Blue Bloods/Characters
The Reagan Family
- Always Get Their Man
- Badass Family
- Officer O'Hara: Averted mostly, but they are Irish-Americans
- Real Cops Love Jesus
Frank Reagan, New York City Police Commissioner
Played by Tom Selleck
Head of the Reagan family and the NYPD. A stern but fair man.
- A Father to His Men: Cares deeply about the NYPD and his sons.
- Always Gets His Man: Oh yes.
- Badass Grandpa / Papa Wolf: Do NOT hurt a member of his family. He'll put you down without a word.
- Da Chief
- The Good Chancellor
- Guile Hero: Has run gambits on criminals before, as well as once maneuvering a diplomat whose son was a rapist into unintentionally giving him a DNA sample.
- One recurring character says he should run for mayor, because though he states he hates politics, he is very good at it.
- Like Father, Like Son: Despite being able to adapt with the times, their scenes together show that Frank is very close to Henry.
- The Patriarch
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Frank continues to carry his old snubnose .38 Special revolver, despite his father telling him he should switch to a semiautomatic for more firepower. In one scene, Frank demonstrated he doesn't need to.
- The Stoic: But it doesn't mean he's heartless.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Became The Stoic due to this, having seen many terrible things in the line of duty and bottling it up to keep from spilling over onto his family.
- Semper Fi: Was a Marine in Vietnam War.
Henry Reagan
Played by Len Cariou
Great-grandpa of the Reagan family. Was a hardbitten Da Chief in his day; now dispenses wisdom and advice.
- Badass Grandpa: Oh yeah. When Frank is shot, he's the one sitting in the hallway, up all night alert, ready to protect his family.
- Cool Old Guy: Is this to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Also, due to being an honest cop and not taking any shit, has the eternal respect of the NYPD rank and file.
- Glory Days: Sometimes longs for the days when life was simpler and you could be a cowboy cop.
- Good Old Ways: Generally tends to be older fashioned, but with one subversion: he advises Frank to switch to an automatic instead of a revolver, for more firepower.
- Papa Wolf: When Frank is shot, he's the one sitting up the whole night with his hand by his gun, guarding his family.
- Retired Badass / Retired Chief: Henry is a former police commissioner.
- Semper Fi: Was a Marine in Korean War.
- When I Was Your Age
Danny Reagan
Played by Donnie Wahlberg
Ambiguously the eldest of the Reagan siblings[1], Danny is a police detective assigned to Manhattan. He is Happily Married and has two sons.
- Aloof Big Brother: Isn't very close to Jamie, due to their age differences.
- Always Gets His Man
- Cowboy Cop: He bends the rules in pursuit of justice. Although he's also been known to bend them the other direction (i.e. coaching an illegal immigrant on how to frame his confession to manslaughter for sympathy).
- Good Is Not Nice: Very much so.
- Happily Married: To his wife, Linda.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Generally behaves like a jerk towards his youngest brother Jamie; Frank explains to Jaime that it's because Danny can't bear the thought of losing another brother, so he tries to Stealth Mentor him.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Generally sour towards the world in general, but gets up every morning to make New York a better place because he loves this city.
- Not Love Interest: To his partner Jackie. During the rare instances where she and his wife Linda are onscreen at the same time, it's quite clear Linda has no problem with her.
- Pay Evil Unto Evil: His general MO.
- Red Oni: Again, to his partner Jackie.
- Semper Fi: Served as a Marine in Iraq -- specifically Fallujah.
Jamie Reagan
Played by Will Estes
The youngest of Frank Reagan's surviving children, and a rookie cop. A Harvard Law graduate, he changed his mind about being a lawyer and joined the NYPD partly because of his dead brother Joe, and partly because he wanted to help people more than he wanted to make money.
- By-The-Book Cop: Very much so; this is part of the tension between him and Danny.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Any life insurance company that sells to him doesn't know it's job.
- Dead Big Brother: Shoulda been a Harvard Lawyer, but joined the NYPD instead because of his dead brother Joe.
- The Dulcinea Effect: Jamie cannot resist a Damsel in Distress.
- Honor Before Reason: Is very idealistic.
- The Infiltration: After he saved the life of mob heir Noble Sanfino while in plainclothes at the beginning of season 2, he has occasionally gone undercover in the Sanfino organization.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Again, the idealistic child -- he was inspired to join the NYPD not just because of Joe, but because of the examples of his dad and grandfather.
- The McCoy
- New Meat: Much of the focus on him is his professional and personal growth as a cop.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: with Renzulli
- Swallow the Key: Frank Reagan didn't raise no fools. When confronted by some mob brokers, Jamie hastily swallows the thumbdrive he used to hack into their finances.
- Took a Level in Badass: When the Sanfinos put out a hit on his alias and on Noble, he saved Noble's life again and coolly talked him into testifying.
Erin Reagan-Boyle
Played by Bridget Moynahan
Frank's daughter and Danny's and Jamie's sister, she is an Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan. She was married to a defense attorney, but they divorced before the series began and she is now a single mom. Her daughter Nicky recently raised her ire by deciding she wants to be the first female Reagan to become a cop.
- Crusading Lawyer: A more realistic model than others as she still gets mired in bureaucracy. Some episodes feature her turning her artillery on one of her own office who has gone corrupt and one features her looking for outside help to make sure a defendant that looked to be railroaded got a good defence.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Averted. Erin expertly juggles work and her teenage daughter, but has little time left for a social life.
- Good Is Not Nice: She is more well mannered then Danny, but she at times is ruthless enough to please General Sherman.
- Iron Lady
- Hello, Attorney!: Yes, she is hot.
- Hot Mom
- Manipulative Bastard: If she wants an evildoer to be her witness or informant she will never do anything that looks like the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique. She will just in such a soft feminine way tell them that she knows how to make them wish they had never been born.
- Overprotective Mom
- Principles Zealot: Is strongly committed to her principles and the law, and doesn't like Danny's cowboy cop tendencies. She has been known to bend on occasion, though.
Nicole Reagan-Boyle
Played by Sami Gayle
Erin's daughter. She recently decided she wants to be the first female Reagan to join the NYPD. Her mom was thrilled.
- Ordinary High School Student
- Spoiled Sweet: Not spoiled exactly but has lots of affection dumped on her. Quite sweet.
- Turn Out Like Her Great Grandfather, Her Grandfather, and All Her Uncles: She intends to be a cop too. Erin is ambiguous about that.
The NYPD
Sgt. Anthony Renzulli
played by Nicholas Turtello
Jamie's partner and training officer. Recently took public credit for a rescue performed by Jamie in order to keep the latter's face out of the press for the benefit of the Sanfino undercover operation.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: Likely donuts. At least it sure is something.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: To Jamie. He is the old one.
- Street Smart
Officer Edit Janko
played by Vanessa Ray
Another partner of Jamie's and friend or love-interest depending on the stage of the show (and their mood at the time). Jamie grooms her as Renzulli had groomed him.
- Battle Couple: With Jamie.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Rather like Jamie in this respect. Though for some reason a disproportionate number of those Jamie helps happen to be young, female, and aesthetically pleasing.
- Fair Cop: On a couple of episodes she volunteers as the "bait" cop for a sting, and once actually contrives to get herself kidnapped by a trafficking ring.
- Friend to All Children: More than a bit. And on at least one or two occasions it embarrasses her (such as when a street urchin plays her for a fool in The Bogeyman episode).
- Gender Blender Name: Referred to as Eddie.
- Not So Different: In many ways a Distaff Counterpart of Jamie.
- Only Sane Woman: When she is Finally betrothed to Jamie she regularly attends Reagan family dinners. She is more than a bit perplexed at their riotuous political quarrels at the dinnertable.
- Parental Issues: Unlike Jamie she does not come from a clan of patricians raised to a civic spirit any Roman would boast of. She has an embarrassing mother and a father who is rotting away in prison for stock fraud.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Not exactly sickening. But she and Jamie are definitely a very cute couple. And they very cutely thump people with nightsticks.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Jamie
Detective Jackie Curatola
Played by Jennifer Esposito
Danny Reagan's partner.
- Action Girl
- And Starring: The Title Sequence is reserved for Reagans.
- Blue Oni: To Danny.
- Fair Cop
- Just Partners: With Danny.
- Knight in Sour Armor
- One of the Boys
- The Not Love Interest: Again, to Danny.
- Platonic Life Partners: And yet again, with Danny.
- The Power of Trust: Danny's wife doesn't even seem to blink an eye at them being partners. In fact, a couple exchanges when she visits the Reagan house indicate they're friends (including giggling over the outfit Jackie wears once while undercover as a prostitute to catch a Serial Killer).
- Sidekick
- Undying Loyalty
Melissa Baker
Played by Abigail Hawk
Frank Reagan's executive assistant.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Baker is generally a quiet, efficient and demure personal assistant, who deftly manages Frank's schedule. She is also an NYPD detective, and whenever Frank needs dirt dug up, she delivers.
- No Name Given: She's only ever addressed by her surname in-universe. Promo materials have confirmed her given name as Melissa.
- Office Lady: Much of her role -- until Frank needs a quiet investigation, at which the viewers are reminded that Baker is not just an office lady, she's also a detective.
Recurring Characters
Noble Sanfino
Played by Eric Morris
While in plainclothes at a bar during the Season 2 premiere, Jamie Reagan saved a young man's life from an accidental overdose. The guy turned out to be Noble Sanfino, the heir to a major crime syndicate. NYPD's Organized Crime division parlayed Jamie's brownie points into an undercover assignment for the rookie cop.
- Affably Evil
- Contract on the Hitman: When Noble's associates figure out that Jamie was a spy, his own uncle puts out a hit on them both.
- Even Evil Has Standards: On one time when a rival gangster accidently gives him an overdose at a bar, he has him kidnapped and force feeds him exactly what he took, and no more.
- Evil Virtues : Gratitude to Jamie. Ironically this turns out to be his Fatal Flaw.
- Ironic Name: A gangster named Noble?
- Jerkass Woobie: Jamie thought him this and was genuinely remorseful at realizing he had ruined Noble's life even though it was Nothing Personal and Noble would have done the same without blinking if ordered to.
- You Have Failed Me...
- Xanatos Sucker
Mayor Carter Poole
Played by David Ramsay
Mayor of New York starting in season 2.
- Our Mayors Are Different: Mayor Personable/Mayor Minority combo.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Seems to work pretty well with Frank, too, though politics puts them at cross-purposes once in a while.
- ↑ it's either him or Erin, and the series has not cleared it up yet