Shades of Blue Round Table: To Kill or Not To Kill the Intern

Monsters stalked Cristina, Woz got his hands on Bianchi’s box of dirty secrets, and Stahl promised to “heal” Harlee on Shades of Blue Season 2 Episode 11.

Our TV Fanatics Stacy Glanzman, Jasmine Blu, and Christine Orlando dive in and debate over whether the intern should have been killed, Stahl’s methods of healing, and who will suffer the most now that the box is open after “The Quality of Mercy.”

Any idea what Stahl meant when he said he would “heal” Harlee?

Stacy: I think he just meant that he is going to expose her secrets. He said something about how "the truth hurts, but also heals." So, I think he meant is as "I'm going to expose you, the truth is going to come out, and that will heal you."

Jasmine: I agree, Stacy. He plans on exposing all of her secrets. Part of it is payback for sure, but somewhere in that twisted head of his, I think he might actually believe he's doing Harlee a favor by exposing her truth for her.

Christine: For a moment there, when Stahl helped rescue Cristina, I thought I saw a glimpse of humanity in him, and then later he sinks to yet a whole new level of creepiness. Perhaps that’s what makes him so compelling to watch, but I have no idea what he meant. With Stahl, anything is possible.

Who will be hurt the most by what’s in the box?

Stacy: That's hard to say. Possibly Julia, since there was a picture of her in it, but there's so much about the box we don't know. What's on those recordings? What's in the other envelope? I think a lot of people could be hurt by it.

Jasmine: I can't say for sure because I don't know what's in it. Woz pretty much said that it contained dirt on the city, so I wonder just how much information is there and on whom? It's possible that Julia will suffer the most, based on the photo we saw, but who knows?

Christine: Yeah, things look bad for Julia, but wasn’t there a photo of Gail Baker from the FBI in there too? Needless to say, things are going to get very messy for a lot of people, and I have little doubt that Woz and Harlee are included in that.

Should Harlee have let Woz kill the intern? Did you think she would rat them out?

Stacy: Definitely not. I would have been upset if they had killed her, even though I knew there was a chance she'd rat them out. They have to draw the line somewhere and killing completely innocent young girls should be it.

If she hadn't been there, they would have been caught anyway by the security footage. I actually thought since she told them about that, that maybe she wouldn't say anything, but I wasn't shocked that she did.

Jasmine: I'm not nearly as firm a no as I probably should be, but I tend to adjust my moral compass to dark gray while watching this show.

No. I agree that a line has to be drawn somewhere, but also there was already more than one variable that would have outed them anyway. It wasn't a matter of if they would be found out, but rather a when. The intern ratting them out just cost them time, other than that it didn't change anything.

Christine: Killing her would have been wrong, not that doing something wrong ever stopped anyone on this show. As Jasmine pointed out, the shades of gray are pretty far reaching.

But I didn’t expect her to out them for two reasons. First, because in waiting so long it seems like she could lose her job for not saying something sooner, and second, with the look Woz was giving her, I’d be afraid he’d come back for revenge.

Watch Shades of Blue Season 2 Episode 11 Online

Who do you think will end up dead in the upcoming season finale?

Stacy: I honestly don't know. I could see it being Nava, which would be really sad. I hope it's not a member of the crew, but that would definitely raise the stakes.

Jasmine: They haven't lost a member of the crew since Sap, but it wasn't a result of outside sources. I can see someone else taking out a member, probably Tufo or Espada. That would really raise the stakes.

I think Nava is the most likely case though, he and Harlee finally reunited. He's the ADA. He's wrapped in a lot of this but still on the outskirts. It'll be sad if that's the case.

Christine: I’ll be surprised if someone doesn’t end up dead. I agree that Nava is the obvious choice. Maybe Julia. I don’t know where Stahl goes after this season; he’s hit quite a low, and yet I don’t want him to be killed off. Warren Kole is just too darn good at keeping me invested in his twistedness.

What was your favorite quote or scene from this episode?

Stacy: I liked the scene in the car between Harlee and Cristina. It was nice to see them have a happy, normal moment for a change.

Jasmine: I cannot stand Stahl, but I did enjoy the fact that Harlee was able to use his stalking Cristina to her advantage. It was the briefest of brief ceasefires, and I liked that.

Christine: As a mom, I loved the flashbacks to Harlee and Cristina under the covers. It came across as something very real and sweet, and something Harlee would think about as the real monsters tracked her daughter.

It’s almost time for the 2-hour Shades of Blue season finale! Check back in on Sunday night for our review of Shades of Blue Season 2 Episode 12 and Shades of Blue Season 2 Episode 13.

Has it all gone by too fast? Then watch Shades of Blue online here at TV Fanatic.