Full House vet Lori Loughlin’s TV career very publicly went belly-up due to her involvement in the college admissions scandal, but she’s spent recent years regaining ground in holiday movies for Great American Family, a pair of When Hope Calls episodes, and a self-jabbing Curb Your Enthusiasm guest spot, to name a few. Now she’s heading back to New York City for CBS’ Blue Bloods, where she’ll pop back up as vindictive widow Grace Edwards, more than eight years after the character’s debut.
Fans will possibly remember in the Season 7 premiere when Tom Selleck's Frank met Loughlin's Grace at the memorial ceremony for her husband Martin Edwards, who was killed in the line of duty a decade prior. Her arc involved asking Frank to unfairly flunk her son Louis out of the NYPD training academy, in the hopes that he wouldn't meet the same fate as his father. Frank passed him, and Grace turned into a walking Evil Eye afterward.
Now let's dig into why Grace is back in Frank and others' lives just five episodes before Blue Bloods joins the long list of TV shows ending in 2024.
What Lori Loughlin's Grace Is Doing Back In The Reagans' Lives
I don't want to project here, but it seems to me like Grace Edwards has spent none of the past eight years working on her anger issues where Frank Reagan is involved. According to the synopsis for her episode "New York Minute," Grace appears to still holding onto her grief and rage over not just her husband's death, but also Frank's defiant call all those years ago. Is she going directly after Frank? Nope.
Just as his angering actions affected her son's life, Grace's target lies elsewhere in the Reagan family: Donnie Wahlberg's Danny. Here's the synopsis below:
- Danny and Baez scrutinize an art gallery suspected of selling counterfeit pieces after a detective investigating the establishment is murdered. Also, Eddie is conflicted when she discovers her former partner turned social worker, Rachel Witten (Lauren Patten), crossed the line to get a mentally ill client much needed help; and Frank is upset when an award Danny was to be honored with is rescinded by Grace Edwards (Lori Loughlin), the widow of an NYPD officer killed in the line of duty.
Revenge is a dish best served nearly a decade later and completely out of the blue (bloods regular cast). While that doesn't lay out exactly what Grace's role is in the world that gives her the ability to yoink an award out of Danny Reagan's reach. Or what kind of move Frank is gonna pull after that to make her regret it. [Runs thumb across throat slowly.]
Here's hoping there's some legitimate strife and head-butting drama at stake here, with interesting details emerging about her son Louis' life in the intervening years. And let's hope this ISN'T a case where she rescinds the award for some kind of beneficial reason, like the award is...secretly poisoned!!! I just want to see Loughlin in a shouting match with Selleck and Wahlberg, I'll just admit it.
Check out the trailer for the episode below.
Also worth noting for Blue Bloods fans is the return of Lauren Patten's Rachel Witten, who makes life troublesome for ex Eddie when she possibly goes above the law to get a mentally ill client the help she requires.
Now let's take a look at what Lori Loughlin herself has said about returning to Blue Bloods to reunite with the cast.
Lori Loughlin Shares Thoughts On Returning To Blue Bloods
Speaking with Newsday, Lori Loughlin reflected on getting the opportunity to reprise her Blue Bloods role at a time when the ensemble cast was still in the throes of adjusting to the endgame. In her words:
They were feeling very nostalgic and grateful for the time they’ve had together. A lot of affection and warmth, because everyone was trying to just embrace the final moments. … I think at that point there was a little bit of hope that maybe CBS would reverse the decision. Tom kept saying, ‘They're going to come to their senses.’
Along with several of his co-stars, Tom Selleck has spoken out about how much he still hopes for CBS to change its mind about cancelling Blue Bloods and then order up Season 15. But now that we're only a month away from the very end, those chances seem to be more fleeting than ever.
Not that Blue Bloods is Lori Loughlin’s only acting gig on the small screen in the near future. She was also recently confirmed to be co-starring in the newest drama from Dick Wolf, the prolific producer behind the Law & Order, One Chicago and FBI franchises. Titled On Call, the series centers on a veteran officer paired up with an ambitious rookie to handle patrols in Long Beach, CA, with Loughlin co-starring as a lieutenant. The series will look quite different from Wolf’s other shows, utilizing various forms of non-traditional camerawork, such as bodycams, dashboard cams, cellphones and more.
Blue Bloods airs Friday nights on CBS at 10:00 p.m. ET.