Midseason Report Card: Is ‘Blue Bloods’ season 6 a winner so far?

“Blue Bloods” is an interesting show to look at in 2015. In some ways, it’s a model of a genre and a style gone by. It is largely procedural, old-school with its storytelling, and it doesn’t get much publicity in a spot on Friday nights that CBS has had a stranglehold on for many years. Its ratings in the 18-49 demo may not be huge, but the show does continue to keep chugging along with new episodes and stories, one right after another.

Since few others are asking the question, it makes us easier to do so in this particular midseason report card entry: Is this show improving, getting worse, or staying stagnant? So far through season 6, we’d call it a mixed bag.

What worked – The Frank stories are almost always exemplary, since these are the stories that help to keep the series current, and they are also what makes it stand apart from everything else on TV. You’re going to see cops solving crimes other places; Tom Selleck gets a chance to tackle relevant issues like racism, police brutality, politics with the Fire Department, and even the Mayor’s office. It’s great, thought-provoking stuff, and you don’t always get a lot of that on the show.

Also, the story arc of Danny, the serial killer, and trying to keep his relationship with Linda properly functioning was a nice shake-up to the typical case-of-the-week format with him. We do wish there was more of it, just as we also wish that the show looked at her viewpoint as a little more understanding. Still, we will always anything for this show that matters from one week to another.

What didn’t – We haven’t found many of the stories for Erin to be entirely compelling, mostly because we’ve never felt like she was seriously challenged. This is a strong, powerful woman, and if you want to have us concerned for her, you need to give her something greater.

Also, can Eddie and Jamie just get together already? There’s a great story there that has been delayed for several seasons now, and there’s really no reason for it anymore with us probably only getting a few more seasons of the show at most.

Overall – “Blue Bloods” season 6 was as a whole very good. However, was it truly great? We’d say that consistently keeps it from being among the best of the fall, but with particular stories in particular it remains a very enjoyable and even underrated television drama. Grade: B.

Photo: CBS