Shades of Blue Season 1 Episode 13 Review: One Last Lie
Christine Orlando
at
.
Updated at
.
The lines between right and wrong became even more blurred in Shades of Blue Season 1 Episode 13 as some alliances crumbled while others arose from the ashes in this gripping season finale.
Somehow Harlee never stopped working an angle as she sold both the truth and the lies with equal intensity.
The way she and Wozniak played this game, whether together or apart, was engrossing from the first installment to the last of Shades of Blue Season 1 and the fact that we’re still not sure how it ended just has me clamoring for more.
When Wozniak sat down with Agent Stahl at a diner late at night, I was instantly reminded of the scene from the movie "Heat" where Robert Dinero and Al Pacino’s characters finally face one another to talk.
I only wish we’d seen more of the conversation between Woz and Stahl because it had the same level of tension. But not knowing what was said led to a reveal later that I hadn’t expected.
As with the entire season, they were plenty of surprise twists here, starting with Donnie attempting to kill Loman. When Wozniak walked back into his house I knew he’d find one of them dead, I just had no idea which one.
Loman and Wozniak’s discussion over Donnie’s bleeding corpse was another moment that had me taken aback as Woz put the ball in Loman’s court in this Shades of Blue quote…
It's your dead body, it's your decision.
Wozniak
Since Loman knew that killing the Internal Affairs officer in charge of his first dead body wouldn’t look good, Donnie ended up being cremated at Raoul’s. It’s certainly convenient to have an empty funeral home at your disposal in moments like these.
Donnie’s death and Loman’s loyalty now has him as an actual member of this team and not just in name only. I really expected Loman to be gone before the season ended so I'm wondering how long this newfound camaraderie will last going forward.
Stahl turned out to be an even bigger bastard than I anticipated when he slept with Molly, knowing all the while he was going to use her as his scape goat and ruin her career. The guy may supposedly be on the right side of law enforcement but he’s a borderline sociopath who appears to feel the need to dominate women. If someone had broken his neck I certainly wouldn’t have shed a tear.
Cristina continued to be a typical teenager. She wants the family she never had and was more than willing to buy into the story Miguel was selling. I appreciated how Tufo tried to stick up for Harlee when all Cristina could see was the lies.
Cristina was struggling to break free from Harlee up until she realized that Harlee was sending her away. In that moment I was heartbroken for both mother and daughter as neither knew what was coming next or when they would see one another again.
Harlee was doing everything in her power to protect her daughter and her team; little did she know that Wozniak had beaten her to it.
It was only a matter of time before Woz put the pieces together and realized that Harlee was the mole. It was the depth of his reaction that had me almost forgiving this him for every horrible act we’ve watched him commit…
Everything you would do to protect Cristina, that's you for me. I don't want to lose another daughter. I forgive you.
Wozniak
If Harlee had gone to Woz right from the beginning, I was certain he would have had her back. After letting this play out for weeks and with Saperstein’s death as collateral damage, I wouldn’t have been shocked if Woz turned on her, but it was reassuring to know that he didn’t.
Did Harlee have something on Stahl that could help them both get out of this debacle? I keep going through the details but I can’t come up with anything that buys them that kind of leverage, although I keep hoping it’s there just the same.
As much as every character on Shades of Blue played in the grey area of right and wrong, there was one that I never doubted was a true villain: Miguel.
I never doubted that he would renege on his deal to take the money and leave Cristina and Harlee alone so I wasn’t surprised when he showed up sitting in Harlee’s apartment waiting to take his revenge. I wasn’t even shocked when he threatened to punish Cristina next.
But I was completely stunned when Harlee snapped his neck. So stunned that I actually cheered out loud when it happened because the manipulative, controlling piece of sleaze deserved it. I couldn’t even begrudge the cold look in Harlee’s eyes after she’d done it.
Will Wozniak end up wearing a badge or being behind bars? Will there be fallout for Harlee? Will Miguel’s body end up in Raoul’s crematorium?
We’ll all have to check back when Shades of Blue season 2 returns. Until then, you can watch Shades of Blue online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
