Grade: A
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Law enforcement series follows a New York family of cops, starring Tom Sellick who plays the NYPD Police Commissioner (PC) Reagan.
One theme from the first season is the ethical balance between the vocation of police officers and family obligations. Balance is the key word, since commitment to the job reinforces the other commitment to family. They are seen as "mutually beneficial" overall and not in conflict. For example, by the end of the season, Jamie, a law-school-graduate-turned-cop faces the problem of possible corruption in his family; however, it turns out that it was bad cops gaslighting the situation to make it look like the Reagan family were the criminals. The Reagans find the truth of who killed Joe, a family member cop killed in the line of duty.
Second, related to the first point, when PC Reagan finds out who killed his son, he's tempted to kill his son as human psychology would do; however, his high moral sense prevent him from killing his murdered son's killer.
Perhaps in a surprise character development, PC Reagan's granddaughter quoted a key line from the series's lesson about learning from mistakes, "What matters is what happens next." This shows human redemption in the face of tragedy that gives the series a high mark from this reviewer.
Finally, aside from Tom Sellick's fine acting, his character fits his distinguished personality to give viewers a sense of doing the right thing even when there are sacrifices. There are consistent moments of integrity such as PC Reagan's prudence before rushing to approve a canonization process for a priest and stepping up beyond his job to help uncover the truth of a poor kid's mom's death.
The actors' acting and the attention to detail for real law enforcement protocol adds to the quality of the film, along with the ethical promotion that the movie radiates. Characters may bleed blue, but they also bleed common red just like the rest of humanity.
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