There are certain things you expect from a Reagan Sunday family dinner.

The saying of grace, intelligent conversation, a good debate, a bit of family squabbling, and Linda Reagan holding the family together.

Now that’s changed. Linda’s unexpected, off screen, death during the season hiatus means nothing will ever be the same.

The biggest shock was how we never, ever saw it coming.

Danny's conversation with another grieving father says it better than we can...

Danny: Finding myself making breakfasts and lunches and talking about emotions are things I never really had to do as a father.

David: I can't picture you in an apron.

Danny: I can't cook a TV dinner, but in many ways it's been the best opportunity of my life. An opportunity that I might not have taken, probably wouldn't have stepped up for if not…

We do like this more serious, thoughtful side of Danny. He can't just rely on Linda anymore to keep him grounded and keep the family together. It's all on him now.

However, we did expect to see more of Linda and Danny's sons, because they're currently mostly around just to fill chairs and make quips at family dinners. After Linda's death, we're expecting more from them too.

It began with the very first episode of the season where Jamie and Eddie went undercover for all of a minute to investigate a drug dealer for six dead teenagers…and gave us very few answers.

It continued in episode 2 when a girl who had been missing for 13 years supposedly showed up on her mother’s doorstep, but no one asked where she had been all that time. And then we never really found out how her “brother” was able to pay her off, why he’d want his “sister” back or even why he killed her in the first place.

We know that time is limited but Blue Bloods season 8 has given us far too many stories with huge plot holes and unanswered questions. Fans deserve better.

Jamie Reagan has been painfully absent from many episodes so far this season... and a brief line at the family dinner table isn’t cutting it.

We realize the show has a large cast and there are only so many minutes per episode, but Danny and Frank monopolize most of that time, with Erin running a close second.

That leaves fans with Jamie withdrawals far too often and that needs to change quick!

She’s rash, naive, impulsive and doesn’t appear to listen to anyone’s advice.

We’ve watched Frank butt heads with previous mayors, but there is something about Mayor Maggie Dutton that really gets under our skin.

We know that Frank has to have some dealings with the mayor, but in this case, a little goes a long, long way.

Tom Selleck and Whoopi Goldberg have wonderful chemistry, so when their characters debate back and forth, it comes off naturally.

It’s even better when both Frank and Regina have points of view that make sense but don’t necessarily line up with one another.

Will Regina Thomas eventually be the city mayor on Blue Bloods? We certainly wouldn’t mind one bit.

From the first time we got to meet the Governor of New York, and we wish we hadn’t.

Governor Martin Mendez is an arrogant, obnoxious bully. Even worse, his voice and mannerisms made us cringe? Every time the man was on the screen he made our skin crawl.

We’ll be all to happy if he never, ever returned...but we doubt we'll get that lucky.

Danny’s wife Linda was killed in a helicopter crash offscreen.

Frank and Henry are both widowers with little to no love lives.

Erin appears to be married to her job.

And Jamie and Eddie have been stuck on the will they/won't they wheel for years, and where as last season things looks hopeful for romance, this season they seem stuck in the friend/partner zone.

The main focus of Blue Bloods is undoubtedly law and family, but letting at least some of the Reagan clan be happy in the love department would make viewers happy too.

A flashback episode telling us more about Joe Reagan.

When the show premiered, we learned that the fourth Reagan sibling had been killed in the line of duty, but other than the car he drove and the circumstances surrounding his death, and the occasional mention around the Sunday family dinner table, we’ve never really learned much about Joe Reagan.

After eight seasons, we’re due for a flashback or two to give us a little more insight into the Reagan we never had the chance to know.

It feels as though every week is a tough one for Frank these days. They're not exactly a barrel of laughs for viewers either as we are constantly treated to Frank and the mayor butting heads over and over and over again.

It doesn't even seem to matter which mayor is in office for there to be ongoing issues. Perhaps it's realistic, but it's not a lot of fun to watch.

Almost all of the members of the Reagan family tried to do the right thing in Blue Bloods Season 8 Episode 10, with varying results.

Jamie went out of his way to help a good samaritan. Danny went overboard to put a mobster behind bars, and Frank fell on his sword to keep Abigail from being insulted.

Although not perfect, this episode got high marks for bringing us interaction between Abigail, Garrett, and Sid, and the fun scene at the end with Danny eating the donut in the Aston Martin. It’s fun like that we’d like to see more of this season.

Reagan arrogance was on full display in this installment as Frank appeared to belittle Garrett for taking time off after he and his wife were SWAT’d, and Erin completely disregarded a warning from her lead investigator, Anthony, and made a lousy deal with an informant because she decided she knew what was best.

Even the normally entertaining Reagan family dinner was depressing as Jamie presumed that Danny screwed up a case because he was still mourning Linda, and then things got even more awkward as the family got quiet while shooting Danny sympathetic looks.

Most of the Reagan’s came off as presumptuous, know-it-alls, at worst, and bad friends or colleagues at best.

The characters that we love are all still here, with the added bonus of seeing some strong support from Abigail, Garrett, Sid, Eddie, and more.

But the constant battling with the mayor’s office (and now the governor!), Baez always playing second fiddle to Danny's super cop act, the lack of any hint of romance, mourning Linda, and gaping plot holes have pulled a once A+ show down.

If we didn’t love the Reagan family so much, we may have considered a grade of C. Hopefully the show works toward bringing its grade up during the second half of the season.