Shades of Blue Review: “For I Have Sinned” Says Everyone

Shades of Blue, at times, can be messy and hard to follow. The plot can be bogged down by multiple threads and characters that are involved in all of them. So, admittedly, I was surprised when this week’s episode was straightforward and mysterious, rather than deliberately misleading. I waffle back and forth on this show all the time, but “For I Have Sinned” made for a relatively strong penultimate installment, in preparation for next week’s season finale.

This week on Shades of Blue: Loman is picked up by the FBI, but will not give them any names. As the sting operation to catch Wozniak/armored truck heist goes south, all parties scramble to place blame on the others. Wozniak, Tufo, and Espada get help for Tess after she’s wounded. The FBI works to bring down Linklater.

As I previously stated, I was overall pretty impressed with this episode. A lot of the problems that plague Shades of Blue don’t really apply to this installment. A lot of people in this episode struggle with the moral issues that the show faces, and the consequences of their actions, which is incredibly important for a show like this. I hate it when shows unabashedly cross lines and show no code of ethics. But, the cops on Shades of Blue show increasingly strong conscience, which makes the show inherently more watchable.

I believe I’ve said this before, and I maintain it: Loman is the best character on the show. He illustrates what I think this show is really about. He has a desire to protect himself, but he has a strong code of ethics and morality, and truly struggles to bend the rules to do “the right thing”. His performance is down to earth, but extremely compelling.

That being said, Ray Liotta’s Wozniak shone brightly in this episode. Early episode of this series portrayed him as a desperate, scared man, wanting to protect the status quo. Though Liotta was compelling throughout, the material was not compelling enough for his strong performances. “For I Have Sinned”, however, features a wonderful scene in which Wozniak goes to confession. He admits that all of this started when he lost his daughter, and that his primary goal  was to keep drugs out of schools and parks. It was a beautiful scene, and Liotta knocked it out of the park.

I’m not sure if any of my readers have figured this out yet, but I HATE lying for drama’s sake. “Lying to protect” is one of those tropes that’s gotten really out of hand on television today. Excessive lying is a huge turn-off.  I rolled my eyes when Harlee had lied to every single character in this episode about something. But, when it came to fruition and we found out that she had taken all the money, I was blown away. Lying that only leads to drama is really, REALLY annoying, but lying that leads to excellent plot twists will pay off.

I’ve never been more interested in watching a next episode of this show. This penultimate installment got me interested. With a little eye-rolling and recovering from horrible writing, “For I Have Sinned” turned out to be a pretty compelling hour.

There’s only one episode left of this season. Are you guys sad that it’s ending? Let us know in the comments!

Shades of Blue’s Season One Finale airs Thursday, March 31st at 10/9c on NBC