Parents' Guide to

Blood & Oil

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Greed, manipulation, sex make for decent prime-time soap.

TV ABC Drama 2015
Blood & Oil Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

oilfieldgf
oilfieldgf Adult
January 25, 2016
age 14+

blood & oil love

I loved this TV show series. My boyfriend of 4.5 years has worked in the oilfield for 4 of those years, I have visited the boomtown that he works in multiple times and this show portrayed that town so well when the town was first booming. with people living on the streets and nothing being on the shelves in stores. The family and relationship drama was always entertaining and my 3 roommates and I were always talking about the show. All of us really hope to see the show continue, we need to see what is going to happen next!
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

BLOOD & OIL follows Billy (Chace Crawford) and Cody (Rebecca Rittenhouse) LeFever, newlyweds who leave their working-class hometown to have a go at a small business in Rock Springs, North Dakota, bustling after a recent oil strike. But when their original plans don't work out, they're forced to throw caution to the wind and go all in on a risky business endeavor with local tycoon Hap Briggs (Don Johnson), who's fighting his own battles with his crooked son, Wick (Scott Michael Foster). It's trial by fire as the LeFevers try to keep their heads above water in this boom-or-bust climate that threatens their marriage as well as their bottom line.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

This series has all the expected markings of a prime-time soap -- money, greed, sex, family squabbles, thinly veiled villains -- and the knack for taking itself more seriously than it should. It's impossible to watch without drawing comparisons to the granddaddy of all fracking dramas, Dallas (and its modern incarnation), but with the exception of Johnson's mesmerizing performance as the cunning Hap, it falls short of such a gold-standard mark.

Blood & Oil is inspired by the story of a real-life North Dakota boomtown, which will give it a slight edge for viewers who like a tangible dose of truth with their fiction. Some of the characters are particularly charming, including the wide-eyed greenhorns Billy and Cody, and there's plenty of tantalizing drama in play. The bottom line? This show isn't destined for awards, but it's a fairly benign guilty pleasure, and its setting makes for some stunning scenery.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about which characters, if any, are to be admired. Do any of them make their money honestly? Is it possible to be an honest businessman (or woman) in an environment like this one? Where do you draw the line between good business and good values?

  • Who are the bad guys in this story? Does that definition change as the show evolves? Does it change your impression of business in the real world? Is it easy to imagine business is as cutthroat as this show implies?

  • Teens: Are you a risk taker? Could you go all in on a make-or-break business venture the way many of these characters do?

TV Details

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