Dallas (1978)

Blood & Oil

Family: Ewings
Patriarch at the helm: JR Ewing (older wiser and willing to burn every bridge in Dallas for personal gain and power)
Competition: Cliff Barnes & Co.

Family: Briggs
Patriarch at the helm: Hap Briggs (older wiser and willing to burn every bridge in Rock Springs  for personal gain and power)
Competition: Young Blood

Here for ____, Stay for ____: Patrick Duffy, the family drama

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Sex, Lies, Cliffhangers?: 357 episodes (plus a reboot) of it

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Here for ____, Stay for ____: Chace Crawford, there’s only been one episode so the answer is also Crawford
Sex, Lies & Cliffhangers?: there’s only been one episode and the answer is already Yes. Yes. Yes.

While there are many similarities (even more but who has the time to draw up the whole oily Venn diagram), judging by the pilot, Blood & Oil will prove its individuality in the Oil Tycoon-Soap Opera genre. The premiere laid a strong foundation for a successful primetime soap. It had the obvious and conventional drama elements (daddy issues! surprise pregnancy!) as well as the contemporary conflict of new money versus old money.  Overall I quite enjoyed the pilot of Blood & Oil.  I was a huge fan of the 2012 reboot of Dallas, with its cancellation leaving a oil barrel sized whole in my heart, so I might be a bit biased.  Also I might have an ever so slight, barely there, crush on Chace Crawford and Scott Michael Foster BUT I am capable of being objective, trust me.  Blood & Oil has definitely sparked my interest, especially since I do love a good soap opera cliffhanger (Oil and Fire do not mix, kids). Dammit.  I’m not sure how objective I can be, I just love me some soaps…

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Some extra thoughts:

• C’mon ladies, show of hands, who swoons like a tween at 1D concert when Chace Crawford smiles? Ah yes, just as I expected, all the hands raised
• So do we call her Cody or CJ?
• Bold move using up two classic plot devices in the first episode: a car crash AND an unexpected pregnancy? You might regret that come season 4 and you’re out of ideas…
• Amber Valetta’s Darla Briggs didn’t say much but it’s clear she’s a major player in Rock Springs not just a trophy wife…Rich socialite white ladies should not be f’ed with…
• Also, calling it: she’s having an affair
• Blind bet: Darla and Wick will have sex by the season’s end.  I know its his Step-Mother but come on, all that hostility is just pent up sexual tension.  We’ll see…. (I’m totally right)
• It’s so nice seeing Scott Michael Foster on my screen again…healthy…and ALIVE (I’m still livid and depressed about this, Chasing Life)
• What’s with Wick just thoughtlessly putting a gun up to someone’s face, this isn’t just him being a privileged white boy, he’s a bit psychotic, right?
• I totally called that pregnancy reveal the second Cody started acting weird, just sayin…
• You really expect me to believe two young, attractive newlyweds were moving to North Dakota, to open a laundromat?? Pshhh O.K. Sure
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