’s one story I’m glad to see get a happy resolution.
Other Observations:
- I don’t even know what to say about the whole story with the Saudis. I mean..is it really necessary? Seems like the writers overreached on this one. Blood & Oil is is a show where fathers sleep with their son’s girlfriends, not tales of international criminals kidnapping children. I never liked this story line and I especially didn’t like it in the finale. This is a nighttime soap opera, there’s no need for real life conflict to be brought in to it, thanks.
Well, I have to say I’m conflicted about the show being over. As much as I struggled with some story lines, I’m also kind of sad to see it go. Thank you, Blood & Oil for bringing me Don Johnson, the return of Chace Crawford (and his terrible half accent), Wilson Bethel (for a few short episodes) and Hap Briggs’ amazing house set against a beautiful North Dakota backdrop. This reviewer is sad to see you go.
Blood & Oil has now finished its abbreviated run on ABC. Don’t expect a surprise S2 renewal.
I’ll miss seeing Don Johnson, but a couple of things about the show really sucked. First of all, I’m a native of the Dakotas, and I guarantee you there is NOWHERE in North Dakota that looks like those beautiful mountains around Hap’s place.
I also could not stand seeing the Sheriff walking around wearing a thermal long-john top for a uniform shirt. C’mon!! No self-respecting law officer in the country is going to go around looking like that; or with that goofy hat for crying out loud.
Other than those production details, it is too bad the series ended early. It had promise. (and I agree with you on the Saudi angle and the ridiculous Hap-Wick scene – shake my head).