From the moment it premiered Sept. 24, 2010, and throughout its 14 seasons on CBS, “Blue Bloods” distinguished itself as more family drama than police procedural. Its series finale, which aired Friday, stayed true to that concept by honing in on a heightened case for the cop family involving a notorious gang leader joining forces with other gangs to orchestrate violent hits around the city in a play for amnesty, rather than a grandiose send-off or flashback-driven series reflection.
Eddie Janko-Reagan’’s (Vanessa Ray) partner Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan) was killed in an ambush, making the case personal for the entire Reagan clan, including her husband Jamie’s nephew Joe. Even from a hospital bed, Eddie refused to back down from the case. Because the Mayor was also shot, Frank (Tom Selleck) was even more tied to the case professionally. And of course, there is a personal tie for Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) because there almost always is.
An ensemble show since its inception, “Blue Bloods,” created by “Sopranos” alums Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, followed the Reagans, an Irish Catholic family intimately tied to the NYPD: 1980s “Magnum P.I.” star Selleck as NYPD Police Commissioner Francis “Frank” Reagan, his father Henry Reagan (Len Cariou), known as “Pop,” as a retired NYPD Police Commissioner, along with son Danny Reagan serving as a detective, daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan) filling the role of Assistant District Attorney and youngest son Jamie (Will Estes) blowing off Harvard Law to become a cop himself. For seasons, Frank’s son Joe, also a cop, being killed on the job also haunted the show. His death is even referenced in the finale.
Although catching bad guys and helping good people was always one of the show’s main features, it’s the bygone belief in honor and justice that fueled “Blue Bloods.” In the worst of moments, Frank especially stood above the fray, almost always opting to do what was right and not what was popular, frequently sparring with whomever the NYC mayor was at the time. The weekly Reagan dinner with the entire family, including kids, grandkids and significant others with Frank and Pop sitting as heads of the table at opposite ends, served as a powerful symbol of the honor, respect and love that bonded the Reagans to each other, while also implying that their values is what kept New York City principled.
Today, nepotism is called out frequently. But on “Blue Bloods,” Frank following in his father’s footsteps and his children working in law enforcement, with two of his sons working directly under his command, was simply shown as “the good side” of the family business. In the past, that family police dynamic wasn’t at all uncommon in this country’s biggest cities, which is why “Blue Bloods” presented it as a dying practice, leaning into its upside while downplaying the potential negatives. Frank, for his part, let his children make their own decisions in life and on the job. In many conversations with his daughter in the District Attorney’s office, he gave his side of a given situation but left her to determine which way to proceed. Whenever his kids came to him, he usually found an ethical way to help them out.
The Reagans, of course, have relatable quibbles of their own. Sibling rivalry appeared early in the show. Mere minutes in, Danny, the hothead of the family who served in Iraq, teased Jamie, “the golden boy,” about disappointing their dead mother to become “another boot in a suit” like the rest of the Reagans to which Erin interjected, forcing Danny to acknowledge her loftier status in the District Attorney office. That moment also foreshadowed Danny’s many clashes with his family. While Selleck’s Frank is the show’s anchor or North Star, Wahlberg’s Danny was arguably the star as his antics and cases primarily drove the drama in many of the show’s episodes. His evolution over time as a police officer also reflected the American public’s changing attitudes about what constitutes acceptable police behavior, undoubtedly in the aftermaths of Tamir Rice and George Floyd.
