8 Years Later, Blue Bloods Still Can’t Fix Its Ancient Mistakes

There’s something charming about watching the same heated fan discussions for many years in a row and thinking to yourself, “Never change, Blue Bloods.”

Different shows are cherished for different reasons. Some are thought-provoking, blood-boiling, genuinely terrifying, or endearing. Some have amazing stories or spectacular visuals, and others boast phenomenal character development and chemistry. While Blue Bloods has a little bit of everything, we’d say none of the above can be called its defining quality.

With Blue Bloods, its strongest suit is its comfortable familiarity.

Blue Bloods Doesn’t Ever Change…

Long-time Blue Bloods fans, look back and ask yourselves: what has dramatically changed since Season 6 on the show? Sure, some characters got married, and others lost their spouses. But on the mundane, everyday level, things stayed pretty much exactly the same, and even most characters haven’t evolved too much.

Eight years ago, fans of the series were already posting rants and concerns in the subreddit, claiming that Blue Bloods had gotten repetitive and most episodes followed the same template.

“Please find some better writers or ditch the template, the episodes are getting so predictable,” a now-unknown user wrote during S6.

Eight years have passed, and we still see this same claim posted every other day — and still, Blue Bloods has been going strong throughout this entire period. Now, the show is on a Season 14 homestretch, unless Tom Selleck actually saves it, and nothing has changed: people still say the same stuff about the first episode of the final season. Isn’t it weirdly comforting?

…Because It Doesn’t Really Need to

There might have been years between Season 6 and Season 14, but some things never changed. Some fans are still ranting about female characters taking the lead on every opportunity. Others go vocal about Danny’s questionable work ethics and wonder when Baker will stop glaring at the Commish. Things go just as usual.

And while fans have been on and on about the show’s decline, they always kept coming back to Blue Bloods, and there’s only one reason for that: the warm, comfortable familiarity this series offers. Love it or hate it, you’ll come back to the Reagan house when you’re feeling funny, because those repetitive episodes help you relax, and the family dinner scenes gently tuck you in for the night each Friday.

Blue Bloods is all about family, and you don’t simply abandon your family. You can always rant about it, though.