Dinner, family style — that’s the preference for the Reagan family, which has been inviting viewers to pull up a chair during each episode of the hit crime drama “Blue Bloods.” Despite hesitancy around the show’s first dinner scene, these moments have become hallmarks of the series that follows Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and his children Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Jamie (Will Estes), and Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) as each work different jobs in law enforcement in New York City. No matter how big the case gets, they always make it home for that all-important Sunday meal, and there is one dinner scene that stands out from the rest in Season 7.
Season 7, Episode 9, “Confessions” finds Jamie in county lockup following a wedding brawl. Meanwhile, Danny and his partner Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) are trying to solve the murder of a socialite. This, as Frank works a case that puts his faith into question. By Sunday, the Reagans are trading prison stories around the table. The conversation starts with Nicky (Sami Gayle), who believes that she is the only Reagan who has spent time behind bars up to this point. Danny corrects her and confesses to spending three hours in jail after Frank caught him skipping school and showed him some tough love. But that’s not the only secret being spilled at the table, and it’s this secret-swapping that also sheds new light on these characters.
How does this dinner scene add more dimensions to the Reagans?
Family meals are a time to learn about each other, which is why this story-sharing moment during “Blue Bloods,” Season 7, Episode 9, “Confessions” makes such an impact. As Will Estes explained to KCAL News, “It’s where so many interpersonal relationships sort of play out. A lot of times, it’s the only scene in the whole episode where we are interacting with all the other actors, especially all at once,” he said.
That interpersonal connection is on full display as each character offers up their own jail story, ultimately sharing pieces of their younger years. For Henry Reagan (Len Cariou), he did time for an attempt to help friends who were picketing to unionize. For the by-the-book Erin, her jail time came after a wild night in Asbury Park. Frank also forcibly admits to his own run-in with the law following a bar fight during his Marine days. All in all, it’s a moment filled with laughs and heart.
The scene touches on what happened earlier in the episode, but Tom Selleck pointed out that these dinner scenes are not meant to completely rehash storylines. He told CBS This Morning, “They’re not a recap of what the show has transpired in, because it’s usually in the third act, but … it provides the audience with a secret. They know what Will’s done and what Bridget’s [Moynahan] done during the show, or I’ve done and what we’ve been going through,” he said, noting that it gives the audience an idea of what they can expect to transpire at the dinner table.
