Watch: 'Blue Bloods' preview of season 14's opening episode
Ahead of the 14th and final season's premiere of “Blue Bloods” on Feb. 16, CBS has released a preview of the opening episode, “Loyalty.”
Among the plot threads in this first part of a two-part story, New York City Mayor Peter Chase (recurring guest Dylan Walsh) butts heads with second-generation NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), the patriarch of a family of cops and an assistant district attorney.
In a scene in Reagan’s office, Mayor Chase, nestled in a plush, high-backed chair, casually instructs the commissioner about a statement he wants Reagan to make. “You can talk about the crime wave,” Chase tells him.
Reagan, all reasonableness, points out, “The crime wave isn't caused by this influx,” presumably referring to an influx of migrants, mirroring circumstances in real-life New York. But Chase persists. “All these people — there's got to be something. Work up some numbers.”
The commissioner, sticking to facts, responds, “I can't do that.”
“Oh, come on, Frank,” the mayor insists, dropping all pretense of asking. Standing up and leaning over Reagan’s desk, he practically snarls, “I've seen you cook the books for your cops like you had four Michelin stars.”
Reagan appears to ponder this for a moment. “Well, in that case,” he tells the mayor, “no.”
Other momentary shots in what the network labels a “sneak peek” include Frank’s eldest son, Det. Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg), sitting in a jail cell with his former partner Darryl Reid (Malik Yoba). In a 2015 episode, Reid was found to have planted evidence years before in order to obtain a murder conviction. Now, Danny and his current partner, Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez), must investigate another murder, one somehow connected to Reid.
In another shot, Frank’s daughter, Erin (Bridget Moynahan), chief of the trial bureau in the district attorney's office, gives someone off-screen a highly doubtful look. Yet another shot shows the youngest son, plainclothes NYPD Sgt. Jamie Reagan (Will Estes), leaving a room filled with makeshift beds, as part of his undercover assignment with a human trafficking ring.
And of course, there is a shot of the traditional Sunday dinner that closes each episode, with Frank and family gathered at the commissioner’s house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
The final season, the start of which was delayed by the actors and writers strikes, will air in two parts, with the second half premiering in the fall. By the end of its run, the show, a favorite on Long Island, will have aired 293 episodes.