Here's how Shades Of Blue wrapped up its three-season run. Shades Of Blue is a crime drama that debuted on NBC in 2016, which cast Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) as New York cop Harlee Santos. Harlee is a corrupt detective who is arrested by the FBI and forced to become an informant against friend and mentor Lt. Wozniak. While Shades Of Blue received strong ratings during its first season the critical response was mixed and audience interest gradually waned.
While critics gave Jennifer Lopez great reviews for her work as the conflicted Santos, the biggest issue with Shades Of Blue is that it did little fresh with the genre. It recycled well-worn tropes and even with strong work by Lopez and co-star Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), it ended up being a middle of the road cop drama. Declining ratings and Lopez wanting to move on to other projects led to NBC announcing Shades Of Blue season 3 would be the final series.
While the show didn't quite live up its full potential, the Shades Of Blue season 3 finale provided fans with a solid, emotional ending. After finally gunning down evil FBI agent Stahl in the previous episode, the finale "By Virtue Fall" finds Harlee at the hearing against the corrupt Captain Ramsay (Bruce McGill, The I-Land). The only issue is Cole - the Intelligence Unit member who is supposed to deliver the damning testimony - is a no-show. Harlee delays the hearing and finds Cole fleeing the city on a ferry, but despite encouraging her to do the same, she decides to see it through.
Meanwhile, Wozniak arranges a meeting with a cartel liaison and records an incriminating conversation between him and Ramsey. Wozniak sends Harlee the recording and she plays it for the police commission. Ramsey claims the conversation is just part of an undercover investigation, which leads to the most dramatic moment of the Shades Of Blue season 3 finale. Harlee confesses her accidental shooting of an innocent dock worker and subsequent cover-up, which delivers the killing blow in the hearing.
The Shades Of Blue finale then jumps ahead in time, with Ramsey being killed by Wozniak during a prison transfer. The final scene has Wozniak escort Harlee to her cell, who reveals a look of peace as she settles in, having finally taken down corrupt elements within the department and redeemed her misdeeds. Wozniak is also tasked with keeping an eye on Harlee's daughter Cristina while she serves her sentence. The Shades Of Blue season 3 finale gave the show a fitting send-off with Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta again delivering strong work.