Report Card: Did ‘Blue Bloods’ season 5 balance risks and rewards?
To us, “Blue Bloods” has always been one of the more underrated network dramas. There are many reasons that the show tends to not get a whole lot of attention from critics, but one of the biggest reasons is simply a matter of timeslot. Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern is not exactly a time commonly associated with sitting around and watching TV, and this is also a show that tends to skew older as far as audiences go.
We’re going to get into this more over the course of this article, but we feel like ultimately few shows tackled serious issues related to the police in the past year better than this one, even if it does still have its flaws here and there that need to be worked out.
What worked – We always begin with this show and Tom Selleck, as the Frank stories are to us almost always the show’s strongest. There are few other characters out there who are quite like him, and are dealing with the same problems he is. Frank was forced to address such issues as police brutality, gang violence, and racial profiling, and both the character / the show did a great job of tackling them earnestly, fairly, and also in a way that encouraged further debate. This is never a show that really enforces a stand upon you so much as tries to do what it feels is right.
What Donnie Wahlberg brings to the show as Danny is strong, but also somewhat different. He’s more hot-headed and aggressive, and through his work with Baez you get some of the show’s main action. There were some great stories this season, but the two-part finale was in particular thrilling since it forced Danny into complete protection mode.
What didn’t – “Blue Bloods” is a procedural, but at times it may be too procedural for its own good. Many of their episodes follow a by-numbers profile of case introduction, problem for Frank, case work, Frank debates problem, family dinner, and then solutions for everything. Also, some of the side stories still do tend to be a little bit forgettable, and we prefer the show when it focuses mostly on police work.
Our verdict – We’d like to see a few more serialized elements introduced here and there such as a Big Bad or at least a few twists to the formula, but for the most part “Blue Bloods” is a familiar Friday-night show. You know what you are going to get most of the time, just as it is typically also entertaining. Season Grade: B.
(Photo: CBS.)