Blue Bloods to Air Series Finale Marking End of Catholic Family Era on CBS

For fourteen years, the Reagans have been a staple of the CBS lineup on Friday night. Every week, viewers would in a critically acclaimed series called Blue Bloods. On December 13th, the 283rd and final episode of the series will air one last time.

This police and family drama follow an Irish-Catholic family called the Reagans in New York. Tom Selleck, the show main star is the Police Commissioner of the largest police force in the United States. Along his side are his father Henry, who is a retired commissioner, widowed, and a veteran. Henry offers him advice on what he did right and what didn’t go right. Frank, a widow, veteran, and cop as well, leans in him for advice while offering guidance to his three children and at times his grandchildren.

The series also includes Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) Jamie (Will Estes), and Erin (Bridget Moynihan). Frank also had another son, Joe who was killed before the series took off as he was mentioned in the first season as the family worked together in finding the corrupt cops who murdered him. It would later be revealed that the late son had a son (Joe Hill) who would later become a cop himself and was the subject of a powerful episode in meeting this missing Reagan through Danny’s son Sean.

What makes this long running show standout is the family dinner scene that was included in every episode. In every scene, viewers have seen how the family has come together. The first thing this family will do in the scene is say grace before meals. In the course of the dinner, they would share ideas. Often, they will be bickering, especially between Dan and Jamie over a case. It would conclude with a peaceful solution from the patriarch of the family.  It also has some lessons of Catholicism that some may not have noticed about the show.

Frank Reagan and Friendship with Cardinal of New York and Catholic Priests

Frank has a close relationship with some of the Catholic clergy in New York. He ensured that a mobster dying of cancer received his last rites. He, too, would go to confession himself.

He also was urged to protect the seal of confession from his father who upbraids him for trying to get a priest to give him information on a murder.

“You did a shameful thing,” Henry tells Frank, one NYPD commissioner to another. “And you know it.”

“Put yourself in Father Phil’s shoes,” Henry continues. “He’s earned his right to protect the seal.”

“How?” Frank asks.

“You confess your sins. You say your three Hail Marys. You drop some change in the poor box on your way out. But the priest, he’s left with your sins. He absorbs your sins. He prays for you.”

“As he took a vow to do,” says Frank.

“Yes, and he has nothing but smiles and good cheer for the cheating husband and his innocent family when he sees them at church after Mass on Sunday,” Henry explains. “This costs a priest — times all the sinners, times all the years.”

Jamie Getting Married in the Church

In the 9th season, Jamie is engaged to Edie Janko. They struggled with the wedding planning. Even Jamie is figuring out where the ceremony would take place. In the end, he would get married in a Catholic Church and have a small reception.

Overcoming Cultural Issues

The Catholic family portrayed in the series are far from perfect. Henry, Frank, and Danny would be widowed. They even struggled to make the right decisions. In the end, they did everything through God’s grace.

In the end, the family have maintained their faith with divine intercession. This show will live on in the mind of many fans. The main scope was to see a family help each other out through the good and bad.

As Frank best puts it, “No matter the hardship or loss, this family does not stand down. Ever”

The show has given us timeless and valuable lessons of never backing down and helping each other.

Thank you, Blue Bloods for 14 seasons.