Dylan McDermott stars in this new cop drama, coming July 15th on TNT:

They may bend the rules, but they get results damnit! It's going to be hard to judge any 'dark' cop show after The Shield, but I'll give it a run.

My hope is if this show has to resemble another cop show, I hope it closely resembles The Shield. I also hope Dark Blue is a serialized entity rather than those typical cases-being-solved-in-one-episode type of shows, which annoy me. Furthermore, I'm glad this show will also have a more regular focus on characters' personal lives.

Wow... hotness on a platter and Jake Kane?? I'm in for at least the first few shows!

I hung around after Leverage, but I really wasn't that impressed.

I've learned to never judge a show by it's pilot. Not that I thought the pilot was bad. I liked it. Enough to watch a few more episodes. I just hope it's something different even if we 've seen this type of show before. Plus, I really like Nicki Aycox so I'll stick around for her for awhile.

It was just OK for me, although I wasn't at all impressed either. Unfortunately for me, the show is just as I feared, a-case-being-solved-in-one-episode kind of show. And I thought it moved much too quickly, to the point where it just seemed all over the place. I recall hearing that the show would be fast-paced but I thought it was TOO FAST! And the character Franzine, who according to Shaw is "a jack of all trades" could've stirred up additional trouble for at least a couple more episodes before being taken out. Perhaps Franzine could've teamed up with a new villain for the next couple of shows. Furthermore, I do hope they have some interesting subplots on hand, to intertwine with the cases. Past shows like The Shield and The Wire were successful because they didn't end cases after just one episode and they intertwined various characters, villains, and subplots with the cases.

I agree about the ultimate undercover types moving so fast. At the beginning when the LT forces his detective to reuse a burned cover made me cringe. It reminded me of Miami Vice where Sonny Burnett and Rico Cooper used those IDs over and over again even though everyone who got involved with those two died shooting it out with police.

The Shield worked in part because besides the Strike Teams arc antics there was normally a B story in the Farm which was resolved. The Wire worked on another level in my opinion.

I liked it and now Wednesday's are going to be the hottest with Dark Blue and Leverage ..TNT ROCKS!

I wasn't overly impressed with the pilot, but since I love Dylan McDermott I'll be hanging around each week after Leverage.

I almost gave up in the first 15 minutes but hung around, ended up loving it for a while, and then ended it feeling a bit meh.

I agree with Chancellor that it just moved too fast. Usually pilots tend to get caught up in exposition and bogged down trying to lay it all out, and this seemed like they were trying to avoid that and just went too far in the opposite direction. By 11 or so minutes in when McDermott's character was in the diner recruiting the female cop I was all but lost. Also, there was a point early in the ep where the "suspenseful" music was so bombastic and over the top that the scene came off like a bad movie trailer, and I almost just gave up out of annoyance.

The middle of the show got my interest. I loved the fake out with the cop shooting, the car wash scene, and the set up over whether Dean had, in fact, flipped. I was all set to spend the season wondering how far deep Dean had gone and where his loyalties really were...

...And then they killed Franzine off and Dean was like, "Just kidding, guys, told you I was still a good guy!" I was not expecting the procedural element. The Closer is the only procedural I watch on a regular basis, and I'm hoping the TNT connection will mean that this show is similar in having the regular leads really be the forefront of the story despite the weekly revolving door of cases. Still, I think I would've preferred the series that I saw playing out in my head prior to the last 5 minutes of this episode.

That said, I thought all the leads were great and I loved the look of the show--it was very cinematic and...dark. I never watched The Shield so I don't have much to compare it to thematically, but I'll definitely give it another watch next week.

I'm thinking that the four main characters will definitely remain on the forefront. According to Nicki Aycox (Jaimie), they plan on focusing quite extensively on the four characters' personal lives as the show progresses. This is another reason why the show should not move at lightening speed by wrapping things up so quickly and easily. The combination of complex cases and complex personal lives means there is a great deal of material that can be covered, especially since this group are undercover officers. Having said this, it is only, so far, just the pilot episode. It was good enough to take a further look.

I hate Pilots, but I thought this was okay. I'll stick around to see if it progresses.

I enjoyed it but I do agree that I didn't want things to be wrapped up so neatly at the end. But then again were things wrapped up? At least in terms of Dean - there is still some question on where he head is at. They brought the pretty and I'm shallow enough to stick with the show for awhile because of it.

Well, the second episode didn't do a lot for me either. The overall writing and dialogue seemed flat, yet again! The villains mostly acted and sounded cartoonish instead of compelling. I think they're going to have to do something more in order to generate interest. I also think the fact that there is almost no internet discussions (here and elsewhere) about this new show is very telling.

Finally got around to watching the pilot. It seemed a bit generic characterwise (asshat leader with personal demons, check...absurdly beautiful woman with a secret past, check...ultra-lone-wolf with questionable allegiances, check), and Dylan McDermott doing his damndest to channel John Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis (complete with a bad impression of The Hair) just distracted the hell out of me, buuut it has some potential. It ain't The Shield, but it's not trying to be either. Now to wait for TNT to rerun episode two...

I watched the second episode just now and I'm really only watching for Nicki Aycox. I actually think the show has potential although the writing has a lot to be desired.

I'll stick with it for a little while longer but right now, generic is the adjective that springs to mind and I think that's a shame. The topic on how people deal with going undercover could be handled in more interesting ways.

I totally agree with supposebly except that I also like the other actors/characters.
I'm happy to see Logan Marshall Green again and I found his character interesting.

So yes, I think I like Dark Blue. It could be better but it is not bad. It's entertaining and, like a write before, the characters are good. I hope the show is going to be less "generic" and foreseeable. If not, it is still a good entertainement for me.

I do think it has potential as well and like I said, something more needs to be done to generate interest. It may not be trying to imitate The Shield and that's fine, but they need to step it up somehow. It truly is all about the writing I think. If they need some storyline/writing ideas, I have plenty of them!

I really like the show. As many have stated before the writing could be better.

It's the actors that draw me for whatever reason. Maybe because outside of Dylan McDermott I'm not familiar with the others??

It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's still entertaining to me.

Finally got around to watching the first two episodes; not great, not awful. Still not sure what the show wants to be – is it a crime of the week format, or is the primary focus the four undercover cops and their back story with the crime of the week being a means to tell their stories? Right now it feels a bit schizophrenic – I’ll stick around since it is pretty decent summer television. (Oh, and the fact that Dylan McDermott is ridiculously good-looking doesn’t hurt /leaving shallow end of pool now).

I enjoy this show tremendously. Procedurals typically claim to be "gritty" and "hard-edged" but rarely feel so, but to me this one does.

I really like this show as well. Especially Logan and Nicki 's characters. It seems as though they were possibly setting up them having a relationship in the future with that ending. I'm on the fence about that right now but I should have seen that coming. Logan Marshall Green is sexy as hell after all. I'm still jealous of Marisa Tomei for snagging him.

Two eps in, and I'm out. I hate this show. I really hate the concept of a "law enforcement" unit that is so secret the DA doesn't even know about it. Too much potential for abuse, it's outside the very law they're supposed to be enforcing...whatever. Just a stupid, stupid concept and no amount of acting or writing can fix that, in my opinion.

I, for one, have no problem with the lack of reality and accuracy. In fact, I think there isn't a lot of believable shows on air. Csi, WaT, Bones, 21 Jumpstreet... all those procedural shows are/were far from being accurate either.
Southland is probably more real, and I love it, as I loved The wire. But, I like Dark blue for the characters and the fact that I have the impression to watch a movie every week.
So, this third episode was like the other two: Entertaining.

I liked the fact that they didn't wait to expose Jaimie's past.

I'm curious to see where they are going with the last scene between Dean and Jaimie. Dean's character is still very intriguing for me. I don't know why, but he looks intriguing (and I must admit that I melt when I watch LMG).

I also like their guest vilains. It's sad that there is no " recurring" vilain but till now, their cast is very good.

I want to like this show in its entirety, I really do, but I am still just not there yet. Although I have to say that the synopsis for the next episode, which is entitled "K-Town", sounds greatly interesting to me and only reiterates why this show will miss out on a lot of material if it continues as a weekly procedural. The "K-town" episode sounds intriguing and loaded with conflict, more than the previous episodes I think, and that demands some continuation rather than a quick resolution.

I'm not sure I liked the tinge of blackmail to getting Jaimie into the unit. Are we supposed to figure he was just giving her a better opportunity to redeem herself, because it felt more like 'join up and risk your life or I'll destroy you.' Not sure what kind of loyalty and teamwork that should inspire, but what do I know?

I really like Nicky Aycox, she was great in the last episode.

That team is messed up, everyone lies to everyone. It's like a house of cards right now, I don't know... I'm enjoying the tension more than I thought I would, but it's still so blunt, so specifically designed. I am waiting for the episodes where the walls comedown and I can't see the script so neatly laid out on the screen. If that episode comes, then I'll be able to get lost in the story a lot more and become a full fledged fan.

I finally watched the last episode. Good stuff and it's official that I'm in love with this show. Maybe I'm just easy this summer because the writing could use some work but I've really gotten hooked with these characters.

I want to learn more about them.

Still on the fence ---- I’m not sure what type of show this is supposed to be soap opera disguised as crime (I would absolutely hate it if that were the case – when ER went all soap opera on me I stopped watching) or a procedural crime show. I’m all for developing complex back-stories to make the lead characters more interesting; however, I do not want the focus of every episode to be Jamie’s drug past, Carter’s dead wife, or Dean’s shady ways.

Thus far, I do not like the strict crime of the week format (too Law & Order for my taste – not that I dislike Law & Order, I think that’s the way to do the crime of the week format). For a law enforcement agency that is supposed to be “deep cover” they infiltrate and solve crimes rather quickly. I suppose I would have less heartache over the quick resolution of the weekly crime ring if there was a larger one spread over several weeks.

The writing (and sometimes acting) leaves a lot to be desired. The show telegraphed the fact that Carter was going to force Jamie to use her past as an “in” with Ruben – I saw that coming in the pilot. I also saw the Dean/Jamie will they or won’t they hook-up coming from a mile. It’s rather cliché and I’m quite tired of it. Why does every show feel the need to hook up (or imply a hook up) of a male and female lead?

The concept of this show is interesting enough: damaged cops/people going deep undercover – how they solve the crimes and how they deal with the after effects of living in society’s underbelly. If the producers/writers focused on this aspect, I think they could have a huge hit on their hands.

I’m not ready to cut my ties with this show; I’m not completely sold on it. They have until the return of my fall favorites to win me over.

Agreed with all above.
The dialogue in the pilot was painful:
"LA's a big place with lots of bad people;" "I will tear this city apart;" "Federal Bureau of Intimidation;" "The Prince of Darkness is here"

What's-his-face the star seemed very stuck in broadcast TV acting. If it's just going to be him slouching around in dark clothing and black leather looking broody I may have to watch more Spongebob.

While I love Graeme Ravell's music, it seemed inappropriately dramatic at some points.

He never sleeps; he's never up before 7 am; he's up AND it's daylight; WTF? Make up your mind.

Well, they wasted no time in the hook-up between partners and the big boss knows about it angle now did they? Why show why? It’s another stupid cliché that you don’t need to explore --- ever. Who comes up with this stuff? It’s like script by numbers.

I don’t know if it’s the writing or bad direction or actor choice, Dylan McDermott seems extremely one-note (and a flat one at that); he’s a much better actor than what he’s shown thus far (thought he was fantastic in The Practice). So I’m confused as to what’s happening with him. Still, has stiff as he is, he’s still better than the rest of the cast.

Show needs to be more Wiseguy and less whatever it is now.

I disliked episode 1, liked episode 2, hated episode 3 and hated episode 4.

So, I think I've made my decision.

I also think that Carter is the 'weaker' character right now (that doesn't mean I don't like DmcD). I just think his character seems to be less important than Dean by example who was a lot in all the episodes. After four episodes, we need to understand and feel that he is the boss. He is the one who must set the tone of the team. Right now he just doesn't. It's like watching three characters working and sometimes the prince of darkness appears to say something daaaarrrrk. I suppose next episode will be about him. I really hope they will fix this problem.

Don't get me wrong, I like Dark blue. Really. It's one of the only show I watch during summer (add True Blood and Nurse Jacie till Mad men comes back). I see all the problems with the show but I don't feel it's that bad. In fact, it's been a while that I haven't watched a cop show. I lost interest in CSI a long time ago, the same for Bones, NCIS or House. It's maybe why I'm so happy to watch Dark Blue because it has what I like in this kind of show. Of course it's sometimes terribly cliché. Of course it could be better (give that to HBO or AMC, I'm sur they would make a jewel). But, I like the characters and I think the actors are doing a good job, I like the darkness and the way everything is going fast (probably too fast). It could be a one season show that I would not be too sad if they go on like this with the revelations about the characters. In four episodes I learned more about the characters than in four seasons of House and I'm happy for that.
In fact, Dark blue is my guilty pleasure of the summer.

Well, to be fair, the pilot was to set up the premises of the deep cover team, episode two was to establish Ty’s character, episode three was all about Jaime, and the fourth episode gave us more insight into Dean. I suspect we’ll get a Carter-centric episode soon. The show has already dropped several clues (both directly and indirectly) about Carter:

• He has a long and distinguished police career including several commendations
• He was ear-marked to go places within department (hinted at possible chief or commissioner)
• He was/is a very by-the-book, straight-lace cop
• He has the ear and complete trust of the commissioner
• He fell off the grid three years ago
• His wife died unexpectedly

While the writers have been remiss in developing Carter (thus far), they have been dropping a ton of hints (even if a bit cliché’) I’m still curious as to why McDermott is playing him so flatly (as I said, he’s a much better actor than he’s demonstrated thus far). Maybe it’s suppose to be the residual effect caused by the loss of his wife.

After watching the last two episodes yesterday I still can't help thinking that Dylan's Carter Shaw is some kind of weird riff on SGA's John Sheppard, right down to the bad impersonation of "the Hair." I agree with sacreseries that he's kind of the weak link right now, but that oddly seems to have been by design--everybody else has been given time to shine, and apart from an occasional line here and there the only meaty stuff Carter's had were the scenes from the pilot where he was bitching at the FBI agents and watching home movies.

That said: Dean and Ty's working relationship seems to be the most interesting thing on the show (and after that probably Jaimie's apparent innate messed-up-ness).

You say that like it's a bad thing ;-)

I know the powers that be don't want to show all their cards up front, still, need to engage a little character development, especially in your "lead" character.

I don't always pay attention to ratings but was wondering if this was doing well enough to get a renewal? Anyone know when we might here about it either way?

I like this show. It's not best but I don't think it's as bad as some say.

I'm glad that Ty's wife isn't a major character since she annoys me so much.

I can't wait to find out more about Carter because IMO of all the characters he's the most cliche so I'm hoping they make his backstory a little more off the grid. No pun intended.

I don't have a problem with Dean and Jamie hooking up. I do hope though that a lid is put on it. I don't want that will-they-won't-they thing. Sometimes people can have sex and be done.

My only other nitpick besides Ty's wife is Ty's tattoos. His whole left arm (?) is tattooed. Doesn't that make him readily identifiable?

Last night's episode actually was rather decent; our heroes actually had to work a bit (contrived, but still) to get over on some low-rent but not completely stupid criminals, Jaimie's running "Why is the boss picking on me?" thing, and some actual focus on Carter for once (still kind of cliched, though--swear to God, I'm going to start calling him alt.Shep if this keeps up). I just wish someone had slapped the corporate CEO-bastard-type guy...it's almost expected in this sort of story.

I tried watching the first ep and turned it off after 5 minutes. But I left last nights ep playing after Leverage was over and it wasn't nearly as bad. I won't go out of my way to watch it, but I might keep leaving it on while doing other stuff.

Particularly after he got to play the hero in that news conference. Pity that a follow-up story revealing that his company did not save the woman would probably raise too many questions.

I got the feeling last night that Dark Blue was trying really hard to be a less-edgy, watered-down version of The Shield. It was a very Shield-esque story, but it felt like they actively put effort into making it not as good. More predictable, less dynamic characters.

This week’s episode was actually good. With the show hinting (in the pilot) that Carter's wife died rather unexpectedly – though not necessarily due to an illness - and hinting that Carter formed this deep cover group right around the time his wife died (a result of the death methinks) naturally I thought for sure we were going to learn the reason that Carter hates kidnapping is because his wife was a kidnapping victim. Color me pleasantly surprised that they didn’t go that clichéd route.

Still not sure what to make of the whole "you're being more of an unholy p**k than usual because today is your birthday" bit - it seemed random and completely out of place.

If Jamie whines one more time about how Carter treats her, I am going to crawl through the TV and punch her myself. She was very, very annoying this episode.

The show is two for five with the two episodes that I thought were the strongest being the one about Ty (when they threaten to kill his wife) and this one about Carter.

Because it reminds Carter of the parties his wife used to throw for him? That was a weird line.

I find this to be a typical Jerry Bruckheimer show: It needs to put as much effort into its stories as it does its production values.

I think if the producers hire better writers this could be a very good show.

The basic of the premises of the show is rather intriguing (I’d like to see longer undercover operations – ones that take a few weeks – in addition to the crime of the week format).

You have an excellent to decent cast of actors. Dylan McDermott** is very good and Omari Hardwick is nearly as strong. Logan Marshall Green is okay and Nicki Aycox is serviceable. I could forgive the suspect acting choices of the writing was better (ala Burn Notice - acting is not exceptionally strong, however, the clever plot and writing makes up for it).

**finally, finally McDermott played Carter as something other than flat - which leads me to believe it was by design that McDermott played Carter as rather detached at first. Slowly we’re seeing some layers and depth to this character.

I'm not there yet but I could be if she keeps it up. She needs to just play her position at this point in time since she's been doing this how long when the rest of them have been doing it for how long? Her time will come.

I didn't get the birthday thing either but I thought I had missed something.

I'm trying to hang in here with this show but, surprisingly, dmcd is still the weak link. I was hoping after this Carter-centric episode I'd find out something about him to make him more empathetic - but, no. So far all dmcd has done is played Carter all emoting darkness and brooding hard-coreness. To the point of a laughable cliche. I really need to see some depth to this character and quickly.

I liked this one a lot; it felt like a lot was happening for a one-hour show.

One of the things I enjoy is the real emotional payoff as in tonight's scene where Betrayed Stanford Dad looks Dean in the eye; this reminded me of the Jamie-centric episode where she gets the accountant killed at the end. It's completely contrary to the usual procedural logic where the capture of "the bad guy" wraps everything in a bow. I can take a show where everyone walks around all grim and angst-ridden as long as we get to see how they get that way in a way that makes sense. And so far, the show, for me, is delivering.

This show has gotten better every week and the last ep finally showed what it will be. The human situation was worked in beautifully, especially the situation with Stanford Dad and Dean.

I'm glad that Dean had company when Jamie showed up.

It's going to be interesting to see how they work out the wife situation with Ty. I can't see that going well despite the fact that he's trying to be faithful.

As for Carter I felt him trying to reach out, to rejoin humanity with the girl from the bar but in the end he couldn't. Powerful ep.

Amen to both of your posts.

Stanford Dad and his family and Bar Owner and his sister just simply had the bad luck of knowing the bad guys that Carter and his crew wanted. Stanford Dad and the Bar Owner are no innocents, but they were not the real bad guys. The real bad guys were the 'Ripper Crew' and the 'Accountant to bad guys'.

Unfortunately Standford Dad's family and Bar Owner and his sister will be the ones who pay the biggest price. Stanford Dad and Bar Owner are likely facing prison time. Stanford girl is not going to any college and is going to the poor house with her mom. Bar Owner's sister is also going to the unemployment line and her life will be no picnic either.

Yeah, you can blame their situation on Standord Dad and Bar Owner's greed, but a big part of the blame can also be laid on Carter and his crew. These guys only got involved because Carter and his crew dangled lots of money in front of them. If Carter and his crew hadn't come along, these guys would not have been running with the real bad guys.