DVD Corner

Blue Bloods Season 13 DVD Review

“Blue Bloods” continues on with its thirteenth season.  

The Reagan family returns for the 21 episode 13th season of the long-running CBS police procedural. Of course, the season primarily focuses on former NYPD Police Commissioner Henry Reagan, his son Frank (The NYC Police Commissioner), Frank’s 2 sons (Detective Danny and Sgt. Jamie), and daughter (DDA Erin) and Officer Eddie (Jamie’s wife), but there’s plenty of subplots involving Officer Luis, Detectives Baez, Baker, and Hill, DA Anthony, Archbishop Kevin, and Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Garrett. The main ongoing thread this season is whether Erin is running for District Attorney. As per usual, there are plenty of criminal case investigations involving domestic violence, a stabbed psychic, a gunrunner, robberies, dog thieves, a deceased chess player, a serial killer, drug dealers, an anti-cop protestor, and a psychiatrist killer. Other key plotlines involve Jamie being shot, undercover assignments, an informant, Anthony’s daughter being an eyewitness, Texas Ranger Waylon Gates, Erin’s ex-husband Jack, familial squabbles, and Frank and the Mayor clashing.

If you’ve been following “Blue Bloods” all this time, you probably know what to expect from this procedural. If you know nothing about the show, it’s very much CBS fare, but it’s certainly leaps and bounds better than any of the NCIS and CSI series. Having the series revolve around a Catholic Irish-American family in law enforcement gives the series more character depth which is something those other procedurals tend to lack. This isn’t just a cut-and-paste case of the week type of show that you would expect from most standard police procedurals. On top of that, there are stories involving politics, NY culture and courtroom drama. It’s a busy show with a big ensemble and a whole lot of story and character threads. It may feel old fashioned still like many network shows, but if procedurals are your thing, this one is better than most of the modern ones. 

Going back to the big ensemble, there’s no shortage of quality veteran actors here with with Tom Selleck, Steve Schirippa, Bridget Moynahan, Stacy Keach, Dylan Walsh, and Donnie Wahlberg all having feature roles. As an added bonus, there are numerous guest stints from class acts like Treat Williams (Rest in peace), Tom Cavanagh, Lyle Lovett and Jennifer Esposito. Having this kind of acting talent on board really elevates the series as a whole as well. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: Widescreen. Grade: B+

Audio Track: Dolby Digital 5.1. Grade: B+

Extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, “The Story Of The Reagans: Season 13” featurette and “The Legacy Of Joe Reagan” bonus feature.

September 13, 2023 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Blue Bloods, Blue Bloods Season 13 DVD Review, CBS, Donnie Wahlberg, Police Procedural, Tom Selleck