Featured TV on DVD Review: Blue Bloods: Season Three

September 9, 2013

Blue Bloods: Season Three - Buy from Amazon

Blue Bloods is the lowest rated show on CBS that earned a renewal. Compared to the network's average, the show's ratings were weak, even for a Friday night show. The viewership numbers are strong, but the average age is high enough that the large viewership doesn't translate into strong ratings in the prime demographic, which usually determines what shows stay and go. This one survived another year. Will fans celebrate this? Or has the quality slipped making cancellation inevitable?

The Show

Blue Bloods is a mix between police procedural and a family drama. Tom Selleck stars as Frank Reagan, the patriarch of the family and the commissioner of the NYPD. His father, Henry, is a retired cop, and a former commissioner of the NYPD. Frank has three sons, Danny, Joe, and Jamie, all three of which became cops. (Joe was killed in action.) He also has one daughter, Erin, who is a district attorney.

Some of the changes in this season include Peter Hermann appearing in a couple of episodes as Erin's ex-husband. Jennifer Esposito left the show early in the season, so Danny gets a whole lot of new partners this year, which gives the show a chance to have more variety in the interpersonal relationships of the cops. However, I really like Jennifer Esposito, so overall I'm not happy with this change.

Some of the more interesting cases include a Bonnie and Clyde bank robbers in Protest Too Much, which blends into the Occupy protests / the reaction to the NYPD spying scandals. Front Page News involves a case Erin is prosecuting where the mayor, Carter Poole, has to be a witness. However, it seems the mayor might be involved in a scandal as well. Family Business features a guest appearance by Michael Madsen, as an ex-con looking for revenge against Danny. There is also a two-part episode, The Bitter End and This Way Out, about a gang that has taken over a building complex and have intimidated the residents so much that they are all afraid to testify against them.

On the one hand, this show has amazing consistency with no bad episodes. On the other hand, it is old-fashioned compared to most other police procedurals, which explains its older target demographic.

The Extras

Extras begin with deleted scenes on three of the four episodes on disc one. Disc two has more deleted scenes on three episodes and an audio commentary track on Nightmares. There are even more deleted scenes on disc three, this time on three episodes, plus an audio commentary on Secret and Lies. The only extras on disc four are deleted scenes for three episodes, while disc five has deleted scenes on two episodes. There are two episodes on disc six, which also has a quartet of featurettes, starting with a 30-minute retrospective on the third season. Dinner with the Reagans is an 11-minute featurette on the weekly family dinners we see on the show. Growing Up Reagan is a nine-minute featurette that focuses on the three kids in the show, Sami Gayle, Andrew Terraciano, and Tony Terraciano. The last featurette is a four-minute set tour. Finally, there are five minutes of outtakes.

The Verdict

Blue Bloods: Season Three is just as strong as Season two, but it is still a very crowded market and the show is aimed at an older target demographic, so it is not surprising its ratings in the core demographic are weak compared to its total viewership. Fans will want to pick up this six-disc set, as there are plenty of extras, but there are simply too many other shows in the same genre and this one doesn't have a strong enough hook.


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Filed under: Video Review, Michael Madsen, Len Cariou, Jennifer Esposito, Will Estes, Bridget Moynahan, David Ramsey, Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Peter Hermann, Sami Gayle