ABC-TV's 'Blood & Oil' Hits a Dry Well

ABC is the newest company trying to cash in on the North Dakota oil boom. Recently, the network premiered "Blood & Oil," a drama set in a fictional town in the heart of the boom.

Much like the oil companies that have flocked to North Dakota to extract Bakken crude, the show is trying to make a quick buck without considering the deeper impacts of this boom on the land and its residents. As a North Dakota native, I was not impressed.

Aside from the stale dialogue and cookie-cutter characters, the show is a missed opportunity to talk about the effects of rapid development on one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country.

Here are a few eye-rolling inconsistencies that fail to capture life in the Bakken:

Rocky Mountain High: Clearly, the writers didn't bother to Google "North Dakota" to learn that it is primarily flat or rolling grasslands. Instead, they took advantage of Utah's tax break and filmed the show in the heart of the Rockies.

This was the first red flag that the show is leaning towards sensationalism rather than realism.

This article was originally published in the Grand Forks Herald. Read the full article here.

back to Blog