‘Blue Bloods’ Season 11 Episode 1: Will Frank resign? How the CBS show will tackle police brutality
CBS’ police procedural drama, ‘Blue Bloods’, is returning for its eleventh season later today. The show focuses on the fictional Reagan family, an Irish Catholic family in New York City with a history of work in law enforcement. The first episode, as per the official synopsis, will see Frank (Tom Selleck) go head-to-head with City Council Speaker Regina Thomas (returning guest star Whoopi Goldberg) over protests against police brutality.
As has been covered by other police procedurals that returned on the air in the last month, the topic of the Black Lives Matter protests and police brutality seems to be one that even ‘Blue Bloods’ can’t ignore. And for good reason. Since May, even as the U.S. was grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, protests sprung up across the nation against systemic racism in the police force and uncalled-for brutality exercised by cops on people of color. As the days went by, these protests turned violent -- on several occasions, the protestors were first attacked by either police or right-wing groups.
‘Blue Bloods’, despite never quite delving much into real-world politics and social problems as much as some other CBS procedurals, seemed unable to ignore this. Executive producer Kevin Wade explained to TV Insider that while the "show about a family of white cops" was never really politically driven, "In the season going forward, we try to provide the points of view of the people who are charged with protecting and the people who sometimes charge them with stepping over boundaries in that protection. Those are both true and fair stories to tell."
Selleck, however, told TV Insider, "We're staying true to ‘Blue Bloods’. We deal with the changing political environment, but my sense of it is that people need to escape a bit from everyday life right now, and we're going to deliver on that. We're very much in touch, but not in a ripped-from-the-headlines sort of way."
Talking about this season, Selleck explained Frank’s arc this time around. And he teased quite a shocker! "Frank is seriously considering resignation. The job is so wearing on him,” he said. “He's looked for ways out before, but this time it's serious. He doesn't think he's being effective in this antipolice climate, and he can't protect the rank and file. So maybe it's time for new blood."
This is also not helped by the fact that Mayor Chase (Dylan Walsh) will be distancing himself from the police, while at the same time, activist city council speaker Regina Thomas will publicly attack Frank and the department, calling for defunding and retraining -- mirroring what has been an ongoing BLM demand. "They've always been able to talk," Selleck said, "but now, he's unable to move her off her rigid point of view."
Aside from Frank’s dilemma, the episode will also see Jamie (Will Estes) and his newish-found nephew, Joe Hill (Will Hochman), work together to locate Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Baez (Marisa Ramirez) when they go missing while searching for a killer. At the same time, Eddie (Vanessa Ray) will step up to help an abrasive woman find her father’s body after it was misplaced during the outset of the pandemic.
‘Blue Bloods’ Season 11 premieres on December 4, 2020, with a new episode ‘Triumph Over Trauma’ at 10 pm ET on CBS Network.