Curious World Staff
The truth is that CBS’ “Blue Bloods” is airing at a risky time for a show about a family of cops.
While the cr1me-of-the-week format has always been a profitable formula for police procedurals, with the events of the last decade coming to a climax in 2020, the sentiment toward police had the potential to crush whatever desire people had to see police on the screen depicted as heroes.
Nonetheless, “Blue Bloods” did not shy away from the topic when Season 11 began in December 2020. While there were numerous storylines that ran throughout the season, some stood out.
The writers weren’t hesitant to confront the matter in Episode 4, “True Blue,” when Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) teamed up with his sister Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Anthony Abetemarco (Steve Schirripa) to investigate an underground bar.
Despite the fact that the pub appears to be a haven for the New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department, it is a haven for both departments’ illegal activities.
That wasn’t the only narrative involving rogue police officers. In this episode, Reagan patriarch Frank (Tom Selleck) investigates a case of police brutality committed by the spouse of Abigail Baker (Abigail Hawk).
Now that we’re two years past the events of 2020 and two seasons into the popular police drama, showrunner Kevin Wade has confirmed that viewers won’t be seeing many more storylines involving police mistrust. Here’s what he had to say about it.
Nobody watches a lecture.
At its core, “Blue Bloods” is about a family of officers, which means that the majority of the characters’ points of view would support law enforcement across the country. The writers have been able to introduce some alternate perspectives by having Erin’s daughter, Nikki (Sami Gayle), raise questions that probe at the inconsistencies of the “old-guard” position. As a DA, Erin Reagan holds the family of law enforcement faithful accountable for any ideas that disregard common sense for the sake of bleeding blue. Kevin Wade, on the other hand, spoke with TV Line about why they wouldn’t add many more tales dealing with police mistrust.
Despite the fact that the Season 13 opening, “Keeping the Faith,” examines the image of the police and the Catholic Church, as well as the growing criticism and suspicion of both organizations, Wade believes it will be much more rare. “No one is tuning in at 10 p.m. on Friday night to be taught a lesson or lectured on what the correct point of view is.” Wade stated. “So, when we try to address issues that have two very vocal sides to them, we try to build a soap box with equal dimensions for the, let’s call it, ‘antagonistic’ point of view.”
“Blue Bloods” has spent 13 seasons providing dozens of storylines each year that put two opposing points of view against each other, giving everyone a voice in every episode. But the series isn’t new to diving into the difficult issues surrounding law enforcement’s darker side. A tale from Season 1 showed us from the start that they would be daring in their storytelling.
Blue Templar shown that they were not afraid of the tale.
At the start of the series, one of the elements that added depth and passion to the pilot was the discovery of a fourth Reagan kid. Joe Reagan was a police officer who was k1lled in the line of duty, which puts a heavy burden on his father, Frank, grandfather Henry (Len Cariou), and his three surviving siblings. One of the key storylines that underpinned the episodic themes throughout the first season was the fact that Joe’s d3ath was anything but the typical cop slain in the line of duty.
The Blue Templar is a police officer fraternity that first worked to drive out dishonest cops from the force. After the original members left, the fraternity’s remaining and new members became corrupt as well. Joe Reagan became interested in the Templars after they began murd3ring witnesses to drug busts in order to keep the drug money and distribute it among themselves. This, in turn, caused his d3ath. The fraternity even attempted to k1ll Jamie before being defeated in a victorious moment of Frank confronting the men who murd3red his son.
While the Blue Templar members were merely a plot device to propel the season forward, it demonstrated that the showrunners were not hesitant to address the issue of corrupt police personnel. The events of 2020 could have ruined any TV show centered on officers as white-hat heroes, but “Blue Bloods” had already established itself as confident and transparent champions of the narrative. They discovered a middle ground that has proven to be considerably more difficult to find in the real world.
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