Blue Bloods - Season 1 [DVD]

Blue Bloods is a classy police show that engages without challenging too much and benefits from an excellent cast and, in particular, a peerless lead in the shape of Tom Selleck.

It can't have been a hard pitch to the network commissioners - Tom as New York's top cop; Donnie Wahlberg as his edgy, sometimes brutal, but gifted, detective son and gorgeous Bridget Moynihan as his daughter and assistant District Attorney, who's going through a rough divorce - lots of action and the 'moral' questions examined over family Sunday roasts to lift this beyond mere brain-dead action/police procedural. Simple fare, which is not a criticism. The Keep It Simple, Stupid exhortation works with TV drama as it does with everything else.

The main strength of the show is Selleck - every second he's on screen is great. The man has a gravitas and natural authority that transcends any weaknesses in the plot or writing. I just love him. He could - maybe should - have been a huge movie star if he had been able to play Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the big screen's loss is the small screen's gain. He's epic in this.

The weaknesses are the inevitable daft age casting - Tom's dad is played by a guy five years older than him; the youngest son's story arc, which is some twaddle about a secret NYPD cabal called 'the Blue Templars," who bring vigilante justice to the bad guys and, generally, the fact that this isn't edgy at all. Blue Bloods is at the Cold Case/CSI end of American cop shows - not The Wire or the Shield end.

The only show that transcended this divide was the brilliant NYPD Blue when it was in his its first three or four series and there is a - I'm sure deliberate - nod to that masterpiece with the casting of Nicholas Turturro (James Martinez) as a world-weary (but decent) sergeant.

In short, this is very good without being great. I watched it all back to back and would recommend other crime buffs do the same.

I am surprised by some fo the negative reviews, as I found this show very enjoyable, one of the few TV shows for which I would mark my diary just not to miss it. Yes, some of the storylines are unspectacular, and I do not always agree with the conservative tenor of opinions expressed at the Reagan family table, but obviously there are millions of people not just in the US but all over the world who would not agree with mine. Wahlberg is surprisingly excellent as Danny Reagan, and Tom Selleck convinces as the stoic, collected head of the Reagan Clan. This role does not afford him the same opportunities to show off his talents as for instance the Jesse Stone series, but I found him very likeable and engaging. Jennifer Esposito is a brilliant supporting actress, giving great credibility to her character, and I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Wahlberg. The only character that really annoys me is Nicki, Erin Reagan's daughter, which could be down to the fact that the actress playing her varies between grinning madly, looking sullen and making smarty pants comments, but all in all I like this show and will continue to watch it.

Synopsis:

The series follows the Reagan family of police officers with the New York City Police Department.

Francis "Frank" Reagan (Tom Selleck) is the Police Commissioner. He's a Vietnam veteran who served in the Marines before he joined the NYPD. He's widowed with four grown children: Danny, Erin, Jamie, and Joseph.

Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) is a top NYPD detective but is sometimes hard-nosed and does not always go by the book. He also served as a Marine in Iraq.

Erin (Bridget Moynahan) is an assistant district attorney in Manhattan who prosecutes many of the criminals Danny arrests.

Jamie (Will Estes) is a recent graduate of Harvard Law School and is a rookie officer on the police force after graduating from the police academy.

Henry (Len Cariou) is Frank's father and a retired police commissioner who usually provides advice to his son and grandchildren.

It is believed that Frank's son, Joe, who died in the line of duty, was involved with the FBI investigating a group of dirty cops (The Blue Templar) and his death might have something to do with it. The FBI is now trying to recruit Jamie to pick up Joe's investigation, but Jamie is still unsure if he should.. (sic) Wikipedia..

This program whilst not necessarily on paper has one of the best cast ensembles i have seen on television in a long time. To give you a better idea of how its shot, it is written by the same people that wrote the sopranos, now i didnt get on with that at all, but i love this.

Tom selleck is outstanding as Francis, he has quiet way about him, as tho he doesn't need to raise his voice or be mean because nobody is going to mess with him anyway. I adore Tom as an actor, I watched magnum as a kid and it never fails to amuse me that Tom Selleck's thick burly moustache is still a very solid black at 60 years old haha

Bridget Moynaghan is fantastic as Erin, the only daughter and a.d.a who trys to balance not only her career but her life as a single mom to a teenage daughter, and of course her brothers and dad. What is so wonderful about this is that Bridget has starred in some very big movies and the fact that she chose to do this tv show should give you an indication of how great the scripts are, she has an unbelievable amazing relationship with her on screen father and i am glad she chose the part.

Donnie wahlberg, well, what can you say, you think oh god he's gonna be awful, but he really truly isn't, he is fantastic in this show, very gritty, no nonsense, smart, intense, a very wise casting decision if ever i saw one.

There are solid 1 off episodes all the way through this season and i can assure you that you wont be remotely disappointed.

Towards the end of the season and especially the last 2 episodes, the culmination of a series of events comes to a grand conclusion that plays out in the final episode, that is probably the best single episode of television i have seen in the last 20 years.

One of the absolute best things about this show however is the relationships between all these people and their family's.

It is so refreshing to see a show that is portraying a solid family dynamic, they are all Catholics and go to church, even though im not religious i really did enjoy the fact that they also eat dinner together every Sunday without fail at their fathers house, its actually a wonderful thing to see, they also go out to dinner and breakfast a lot with each other and you can really feel the closeness that they share, its truly heart-warming, and something that is sadly missing from tv nowadays.

It has recently been confirmed that Blue Bloods has been renewed for a second season over on CBS.

This show is being shown on Sky Atlantic over here in the uk and if you haven't seen it yet then i strongly recommend you tune in, if you dont have Sky (i dont either, too expensive) and haven't seen it yet just buy the dvd's, i promise you that it wont be a waste of your time or money..