Blue is catching, addictive, and painful to watch. The 10 minute episodes leave you grasping for more. Julia Stiles and Uriah Shelton have great chemistry and exceptional acting... It is hard to believe that you can connect to the characters in such a short amount of time. The writing, directing and acting are first class. It is great to see such high quality shows produced for the internet (House of Cards is another). Julia Stiles is perfectly cast as the main, extremely complex character. She is beautiful, believable and keeps you engaged in her struggles as a single mom. Uriah Shelton is a gem! Having not seen any of his work prior to this, I can see this young man has an incredible future ahead of him. His ability to portray a mature, near genius teen and then immediately switch to an insecure, fragile child is frighteningly real. It reminds me of many children of single parents that I knew growing up. I watched all of season one tonight, and if I didn't have to work in the morning, I would be watching season two right now! Blue has me dreading catching up. I will be fanatical waiting on the next episode. The only other show to keep me this engaged has been Breaking Bad... I cannot stress enough, if you are not watching Blue, you are missing out!!!
6 Reviews
Stellar writing, character development and acting
cinemaniac200215 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
It was so refreshing to find out about the web series, "Blue." I first became aware of Julia Stiles' work years ago at the Seattle Film Fest in 1998's "Wicked," a somewhat campy film. Nonetheless, Stiles' acting is part of what saves it from being a camp throwaway film. After that, I had the opportunity to see her in many other movies and have always admired her work as an actor.
"Blue" is the type of series that makes viewers care about the characters, where they have been and where they are headed. The struggles of a single mom are a fact of life in today's society, so many people can relate to them. Stiles' characterization is complex enough to find watching her in her day to day life interesting and provocative.
Julia Stiles has an amazing chemistry with Uriah Shelton, who plays her teen son. This is an essential aspect of the series, as her role as mother is one of the main driving forces for the tough decisions that she makes. While those choices involve illicit and illegal activities, she does not become a cliché - which would be very easy to do in this type of situation. Instead, she adds a frankness that is both troubling but at the same time, sympathetic.
"Blue" is the type of series that makes viewers care about the characters, where they have been and where they are headed. The struggles of a single mom are a fact of life in today's society, so many people can relate to them. Stiles' characterization is complex enough to find watching her in her day to day life interesting and provocative.
Julia Stiles has an amazing chemistry with Uriah Shelton, who plays her teen son. This is an essential aspect of the series, as her role as mother is one of the main driving forces for the tough decisions that she makes. While those choices involve illicit and illegal activities, she does not become a cliché - which would be very easy to do in this type of situation. Instead, she adds a frankness that is both troubling but at the same time, sympathetic.
I love this show
Moviebuff201914 April 2014
just finished season 3 and there is a major reveal at the end of the episode. Very well done for a web TV series, great acting. My only major complaint is I wish there were more episodes in each season! Eric Stolz is a very interesting character in season 3 and Blue clearly is conflicted by him. I can't wait for season 4. there are so many paths season 4 can explore, such as where does the whole Olsen story line go, what about Blue's incarcerated father. and does her sister and Satya stick around? as a 50 something man I am surprised this type of show has sucked me in, but it has. and props to Josh, the actor that portrays him is great.
One of Julia Stiles best works.
schwestersingstar26 April 2023
This show is awesome.
So calm in its tone and visuals yet so dramatic in its storyline.
Thank God Julia Stiles had the chance to show what a god damn fantastic actress she is in this.
There is one scene that particular stuck with me, where she just shows how awesome she is at really getting, really becoming the character she is portraying, showing at least 5 very different emotions in a matter of only seconds and she does it U N B E L I E V A B L Y well. I was mindblown.
The only 'negative' thing that comes to mind is that the storyarch concerning Blues sister and her girlfriend has very very long scenes of singing in bars in it which I found a bit unecessary and skippable.
But all in all great show.
10/10 for Julia.
So calm in its tone and visuals yet so dramatic in its storyline.
Thank God Julia Stiles had the chance to show what a god damn fantastic actress she is in this.
There is one scene that particular stuck with me, where she just shows how awesome she is at really getting, really becoming the character she is portraying, showing at least 5 very different emotions in a matter of only seconds and she does it U N B E L I E V A B L Y well. I was mindblown.
The only 'negative' thing that comes to mind is that the storyarch concerning Blues sister and her girlfriend has very very long scenes of singing in bars in it which I found a bit unecessary and skippable.
But all in all great show.
10/10 for Julia.
Acting saves otherwise weak writing
addeisdead14 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I'll be honest; if this show was on a major network like ABC on a Monday night, it would be just a little bit more fast paced but otherwise considered a typical TV drama. I think some people are pulled in and lightly brainwashed by the "independent" nature and the slow pace of this series.
The acting is certainly the highlight, but the writing is a horrible mess. Everything in this show is a massive stereotype or cliché, and it seems the writers didn't even do a cursory level of research into escorting before coming up with their scripts. In one scene, Blue texts out that her price is $900. I did my own research (don't get any crazy ideas) into escorting for a college class. An escort making $900 for an hour would have to be a famous porn star, not some part-time nobody soccer mom. In the real world, Blue would be lucky to get $400 an hour and would probably have to travel from city to city to keep the cops off her back.
Some of the scenarios just make me laugh. Blue's boss tells her she has a client in the bar downstairs that she's been seeing for 25 years. "He's a famous actor," she says, without a hint of irony. As if any famous actor would stay with the same wife, let alone a middle-aged prostitute for more than a little while (just ask Charlie Sheen).
Of course, Blue is a woman emotionally damaged by an affair with a much older man when she was a child, and one of her clients turns out to be the man's son who she has not seen in years and who just got out of prison after a five-year term. Talk about coincidences, huh? You just get out of jail and the prostitute you hire is the girl you had a huge crush on and lived next door to as a kid, who was actually boinking your father.
And then there's Blue's son, the extremely intelligent but troubled young kid with antisocial behavior issues who calls his mom by her first name. And her mother, the emotionally distant old cougar who likes to voice chat with her daughter from the bathroom of a nightclub while she's on a date with a black man about 20 years younger than her.
The dialogue is a pretentious mess of ham-fisted preachiness. One of her coworkers worries about men not being interested after she loses her body. Another says that men are parasites who suck all the energy out of women. All of the conversations are stilted and forced.
This show is essentially a daytime soap opera/prime-time network drama, but the casting and the production of it make it seem like something more. It's entertaining at least, but it's hard not to laugh at how ridiculous some of it is.
The acting is certainly the highlight, but the writing is a horrible mess. Everything in this show is a massive stereotype or cliché, and it seems the writers didn't even do a cursory level of research into escorting before coming up with their scripts. In one scene, Blue texts out that her price is $900. I did my own research (don't get any crazy ideas) into escorting for a college class. An escort making $900 for an hour would have to be a famous porn star, not some part-time nobody soccer mom. In the real world, Blue would be lucky to get $400 an hour and would probably have to travel from city to city to keep the cops off her back.
Some of the scenarios just make me laugh. Blue's boss tells her she has a client in the bar downstairs that she's been seeing for 25 years. "He's a famous actor," she says, without a hint of irony. As if any famous actor would stay with the same wife, let alone a middle-aged prostitute for more than a little while (just ask Charlie Sheen).
Of course, Blue is a woman emotionally damaged by an affair with a much older man when she was a child, and one of her clients turns out to be the man's son who she has not seen in years and who just got out of prison after a five-year term. Talk about coincidences, huh? You just get out of jail and the prostitute you hire is the girl you had a huge crush on and lived next door to as a kid, who was actually boinking your father.
And then there's Blue's son, the extremely intelligent but troubled young kid with antisocial behavior issues who calls his mom by her first name. And her mother, the emotionally distant old cougar who likes to voice chat with her daughter from the bathroom of a nightclub while she's on a date with a black man about 20 years younger than her.
The dialogue is a pretentious mess of ham-fisted preachiness. One of her coworkers worries about men not being interested after she loses her body. Another says that men are parasites who suck all the energy out of women. All of the conversations are stilted and forced.
This show is essentially a daytime soap opera/prime-time network drama, but the casting and the production of it make it seem like something more. It's entertaining at least, but it's hard not to laugh at how ridiculous some of it is.
Blech
Mustang9226 April 2013
As is unfortunately typical for a web series, this one sucks like many of them out there. Sure, it supposedly has some talent behind the camera, but I have no idea where that talent is. The writing? Poor. The direction? Meh. Nothing entertaining here at all. NOTHING.
Not only that, the first episode has the john (to Stiles' prostitute) being able to do high level math solving, for her son over the phone. Who among you, who have been away from anything other than simple math for 20 - 25 years, can POSSIBLY remember any of that stuff? Implausible and ridiculous.
Another ludicrous beginning to this show? Stiles' prostitute open-mouth kisses her john. A guy she just met to satisfy. Have ANY of the people behind this series ever hired a prostitute?? Seriously? They don't do that.
How is it possible that the writer/director of this first episode can't write 7 pages of reality? Entertaining reality? Boggles the mind, kids, boggles the mind.
Not only that, the first episode has the john (to Stiles' prostitute) being able to do high level math solving, for her son over the phone. Who among you, who have been away from anything other than simple math for 20 - 25 years, can POSSIBLY remember any of that stuff? Implausible and ridiculous.
Another ludicrous beginning to this show? Stiles' prostitute open-mouth kisses her john. A guy she just met to satisfy. Have ANY of the people behind this series ever hired a prostitute?? Seriously? They don't do that.
How is it possible that the writer/director of this first episode can't write 7 pages of reality? Entertaining reality? Boggles the mind, kids, boggles the mind.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
