“You know, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for. And looking around this table, I gotta say I couldn’t be more proud or grateful.”
It’s the end of a tour of duty for the cast and crew of Blue Bloods. On Friday, December 13th, the show aired its last episode. It’s time to say goodbye to the Reagans … maybe not forever, but for now. After 14 years and 293 episodes, the show comes to an end. It wasn’t because ratings had dropped. They most certainly have not. The show was actually still growing after 14 years. It wasn’t because the actors wanted out. Not a single cast member wanted out. More on my thoughts later. For now Paramount is releasing Blue Bloods: The Final Season on DVD so you can complete your collection.
For 13 years Blue Bloods has been a staple on CBS, giving Tom Selleck a chance to completely redefine his television career. The once cocky and carefree Magnum P.I. now has established himself as the wise patriarch. It’s a transition that a 1970’s audience would never have bought. But now he’s become a new kind of airwaves icon. The show has also managed to make it through over a decade with very little change in the cast, and most of that coming from additions. In the real world the police have been villainized by some, and it’s becoming an increasingly tougher job to do. For a family so steeped in law enforcement, the show was going to have to address these new realities. That happened over and over again, and for the first time since all of this “defund the police” stuff started happening, we get a series that gives us some honesty and truly looks at the issue from both sides without preaching or disparaging. It shows up in the stories and the increasing conflicts between Frank (Selleck) and the DA’s office, where his daughter Erin (Moynahan) is a lead prosecutor No matter what side you might be on, I think you’ll find the balance here truly refreshing. I know that I do.
Each week there is the traditional case-of-the-week format. The cases get played out pretty much the way a normal cop show might play, and then there is the family dynamic. Cases may cause friction and stress between the family members. Here is where the performances and strong characters make this a very different show from the rest of the police dramas out there. There’s just enough of the mythology arc to keep things interesting. The stories are usually standalone, and you will enjoy this slightly different take on the cop show. Each episode has the family sitting down to Sunday dinner together. These extended family gatherings are the heart and soul of the series. This is where the family dynamics come together, and we see the issues of that episode not from the perspective of a police or district attorney’s office, but through the lens of a close family. This is really where things are worked out, and the scenes have become the identifying element on the show. There’s a little piece of us that wants to be sharing in those meals and discussions. More than anything else, I think it’s one of the things that kept fans coming back week after week to take our honorary seat around the Reagan table.
The show has so many standout players that you just can’t cover them all in a place like this. Former Hill Street Blues cop Robert Clohessy continues to shine as Sid, while Gregory Jbara impresses as Garrett, and Abigail Hawk as Abigail. These Three Musketeers are the advisors to Frank. Here we get another look at the many sides of the issue. Garrett looks at it from a PR angle. Sid offers the traditional cop-on-the-street angle, while Abigail often inserts the emotional or human aspect of the debate. Where else do you get to see such counter viewpoints shared in a respectful and productive way? It just doesn’t happen on television anywhere. I believe that might also be what has led to the show’s cancellation. There are too many people out there, and I’m talking about the executives to the studio mucky mucks. They do not want to hear a view that differs from their own. It’s a shame, because this series was an absolute standout series. The cast all wanted to continue, and some of them are pissed that it will not. They all can be proud of the achievements they made over 14 seasons.
Treat Williams played the role of Frank’s best friend in a recurring role throughout the run of the series. He passed last year, and there’s a wonderful episode that honors both the actor and the character.
I think the most emotional episode involved the Reagan family learning that the son of the man who shot their brother/uncle/son Joe has been a cop using a different name. The family members go through their many stages of grief all over again and have to decide what they feel about the killer’s son. I love the journey many of the characters take here, and it is among one of the best in the entire 14-year run.
Blue Bloods was the first television drama to capture the best of the police procedural and also the warmth and charm of the family drama. It’s like NYPD Blue invaded the set of Brothers & Sisters. The show brings incredibly good writing and production values that do look and feel like a film every week. You hear that a lot from series show runners, but this is one of those rare cases where it is true. It doesn’t hurt that the show has a strong cast that includes the likes of Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg. It doesn’t work unless everyone connected with a show buys into a common goal. That’s exactly what you get here, and it shows on the screen.
You get all 18 episodes on five discs. There’s the standard season wrap-up. Of course, you get some deleted scenes. The show delivered, and as we gathered around the family dinner table one last time, “I really don’t know how to thank you.”
