“We are all passing through time, and occupying our chair very briefly:” Blue Bloods, the End of an Era, and the Enduring Spirit of Service

The quote above from Commissioner Frank Reagan captures the humility of who we all are at root. We are indeed, as Tom Selleck’s stoic character reminds us, just “passing through.” We are grateful for the opportunities before us and for the moments that we turn into memories. And then, we leave the legacy to posterity to keep building the foundation.

Yet, in “occupying our chair” ever so briefly, it is amazing what time can achieve, and what can be achieved in time….

Tonight marked the bittersweet end of Blue Bloods’ successful 14-year run on CBS. A show that loyal fans wanted to keep going, but parent company Paramount Global decided to pull the plug (corporate at odds with public sentiment—where have we seen that before? 😊). An interesting observation on the cultural dichotomy we find ourselves in: on the one hand, law enforcement taking a beating as a result of social unrest, media, and a whole host of other factors; on the other hand, the general public clamoring for shows about responders, protectors—everyday heroes (it’s no surprise, then, that even in an era of streaming services engulfing cable, Blue Bloods consistently dominated Friday nights, boasting some of the highest ratings on television).

What do we make of this? Here’s a thought. We see the same dynamic with the military as an institution: Recruitment down, increased scrutiny due to scandals—sometimes legitimate and sometimes lacking context—that threaten public trust, and arm-chair quarterbacking criticism from an intellectual elite that will never walk a mile in the shoes of those wearing the uniform. But what about the average American? Loves reading about military history and devours movies and documentaries about heroism in war, most notably, that of our Greatest Generation in WWII. We’re all, whether we want to admit it or not, taken by virtuous acts and virtuous people, hoping that maybe, just maybe, we can get a sprinkling of that virtue ourselves.

So too with our police and frontline responders: Turn on any TV station and you’re bound to scroll past a program that tells the quintessential human story, the one that we need to keep reminding ourselves of: the good guys against the bad guys, the courageous sacrificing to save the weak and vulnerable.

Sure, life is not that simple, and in fact, many professional critics say these shows lack the nuance and moral complexity of the real world (I even heard one critic mock series like Blue Bloods for catering to an older demographic that clings to nostalgia). Me? I take simple and good triumphing over bad any day. I take inspirational characters that move us to be better people any day. And I take idealism any day Why? Because we need heroes. Nothing wrong with idealism, so long as the ideals are morally just and worth fighting for.

As the product of a single mother—who protected and shielded me from going down the wrong path in life—I often reflect with gratitude on the dark road that might have been. It is for this reason, being raised with a firm sense of right and wrong, that I find comfort in shows like Blue Bloods, in a family that devotes their entire existence to serving others. And how grateful are we that every morning and every evening, there are brave men and women who fulfill that calling out there in the real world, keeping us all out of harms way.

In the final analysis, without role models and standard bearers, we perish. I find myself a man without a country sometimes, part of a generation that sees totalitarian dictators as “cool,” villainous characters in film and television as “bad—es,” and gangsters of any stripe as iconoclasts bucking the system for all of us. I don’t think so! I think the most important message we can tell our youth is the one Robert DeNiro tells his son in A Bronx Tale:

“The working man is the tough guy, your father's the tough guy! It don't take much strength to pull a trigger, but try getting up every morning day after day and work for a living, let's see him try that, then we'll see who the real tough guy is.”

I’ll always go back to episodes of Blue Bloods fondly, knowing who the real “tough guys” are. And for those of you that have walked the beat, and those who still serve to this day, I continue to be inspired by your service and your leadership. Each of you prove that the working man or woman is NOT a sucker—he or she is a savior. And we’re all better for it.

In the words of a dear friend from the responder community: “Let us always do good.”

#bluebloods #backtheblue #nypd