The Reagans are back – and better than ever. While some procedural shows seem to stall out (or worse, use the same storylines over and over again), the beauty of this show about a family on one side of the law is that it continues to make us care about the struggle. The law may be black and white, but how the Reagans respond to each other (and those they fight, protect, and prosecute) is not.
In the sixth season, the core crew remains the same. Tom Selleck’s Commissioner Frank Reagan sits at the head of the table (both in the show’s narrative and at Sunday dinners featured in each episode), with his retired Commissioner father (Len Cariou), his District Attorney daughter, Erin (Bridget Moynahan), detective son, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), and beat cop son, Jamie (Will Estes). The family’s spouses, children, working partners, and romantic partners round out the emotional core of the stories, with each episode devoted to a case or two that push the action and adventure.
This time around, the serial killer Thomas Wilder (Louis Cancelmi) and councilwoman Regina Thomas (Whoopi Goldberg) highlight the story arcs. Wilder is potentially the ‘darkest’ of the villains who have stood against the Reagans over six years; Thomas is a key example of the way that the police are to enforce the law, and yet are called to navigate a grayer area most of the time – with outside influences like politicians and various groups weighing in from time to time.
Those ideas – and arcs – are the focus of the special features. There’s a look at Wilder in “The Wilder Trilogy: Danny Reagan’s Fight for Justice” (and a special featurette looking at Wahlberg); the Reagan family gets a two-part feature, too. And, of course, there’s a behind-the-scenes bit, as well as deleted scenes and a gag reel.
Yes, you can dive right in here and enjoy the family, their struggle, their faith, and their love for each other. But trust me, you’ll want to go back to the beginning and see the way that it all began.
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