Blue Bloods: Where was Tom Selleck?

Blue Blood led CBS to rating victory on Friday night. But in spite of its success, I kept wondering where Tom Selleck was. An actor who looked very much like him appeared occasionally on the screen, but the vibrant, multi-dimensional actor that I have always enjoyed failed to make an appearance.

Blue Bloods is the story of a New York family, who has a multi-generational tradition of service in the police department. Selleck plays the current Police Commissioner, whose youngest son has just joined his brothers as the newest rookie. With a conspiracy within the police department and a secret society, Blue Bloods implied that the youngest son will be investigating his family, including his father. The problem is that no one cares. None of the family members are likeable or interesting.

Tom Selleck always gives a diamond performance. Even characters who would normally be one dimensional, he has been able to breathe life into, giving them depth with humor, character and likeability. Whether a good guy as in Magnum or the not-so-much of the white hat with the dark character Jesse Stone, Selleck’s eyes were always lit with his inner passion. As Frank Reagan, Selleck’s eyes were lifeless. In fact, the character was a little more than a prop for the younger characters as was Len Cariou’s. Part of me kept waiting for the real Selleck to make an appearance. Sadly, he never did arrive.

Over all the show reminded me of out of sync gears, where the teeth failed to properly work in tandem. Or better said a choir that was singing the same song, but the individual singers fail to listen to each other. The detective son was simply unlikable. His blaming his bad behavior on his military experience just made me dislike him even more. It was just one more stereotype those who serve simply don’t need. The daughter and the youngest son had no personality. I would like to comment on Cariou character, but he wasn’t given enough air time for me to comment beyond Cariou is normally first rate.

To be honest, I was hoping Blue Bloods would be a dog simply because I wanted Selleck to portray Deek in my military series, Operation Home Base. After hearing the rumors of trouble on the set, I held out a glimmer of hope. But I was realistic enough to start looking elsewhere to cast the role. Before watching Blue Bloods, I didn’t think Selleck had a bad performance in him. He was never just a pretty face, but a talented professional who has always brought passion and life to his work. Do I still want him to play Deek? You-betcha in a heart beat. Will I watch Blue Bloods again? No. There isn’t anything in the show interesting enough for me to spend the hour.

Operation Home Base: Deacon (Deek Williams)

When Deek agreed to head Operation Home Base, he expected to die. He thought Walter would have him killed to cover up the past or that Martin would finally get his revenge. Either way the ghosts in his head would finally be silent. Instead, Deek found what he had been seeking his entire life--a family.

To provide for his Mother and younger brother after his father‘s death, Deek enlisted in the Marines. Deek was deployed to Vietnam in the summer of 1966. Through a series of twists of fate and his own brash nature, he found himself recruited into a special ops team, which closely worked with the Montagnard and the Vietnamese Army. Deeply embedded, he not only lost track of the world, but himself. Forced into life or death situations, he made snap decisions that at the time were reasonable and necessary.

Five years later, he reemerged from his assignment and was immediately air lifted out. His records were sealed, except to those with the highest security clearance. Yet, part of him never left the jungle. He returned to the world only to find that it had gone on without him. His mother had remarried. Her new husband and step-daughters filled her life with happiness. His brother Stephen had gone to Canada to escape the draft and made a new life. They no longer had room for him.

He wandered aimlessly until General Walter Hummel found him and recruited him for an off the books black ops team. Walter offered him a place in the world where he was not only wanted, but also desperately needed.. It wasn’t what Deek wanted, but he couldn’t see any alternatives. Boxing up his regret and guilt, he buried it away along with all his hopes and dreams. A falsified death certificate ended Deek’s old life and began his new life. Emotionally numb, Deek followed orders. He went and did what he was told.

Charming one minute, deadly the next, Deek is able to accomplish the seemingly impossible. A permanent bachelor, he has many love interests but no attachments. He sees the big picture when it comes to his career and the military, but he refuses to get caught up in the messiness of intra-personal relationships. The "companions" who warm his bed at night are never there to see the dawn. He is a man of mystery and many contradictions. Likeable, yet frequently frightening, he gets the jobs done efficiently and effectively. In the shadows of espionage and off the books world politics, he becomes a legend to be respected, yet feared.

No matter how far or fast he ran, the ghosts of the past were never far behind. They nipped at his conscience and haunted his dreams. Decades later, a slight hesitation on his part caused a high priority target to escape. His team remedied the situation, but they no longer trusted him. Deek returned home, expecting one of them to appear and take out the liability.

Instead retired General Walter Hummel appeared on his doorstep with another offer. Confused, Deek listened. He liked the concept behind Operation Home Base. He wondered how different his life would have been if there had been such an organization to catch him when he first returned from Nam. He agreed to take the job on the condition that he would have the freedom to expand the scope of OHB. He wanted to give the disenfranchised veterans more than basic emotional and material support. He envisioned an organization that provided not only the basic needs, but legal protection and support from those who had survived the journey back home. He couldn’t do it himself, but he knew those who could.

Deek met Randi Cullen when she was looking for her father, Colonel Andrew Cullen. Through his connections, he found Cullen. What he learned Randi didn’t need to know. Instead, he shared only the on the books honors of the Colonel. Randi told him that she knew there was more, but she trusted him enough to accept what he gave her. Randi followed her step-father’s path and moved on to law school, becoming one of Delaware’s fast rising legal stars. A legal situation once again brought them together. The friendship blossomed into a relationship that Deek couldn’t emotionally handle. He left, yet he continually returned to her throughout the years simply because he couldn’t stay away.

Coming from a military family that could trace its roots back to the Civil War, Debra Anne Lee knew how to translate civilian intoa language the military could understand. She came to Deek’s attention when she used family connections to helped Seaman Gary Mayor get leave from his sub and return home in time to say good-bye to the grandmother who raised him.

Deek met Master Sergeant Stella Garcia in a Washington DC bar. Angry at the world and her disability, Stella was out to leave rubble in her wake. Deek was able to prevent her from killing the local LEO. With Randi’s help, he was able to the charges thrown out. Stella got off, but she wasn’t saved. She went back to her much hated desk job and self-destructive behavior. Deek just couldn’t let her go. In her eyes, he saw himself in the 1970’s. Behind her back, Deek contacted Stella’s family. He made arrangements with the Tribal Elders for her to go to back to the reservation for the warrior healing ceremony. Kidnapping her, Deek took her back to the Rez. Through Walter, Deek made the UA on her record disappear. Stella returned to duty with a new purpose. She couldn’t have saved those in her unit, but she could speak for those who paid the ultimate price and support their families as a Mortuary Officer.

It wasn’t until after he had his team on the way to Dover that Deek learned Martin Flying Crow was one of the founding members of OHB. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Deek accepted that his past had caught up with him. He was good with it. Either Walter or Martin would silence the ghosts and send him onto whatever waited for him on the other side. However, instead of death, Deek found a new beginning and new reasons to want to stay alive.


To read the proposal and a pilot excerpt go to http://www.theresachaze.com/Operation_Home_Base.html