Young couple Billy (Chace Crawford) and Cody LeFever (Rebecca Rittenhouse) are trying to cash in on the oil boom in North Dakota with a few washing machines. They crash the truck and lose everything. Billy discovers a deal of a lifetime. With the help of Clifton Lundegren (Barry Corbin), he does a deal with oil tycoon Hap Briggs (Don Johnson) only to be double-crossed and lose it all again. Hap's family includes his equally ruthless trophy wife Darla (Amber Valletta), his black sheep son Wick (Scott Michael Foster) and his golden child Lacey. Jules Jackman (India de Beaufort) is the bar owner at the center of the action. Wick's ill-advised plan to rob his own father goes horribly wrong and sheriff Tip Harrison (Delroy Lindo) investigates.
I'm sure this show was developed back when oil prices were high and it was still the wild, wild west. The show is a little late which is normal operations for the traditional networks. It doesn't really matter if they place the show a few years earlier than present day. No matter what, this is a functional nighttime soap opera for the most part until tonight. This was the 5th episode. The order has been reduced to 10 episode. With its anemic ratings, it's highly doubtful to be renewed.
I'm willing to go along with some unreasonable stuff in this show but Billy is too hard to take. He's whiny and idiotic. He's annoying as hell which is a bad thing for the lead. In the latest episode, he has blackmail material against Hap. For some reason, his morality keeps him from disrupting Hap's marriage. Every move he makes screams "Idiot". Cody is the nagging nice wife and she's only better by comparison. Her workplace gets robbed and she decides to press the alarm right in front of the robber. The funny thing is that the show would be more dramatic if this lead couple actually does smart things or at least normal things.
Don Johnson does exactly what the show needs him to be. He's a cool villain. He's also able to bring multiple dimensions to his character. The son Wick is also a great character. The father son relationship is a Greek tragedy. The Briggs family has real potential. If this show keeps going, it would be advisable to make this the Briggs family show.
