DVD Reviews

Blue Bloods: The First Season – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Sep 22, 2011, 0:15 GMT

BLUE BLOODS stars Selleck as Frank Reagan, the New York Police Commissioner who heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry (Len Cariou), during his stint as commissioner. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), a seasoned ...more

Led by Tom Selleck, Blue Bloods is an excellent ensemble series that does a near perfect job of balancing the grit of the cop genre with family drama by following a family grounded in a history of law enforcement in New York City.

The series features Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Amy Carlson, Tony Terraciano, Andrew Terraciano, Nicholas Turturro, Sami Gayle, Jennifer Esposito, and Abigail Hawk.

The series has shades of NYPD Blue mixed with some elements of Law & Order and focuses on the Reagan family. It also makes the city a character just as important as any of the Reagans.

Selleck plays the family head Frank Reagan – who is also the head of the police department. In addition to managing the NYPD, Frank has to guide his family through the various struggles they endure outside the job; find his own chance for romance with a curious reporter; and handle his father Henry (Cariou) – who is the retired head of the NYPD and doesn’t always offer the best advice to his grandchildren.

His oldest son Danny Reagan (Wahlberg) is a street wise detective who is known for getting the bad guy by any means and isn’t too worried about turning the camera off to have a talk with the suspect that might not be in line with his rights. Danny also has to balance the amount of time spent as a cop with the needs of his family and his role as a father to his children.

The series strength comes in marrying the characters’ jobs with their personal lives – which is clearly seen in Danny’s relationship with his wife Linda (Carlson). Some of the best scenes of the series involve the two actors who have incredible chemistry and are completely believable as a married couple. It is also fun to see Danny’s interaction with his other wife, his partner on the job Detective Jackie Curatola (Esposito).

Danny’s by any means necessary attitude often puts him at odds with his D.A. sister Erin (Moynahan) – who has to balance the needs of the job with raising her teenage daughter Nicky (Gayle). Moynahan’s character is a great example of a hard working single mother that is doing the best she can to raise her daughter right.

There are great moments between mother and daughter that show the toil her career has on both relationships, but how Moynahan doesn’t sacrifice one for the other.

The series is set up through the eyes of the youngest brother Jamie (Estes) – who is a rookie cop and walked away from a Harvard Law education to get into the family business of law enforcement.

Along with having to take the normal rookie hazing from his partner Sgt. Anthony Renzulli (Nicholas Turturro), Jamie discovers information about a secret society in the police department that might have had a hand in the death of his brother (an event that helped him decide to be a police officer).

He is put into a position of having to spy on his own family to uncover corruption in the department. This storyline isn’t really needed in the series, but doesn’t hurt it as well.

The series follows the “crime of the week” formula for the cop genre, but makes sure to interject some form of family drama each episode. Some of the best moments are in episodes where Danny has to deal with some stress at work mixed with some kind of family dynamic - such as a bomb threat when his wife is at the location.

The series makes sure to have plenty of action for fans of the cop genre, but the favorite scene are when the ensemble cast are together – such as the big family dinners which often boil down to the family members ribbing with Selleck forced to get his children back in line.

The DVD set comes loaded with special features including Network Launch Promos, Creating The Characters, Code Blue, Keeping It Real, Analyzing the Scene, Empire State of Mind, Keeping It in the Family, Gag Reel, and Deleted Scenes.

Blue Bloods is an excellent series and a great addition to the cop genre on television. Fans of the genre will find plenty to like, and the ensemble cast ensures the show has something to offer to everyone.

The writers did a great job using the first season to introduce the characters, the family dynamics and the talent and chemistry of its ensemble cast.