'Blue Bloods': Danny Sends Son Jack off to College

Blue Bloods featured an emotional goodbye to another member of the Reagan family, but this time it [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Blue Bloods featured an emotional goodbye to another member of the Reagan family, but this time it was for a happy reason: Danny sent his son Jack off to college.

At the beginning of "Thicker Than Water," we saw single dad Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) making sure Jack (Tony Terraciano) had everything packed. At the end of the episode, Eddie (Vanessa Ray) and Jamie (Will Estes) helped Danny say goodbye to Jamie's nephew.

During the episode, Danny was not happy with how Eddie and Jamie handled Sean (Andrew Terraciano) getting picked up for underage drinking. Sean has also become troublesome, skipping school and earning poor grades. Danny told Eddie and Jamie they can treat their kids like they want, but they need to let him handle his kids in his own way.

Danny later apologized to Eddie and Jamie for yelling at them earlier before he drove off with Jack and Sean in the car.

Jack going off to college was also the subject of the episode's Reagan family dinner. Frank (Tom Selleck) told Jack not to listen to Pop (Len Cariou). It is more important for him to set his own path in life. He should not feel pressure to follow in the family business.

"Make the world your own. Take what is useful from your time with us, your years around this table. But don't think you have to become us," Frank told Jack.

"But if you do..." Pop began.

"...You do. But if you don't, you don't," Frank said. "It's your life, not ours, and I'd like to think that your dad and your aunt and your uncle do what they do because they were drawn to it, not because they were pushed."

Frank's speech was inspired by a conversation he had with a beat cop whose father was wounded in the line of duty. The officer told him he never wanted to be a police officer, but it was forced onto him by his family. Frank clearly feared that Jack might feel the same way one day.

Jack going off to college is another major change in Danny's life. Between season seven and season eight, his wife Linda (Amy Carlson) died in a helicopter crash. It forced Danny to learn how to be a single dad, which has also made it difficult to pay the bills. This was a plot seen throughout last season and was referenced again at the beginning of "Thicker Than Water," when we saw Danny yelling about missing bill payments over the phone.

This also means that only one Terraciano brother will be on Blue Bloods regularly. Andrew and Tony are real-life brothers who were only 6 and 8 years old respectively when they joined Blue Bloods.

Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorn/CBS

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