Since it premiered in 2010, “Blue Bloods” has been a show about family, faith, and service. It pays comparatively little attention to Frank Reagan’s (Tom Selleck) love life. A widower, Frank speaks often and lovingly about his late wife, Mary Margaret, who died before the events of the series in 2005. Once in a blue moon, however, “Blue Bloods” devotes some time to the NYPD Commissioner’s personal life.
Frank’s romantic interests are few and far between, so it comes as somewhat of a surprise when we meet Melanie Maines –- played by Margaret Colin –- on the Season 2 episode, “Women with Guns.” Melanie is a successful, public-facing investigative reporter based in Atlanta, though she spends most of her time on the road. She and Frank discreetly and sporadically see one another, usually when Melanie finds herself in New York for work.
During “Women with Guns,” Frank and Melanie are on their way to a hotel when the latter gets attacked with acid by a menacing stranger. Melanie, who specializes in investigating financial and political corruption, isn’t surprised that someone might be after her. However, she and Frank disagree over how the matter should be handled. Involving the police could undermine her investigatory work, but Frank isn’t comfortable letting the attacker remain at large.
Margaret Colin is a worthy scene partner to Tom Selleck, and the characters’ bristling philosophical differences are a satisfying counterpart to their undeniable chemistry. Fans might recognize Colin’s acting prowess from projects like “Independence Day” and “Gossip Girl.”
Margaret Colin played Eleanor Waldorf in Gossip Girl
When Margaret Colin and Tom Selleck collaborated in “Blue Bloods,” they were picking up where they left off decades prior. Both actors appeared in the 1987 comedy, “Three Men and a Baby,” in which Selleck’s Peter and Colin’s Rebecca were in a casual fling. Colin was also in a 1988 episode of the Selleck-starring “Magnum, P.I.” At the same time, Colin began appearing in films like “Pretty in Pink” and “Something Wild.”
Colin’s star continued to rise in the 1990s, and in 1996, she was part of the ensemble cast of “Independence Day,” which remains one of the films for which she is best known. Colin plays Constance Spano, the White House Communications Director and ex-wife to David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum).
Colin is also known for playing Blair Waldorf’s (Leighton Meester) mother, the sharp-tongued fashion designer Eleanor, on “Gossip Girl,” from 2007 to 2012. The soapy series was the perfect outlet for Colin to show off her propensity towards melodrama; the actress got her start on soaps like “The Edge of Night” and “As the World Turns.” She reprised the role for the Max reboot.
More television roles followed, and from 2017 to 2019, Colin played the foul-mouthed CBS anchor Jane McCabe on “Veep.” “She’s a wonderful character,” Colin said in a BUILD Series interview. “She’s very confident, and she doesn’t want to be aged out of her job, and she’s got the worst potty mouth of any part I have ever played.” More recently, Colin could be seen as Carol Conte on “Chicago Med.”