'Blue Bloods' Finally Arrests White Man After Nearly 13 Seasons on CBS

by Julian Spivey

Detective Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) telling a white assailant he can go as long as he promises never to do it again. Photo: CBS

Well, it finally happened. After almost 13 full seasons and 270 episodes a white character has finally been arrested on the CBS police procedural “Blue Bloods.”

On the most recent episode titled “The Naked Truth,” directed by Donald Thorin Jr. and written by Nicole Abraham and Daniel Truly, a white man was arrested for serial jaywalking in the nude.

“After 13 years, we thought the least we could do is throw a white guy in as the perpetrator. We’ll get back to the usual suspects – black men with the occasional black woman, Asian man and Hispanic man thrown in next week,” said Truly.

Fans were shocked when in the first 10 minutes of Friday’s episode Det. Danny Reagan (played by Donnie Wahlberg) and his partner Det. Maria Baez (played by Marisa Ramirez) slapped the handcuffs on Whitey Whiteman (played by Tanner Smith IV) for the serial nude jaywalking.

This led to some distaste from viewers online, like Houston Osteen who tweeted: “Wait? They arrested one of us. ‘Blue Bloods’ has gone woke. I’m never watching another episode again.”  

“Blue Bloods” has a history of being perhaps the most pro-police, least progressive series on primetime television and has taken a stance on controversial policing topics in the past. But for some of its audience the most controversial thing the series, led by veteran actor Tom Selleck, has ever done is bring a white man to justice – even if that white man was released on bail moments later.

“Blue Bloods” showrunner Kevin Wade understands the controversy wrought by Friday’s episode but is encouraging fans to continue with the show as he promises the series won’t stray from its usual bad guys anymore.

“We always try to be true to real-world events and policing and we know that police in the real world mostly arrest men of color and we will continue to focus on that aspect of policing,” Wade said. He added: “We’ll stop focusing on ticky-tack crimes like nude jaywalking and get back to the real threats on the streets of New York like selling loose cigarettes.”

“Blue Bloods” was recently renewed for a 14th season by CBS.