Saying Grace

Anyone who has ever seen an episode of Blue Bloods knows that the family dinner is a regular part of its format. Because of the Reagan family’s strong religious beliefs the dinner scene often includes them saying a short prayer before eating and this small act is frequently a point of discussion for some fans. Specifically how often is this element actually present within an episode. This might be a slightly frivolous look at this representation of the characters’ religion but it is certainly not intended to insult anyone.

A few months ago I started to see comments on social media asking why the show had stopped including grace as part of family dinner, this included suggestions that people had noticed that grace stopped being said in season 8. When I first saw references to this ‘loss’ of the prayer I began to pay attention to older episodes during a re-run of season 7, after a few episodes I realised they weren’t saying it any episode so I knew it was certainly not something that started in season 8. In an effort to combat this ‘Mandela effect’, the shared false memory that there was a time when grace was said at the start of every family dinner, I have dug out the DVDs and re-watched every dinner scene. By watching the scenes I’ve compiled a list of how many dinner scenes featured a prayer or something similar and how many times they were already deep in discussion. Based on what’s been said on social media some people will be very surprised by the results; it shows that while it might feel like every episode used to include them saying grace, this was not actually the case. It does come as something of a surprise when you realise the prayer has appeared in only 45 of the 199 episodes aired to date.

I suspect the reason why many viewers felt it changed in season 8 was the loss of Linda. This major change led to them looking for the familiar so it became more noticeable to them that grace wasn’t being said, even though it was still present and it actually appeared more times in season 8 than it had in seasons 2, 4 or 7. The only other possible reason that people might have thought this is that in season 8’s Ghosts of the Past the dinner scene transitions from food being brought to the table straight into the family eating. Based on previous dinners there should’ve been a momentary pause for grace, but this is the only episode where they don’t stop to pray. It’s not a sign of a major change, instead it was just a one-off occurrence.

The Results

As I said before this is a little frivolous but here are the seasons ranked by the number of times that grace (or a variant of it) was said at dinner;

• Joint 1^st (with grace said in 7 out of 22 episodes): season 1 & 8
• 3^rd (with grace said in 7 out of 23 episodes): season 3
• 4^th (with grace said in 6 out of 22 episodes): season 9
• 5^th (with grace said in 5 out of 22 episodes): season 5
• Joint 6^th (with grace said in 4 out of 22 episodes): season 2, 4 & 6
• 9^th (with grace said in only 1 episode): season 7

The Details

Even when the family is seen praying at family dinner it’s not the same every time, sometimes a scene starts and they’re already saying it, sometimes the scene ends with them starting to say it, and sometimes they say something other than the traditional grace. Below is a list of the 45 episodes where they do any of these things as well as highlighting those episodes where there was no opportunity for grace to be said as we don’t actually see them at family dinner.

Season 1

Grace is said in:

1. The Pilot (1×1)
2. What You See (1×5)
3. Chinatown (1×8)
4. My Funny Valentine (1×14)
5. Age of Innocence (1×16)
6. To Tell the Truth (1×18)
7. The Blue Templar (1×22)

Exception: there is no dinner scene in Dedication (1×15)

Season 2

Grace is said in:

1. Thanksgiving (2×8)
2. The Job (2×12)
3. No Questions Asked (2×18)
4. Mother’s Day (2×22)

Exception: there is no dinner scene in A Night on the Town (2×5)

Season 3

Grace is said in:

1. Family Business (3×1)
2. Fathers and Sons (3×10)
3. Framed (3×12)
4. Devil’s Breath (3×21)
5. The Bitter End (3×22)
6. This Way Out (3×23)
7. Scorched Earth (3×4) although Nicky says a Buddhist blessing rather than the traditional prayer.

Exception: the family scene takes place at Nicky’s 16^th birthday party rather than family dinner in Old Wounds (3×3)

Season 4

Grace is said in:

1. Lost and Found (4×5)
2. Bad Blood (4×9)
3. Secret Arrangements (4×19)
4. Exiles (4×22) although Linda says “Bless these sinners while they eat their dinners” rather than the traditional prayer.

Season 5

Grace is said in:

1. Sins of the Father (5×10)
2. Home Sweet Home (5×12)
3. Love Stories (5×13)
4. In the Box (5×16)
5. The Art of War (5×22)

Season 6

Grace is said in:

1. Worst Case Scenario (6×1)
2. Rush to Judgement (6×6)
3. Hold Outs (6×9)
4. Town Without Pity (6×18)

Season 7

Grace is said in:

1. The Thin Blue Line (7×22)

The only other episode they come close to saying grace is in Lost Souls (7×15) but instead they raise a toast to Joe.

Season 8

Grace is said in:

1. Cutting Losses (8×1)
2. Brushed Off (8×6)
3. Legacy (8×15)
4. Close Calls (8×17)
5. Your Six (8×20)
6. The Devil You Know (8×21)
7. My Aim is True (8×22)

Season 9

Grace is said in:

1. Playing with Fire (9×1)
2. Trust (9×6)
3. By Hook or By Crook (9×7)
4. My Brother’s Keeper (9×14), the second dinner scene
5. Common Enemies (9×19)
6. Mind Games (9×3) although Eddie has jumbled it up.

Exception: there is a wedding rehearsal dinner rather than the normal family dinner in Something Blue (9×22)