"You go to Sunday dinner and all you do is fight. You sure you're not Italian?"

So I'm watching Blue Bloods, and I had to laugh when Danny asked the OR pharmacist if she was familiar with fentanyl.  The first words out of her mouth were "Yeah, synthetic heroin."  (Also, my brain wants to spell heroin h-e-r-o-i-n-e, cause that's the better kind)  I don't know a single pharmacist who thinks of fentanyl first and foremost as synthetic heroin.  Some see it as a pain med, some as a procedural sedation for RSI or a reduction, some as a sedative anesthetic in the OR.  I suppose as long as Blue Bloods stays away from pharmacy, I can keep watching.

I've been trying to figure out why I like this show so much.  There's not a lot of humor or any sort of love story (unless you count Linda and Danny, which I'll get to), and through a little more than a season and a half, I'm not sure I've seen a ton of character development.  Character revelation, yes.  Each episode, we do get to see a little more of each character's soul, but they aren't really evolving or growing that I've seen.  Those are all the main reasons why I like most shows.  But something about Blue Bloods just keeps pulling me back.

I think it's simply that no other show on television is so rooted in a family's commitment to faith and family and justice.  Nobody on TV has a moral code anymore.  Much less an entire set of characters.  Most episodes have me thinking that Danny is finally gonna blow it with Linda.  Or Erin is being just too darn strict with the letter of the law.  Or Jamie is going to get killed because he kept something from his dad.  Or Frank's stubbornness is going to prove to be his downfall.  But these are their human sides and weaknesses. And it makes it that much more appealing when they triumph over them.  When Danny gave Linda his badge after she threatened to leave him, and she said, "I don't want you to quit being a cop," I nearly cried when he said, "I just need you to know that I would."  Since when does marriage get the trump card?  Never in our society.  But it should.

Every time the sibling fighting seems ready to boil over, one of them does something to show without a doubt that family and the right thing are more important than opinions and prejudices.  Every dinner starts with a prayer.  Mass isn't a four-letter word.  The Catholic priest was defended for his abuse accusations until the truth was revealed.  Four generations of moral conviction, compassion, work ethic, honesty, sacrifice, and love.  I think that's why I love this show.