Clearly, we aren’t the only fans of Blue Bloods. No show makes nine seasons because it’s awful and unwatchable. Full disclosure, we thought this show was underrated way back in season one when Jamie had just graduated from the Academy. The dynamic believability of the stories and characters in Blue Bloods are everything good about police drama without becoming a banal and stereotyped failure. But for some reason we just get this feeling the show is still underrated after all these years. Here’s why:
Tom Selleck
After being Magnum PI for so long, we all know Tom Selleck is beloved, at least by the generations who saw his show every week. For a long time, he was just Magnum PI to everyone. Fortunately for us, he moved beyond that role. Don’t mistake this for Magnum bashing, that show was impressive in its own right. However, it wasn’t so much that the show made the man, instead, it was the man who made the show. Casting Mr. Selleck was not only the right choice but the best possible choice for Frank.
The rising patriarch of the Reagans is a big set of shoes to fill, and another actor wouldn’t have brought the same style to the role. Frank reads as a genuine, jaded but not without care, an elder in the police community. You know he was promoted on his own merits, and not just because it’s clear from the beginning that Henry Reagan is and always was a controversial SoB. Naturally, he had his reasons, and you can see how they affect the family throughout the show.
Frank doesn’t play favorites, and he doesn’t compromise unless he’s sure it’s the right play. Yet, he manages to have heart and show that his hard-on-the-outside demeanor has a place on the outside while the inside has hidden depths. We don’t like to use too many cliches, so we’re not saying Tom was born to play Frank, but he’s a fantastic fit for the role, and the casting director should get an award for this show as a whole.
Family Business
Perhaps it’s not common knowledge, but multigenerational law enforcement is actually a ‘thing.’ We’ve seen a lot of TV over the years, and the ‘cop family’ angle has been played. Typically it’s either a young cop who is ‘just like’ dad or fighting against being compared to him. That makes a fine story, but it’s not what makes this story work. The Reagans are a cohesive family. They have Sunday dinners; they share a passion for law enforcement. If that were all, it would be a ‘fine,’ show to watch a season of when you’re bored.
Instead of another cop drama, they gave us a fully fleshed out cast of characters. They have individual personalities, with their own perspectives and feelings. It is not apples and oranges, toe the line or go it on your own, the Reagans are a real family. They interact like a family should… like families do. Sometimes they support each other’s choices, sometimes they feud, but heaven help you if you come at them from the outside and try to hurt any member of that family. In some ways, it’s as good a family drama as it is a police show.
The Ladies
Police wives, daughters and sisters tend to get buried in the action. If they aren’t a hard fighting, hard drinking, sexy like a model in their off time officer (Think Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, but less humorously oversexualized) in their own right, most of the women on police shows are nothing but scenery. They exist to yell at the bad cop, pat the good one on the head, and hug him when his day goes badly. Sometimes they divorce him and take the kids, so he has more depth. It’s a mold. The Reagan women break it well.
Erin stands out in particular. She is a lawyer who doesn’t take her brother’s nonsense, but she’d kill for them if she had to. They don’t appreciate her as they should, but she goes to bat for them without batting an eyelash when necessary. They need her more than they want to admit. Even if she has to tear them a new one when they do wrong, Erin is a great sister and a stellar lawyer. She doesn’t spend all her time chasing or talking about men, nor does she parade around in high fashion, sexy lawyer costume-esque miniskirts that would get her thrown out of a real courtroom. Erin is undeniably the sibling with the brains and at least as much chutzpah as her brothers.
The Good and The Bad
We want to be fair, so let’s just say that The Guardian called the series “trite, predictable,” and “So bad it’s criminal.” We support their right to have an opinion. They didn’t see the depth of story arcs or real and relatable characters. If we had to point the finger at one aspect we think is less-good than the rest, then we’d have said the kids don’t get much screen time. They are treated as less than the adults in the story. That’s the full list of complaints as far as we can tell.
On the flip side, 94% of Google Users loved the show, and it tested high with most other audiences as well. The viewers are the ones who call the real shots, and they love the Reagans. Nine seasons speaks for itself, but the approval rate is pretty impressive too, which serves to illustrate our point. It’s a great show. Anyone who doesn’t see it needs to watch for more than five minutes. A lot is going on under the surface.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a fan of police shows, family dramas or even just NYC, this is a show you should never miss. You need to go make popcorn, turn the lights down, kick your feet up and start bingeing this show. Even if you’ve already been watching since the first episode (Poor little Teresa, we’re glad Danny made that creep spill her location even if he did cross a line when he waterboarded the perv in his toilet!) it’s worth a re-watch. You get a real feel for the grit and grime of life in New York and some exceptionally well-acted storytelling as part of the package.
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