No spoilers. During the 90's when NYPD aired I was working as a cop and wasn't very interested in cop shows. During retirement I have been watching this excellent series on Hulu and appreciating watching a series before everything went PC. I am near the end of Season 6 and read where some people thought this was a bit of a downturn. I must disagree.
First, with the season starting the way it did with Bobby's character arc, nothing that follows can match those episodes. With season 6 episode 5 Milch, Barclay and Smits, captured lightning in a bottle. I've been around and seen some things, those first 5 episodes stand out as some of the best television ever made, and blows anything being made in the 90's away. I'm glad I could binge it, checking in over 6 weeks must've been tough for the viewers.
The season that follows with the introduction of Rick Schroder was (I think) as good as the first seasons of both Caruso and Smits. The stories never bogged down in too much exposition, the characters went multiple emotional places off the circumstances starting the season, and Schroder created another compelling character to mix in with the ensemble. Even at his young age he was a veteran actor (if you've never seen The Champ check that out, or at least the last scenes on YouTube with the 9 year old Schroder).
The strength of Blue was not the actors - as talented as they are, it was the leadership of Bochco and Milch. I enjoyed what Schroder brought to the ensemble and the interactions of old school Sipowicz (Franz) with the ambitious young detective, Sorenson (Schroder).