kurtz

This two-part finale was excellent. It made up for the previous few episodes, and IMO, the best season finale since S8. When we met Joe Hill at the end of last season, I was hoping that Will Hochman would be joining the cast this season. After a few episodes at the beginning of the season, he disappears, only to resurface for these last two episodes. The story was compelling, and I loved all of Joe’s clues to his brothers as to his whereabouts. The callbacks to the demise of Joe Reagan, Jamie’s previous two stints working undercover, and Danny’s service as a Marine in Fallujah were subtle yet strong enough to engage this long-time Blue Bloods viewer. Gloria Reuben was outstanding as ATF Special Agent Weber, as well as the other guest stars. I was surprised to learn that the writers for the two episodes were not the same. The two parts were integrated seamlessly. The pacing was tight, and there were enough twists to keep me engaged. It would have been nice to see both Nikki and Jack finally meeting their cousin Joe. But truth be told, it would have been inauthentic/ implausible for Nikki to hop a red-eye from SF and Jack to leave school (finals) for this reunion. Well done, Blue Bloods. After last week, I was questioning as to whether I’d return for S12. After these two eps., the answer is now “yes”.

It’s Bamonte’s, in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. You can see it from the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). It has a Mafia history. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamonte's

All filler; no thriller. The Freshman drama class analogy mentioned above is spot-on. This was awful - maybe the worst Blue Bloods episode ever. The dialogue was 30s screwball comedies rapid rat-a-tat-tat rhythm, and was woefully out of place. I can’t say enough negative things about the entire Jamie/Eddie storyline. I’ll save my breath and stop on this storyline. If you’re thinking it, then I am too. The Anthony mistaken for a mobster story was pointless. Sid got in a good line or two directed at Garrett. Other than that, I can’t say I liked anything about this episode This episode was so bad that future me refuses to even hate-watch it in reruns.

Debbie Allen did a great job of directing this bottle episode. I’m glad that Eric Roberts reprised his role as Robert Avery. He did a great job delivering predictable lines, but imbuing them with warmth and sensitivity. Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams were both excellent in picking up from the last time we’ve seen them. April is a little less shrill than what she was when Japril were a couple. On the other hand I didn’t like Chekhov’s meat slicer, nor the deus ex machina of April and Matthew’s split. (Yes, I’m a theatre person.). Both Jackson’s injury and April’s revelation were predictable. I get that the insinuation of a Japril endgame is in service to their shippers, but they were never a good married couple. I liked the actors’ chemistry, but not the pairing. good luck to Jesse Williams!

I liked most of this episode. If it wasn’t apparent to me before since I was never a MerDer shipper, it certainly is now that Ellen Pompeo has a wonderful chemistry with Patrick Dempsey. I just rewatched the “wedding” sequence, and as Meredith leans into Derek, she says “I don’t want to leave the kids”. Derek responds “I don’t want you to leave the kids.” So I never viewed Meredith’s decision to not die as a choice dictated by Derek. (Even though there were many incidents in their real life relationship where Derek put the “dict” in dictatorial.) I thought these scenes were a sweet culmination of the beach reverie, and also insinuating that Meredith’s widowed dating life pales next to her relationship with Derek. That Koracick “God’s whiskey glass” monologue was really dark - even for the Koracick character. In any event, I was happy for the outcome of Amelia’s surgery on Linc’s patient. I haven’t enjoyed a Grey’s pairing in years as much as I do Amelia & Linc. Kudos to Owen for stopping Teddy’s kiss. I really expected it to go the other way.

Erin and Jack briefly rekindled their intimate relationship in Season 4. (Yeah, that’s an awkward sentence.) I love when Jack shows up because Peter Hermann is such a good actor, and Jack makes Erin bearable. I’d be pleased if they made the relationship permanent, as anything that makes the Reagan men uncomfortable is alright with me. With Younger ending its run (thus freeing Peter Hermann), perhaps we’ll see Jack Boyle return in one or more of this season’s remaining episodes. All other flaws aside, this was a stronger episode. The Erin, Danny, and Jamie storylines were components of the main story, and the Frank/Abigail story held my interest.

Yes. Back in the day, we called Owen “McScreamy”. Regarding this episode, I didn’t find the intern former social worker’s behavior offensive, as she did most of the confrontation with Jackson privately in the tent after their initial public discussion. Also, her accent, very Bronx. As a New Yorker, I related to her. That is what we do. We communicate emotionally, effusively, and bluntly. Jackson was born into privilege but he wants to leverage that privilege into assistance for those in need, especially communities of color. I liked that Jackson gave the doctor former SW a notepad to list her concerns - and then he acted upon what she wrote. I thought Giacomo Giannotto (fka Andrew DeLuca) did a fine job in his directorial debut with this episode.

Many great insights above. I’ll go one step further and say Teddy is not only a deception-fueled thrill seeker, but also a low key narcissist. Up until all of the Koracick nonsense, we weren’t really privy to how self-absorbed Teddy is. It was always noble Teddy who set aside her love of Owen to teach Cristina, married dying Henry to give him insurance, got Owen to reconcile with Nathan, befriended the friendless Koracick, and so forth. Steadfast Teddy even enlisted after 9/11 in tribute to her love for Allison. But Teddy’s fever dreams displayed the depth of her solipsism - she believed she could have saved her parents (who died seemingly natural deaths), her short lived tryst with Allison constituted the love of her life, she could have had a happy life with Tom, saved DeLuca, and so forth. Subconsciously, Teddy knows this is all BS. That’s what the fever dream told us. Amelia genuinely believed Teddy had PTSD, and I was buying that, too. But now I think Amelia is wrong. And while I believe Owen should forgive Teddy enough to coparent their children, Teddy is always going to be drawn to the next thrilling deception or grandiose outward gesture to make her look good. Owen stands no chance of happiness with Teddy unless she wants to commit to individual therapy and does the work. All thus being said, I loved the usage of the clips, and Giacomo Giannotti & Kevin McKidd were especially good at playing dream DeLuca and Owen. I actually laughed at much of it.

Last night’s promo was a bittersweet reward for those who made it through that Teddy-centric episode: and they said it would never happen....Lexie on the beach!

I actually liked Sean’s, and Eddie & Rachel’s stories much more than Danny/Baez and Frank/Henry. I’m still advocating for three stories max per episode. The Frank/Henry story was so subtle that if your attention was taken elsewhere, you missed the reveal. I agree that the banker as murderer in the Danny/Baez storyline was an excellent twist, and those scenes were edited very well. The sons were a bit OTT, which kept me less engaged in that story. I’ve enjoyed Lauren Patten as Officer Rachel Witten since the character was introduced a few seasons ago. Eddie is my least favorite character but I enjoy their partnership and Vanessa Ray and Lauren Patten have excellent chemistry. The restaurant scene where the conspiracy theorist dad goes berserk was shot in my neighborhood at a very small Italian restaurant. The camera angles made it look bigger than it is! The resolution of Sean’s story was satisfying in that he didn’t cut off his friend completely, but told her he’d see her again some time later. It’s rare to see a measured reaction on television. It’s usually a “I hate you -we’re done” scene, but this one seemed more forgiving but not sweeping the betrayal under the rug. Good episode. I’m still enjoying Season 11 more than Season 10.

Yes, this reduced me to tears. Great actor and by all accounts, a very good person cut down by COVID. His Victor Lugo was a formidable nemesis for Danny, and Wahlberg and Cordero’s chemistry was off the charts. Rest In Peace.

Two episodes in, the writing is better this season than last, and maybe the season before it. My biggest beef was that four storylines per episode are two many, so having three is a big improvement. I get why Jamie is sharing storylines with Danny as they are shooting more footage at less locations (COVID), and I like it. It could have been clearer as to why the DA was booted. But other than that, I thought this episode is worthy of a future rewatch. I really like Joe Hill (Will Hochmann) and I hope his integration into the show as the Regan grandson/nephew remains organic and not forced. The scenes with him and his mom at family dinner seemed to be a shoutout to our ongoing commentary on the dinner table scenes.

They are filming in my neighborhood again this season, starting next week. Since I now work from home, maybe I’ll look out the window and get a glimpse of Danny & Baez, or possibly Jamie & Eddie.

Blue Bloods’ writers are 0 for 3 this season, with this one the worst of the trio. Only Danny’s storyline was compelling, and even it could have been fleshed out more. The show is better with one primary story and two (occasionally three) smaller arcs that are somehow thematically related to the big storyline. Frank’s story was so incomplete. (What was so terrible about the deceased? Why was Frank involved with the foundation? Did they have an affair? Was the deceased a character from a previous episode?) I’m not a fan of procedurals, but I’ve been drawn to Blue Bloods primarily because of the intergenerational stories and their relevance to the Regan family relationship. On this basis, they’ve failed miserably so far this season. Blue Bloods usually shoots in our neighborhood for a day at several sites at least once each season. They shot here last week (my spouse was going to the wine store and saw DW), and apparently are shooting again this week. So it’s either a multi-episode arc or a big story. I will say that compared to other procedural productions that have shot here (I’m looking at you, Dick Wolf), Blue Bloods’ crew is consistently the least intrusive and disruptive to our neighborhood.

I was underwhelmed by this episode. It felt like a bridge/gateway to the winter finale, in that there was much progression but nothing engaged me mentally or emotionally. The high points for me were seeing Teddy in the park in the beginning (and I’m fairly neutral on Teddy) and Betty getting in the car with Amelia and Owen. (I do like Peyton.). It wasnt a bad episode; just expository and vanilla imo. One thing that struck me is that while I never believed in the Owen /Amelia coupling through Amelia’s disappearance, I actually like their present rapport. I can see this version of Owen and Amelia falling in love, where the original story seemed like a random coupling to keep both actors in a storyline.

The Manhattan DA’s Office is the size of a medium law firm, so it stands to reason that we’d see various ADAs from time to time. That being said, I also don’t recall seeing Whitney before, nor did the name sound familar. The deceased ADA was Monica Graham, who was Erin’s immediate chief and friend for the previous two or three seasons. Monica was executed at the beginning of last season’s finale, and passed in Erin’s arms in a truly brutal scene.

Nurse Eli was recurring in S7 & 8. Bailey dated him after dating Ben, but IIRC, the last we saw of Eli was when Bailey broke up with him.

Grey's Anatomy brings back Jeff Perry as Meredith's dad Shonda Rhimes Reveals the Real Reason Callie Didn't Return to Grey's Anatomy

Exactly. I’d been thinking how intriguing it would be if Jackson explored Buddhism or Islam, instead of a fundamentalist version of Protestant Christianity. Jackson’s cool demeanor would lend credence to interest in meditation and ultimately, Buddhism. A conversation with Qadri could result in exploring Islam. Jackson could also go the Unitarian Universalist route, as well. If the writers want to go further in Season 15, Jackson’s journey could take him down many roads.

Helm (“Hellmouth”) was invited, which made sense because she worked with Meredith & Jo on the mini livers project. Glasses was not, but Hellmouth agreed to take him as her plus one. (This discussion occurred right before April was brought into GSMH in the last episode). I have no idea why Dahlia and Casey were invited. I was okay with interns being there since Jo was their chief resident. My theory on Carina’s presence was that DeLuca wasn’t enthused about attending, but she agreed to go as his plus one. I really enjoyed DeLuca’s remarks and drunken toast. I hope he’ll be utilized more in Season 15. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized who the wedding planner was: Arden Myrin from MAD-TV. And unless my lying eyes deceived me, I swear I saw Nurse Bokhee as one of the guests

Meredith paraphrasing Cristina’s “He’s not the Sun - you are” for Alex w/r/t Jo was one of my favorite moments tonight. I’m not going to lie - I thoroughly loved this finale. It moved quickly, the dialogue was crisp, and the comedic moments well played. I’m indifferent to Jolex, but enjoyed all their scenes this evening. Little things like all the April touches for the reception and Dahlia drinking punch whilst the other interns did shots added to my delight. I was pleased by all the outdoor settings, especially the ferry. I wept through the weddings, culminating in super ugly tears when I realized it was the Sara Ramirez version of “The Story” playing in the background. I thought this season was strongest since 10 - maybe since Season 6. I said early on that Krista was tidying up the previous seasons’ messes, by doing her best to work in those previous storylines, instead of pretending like they never happened. I stand by that assessment, and look forward to season 15.

I enjoyed this episode a little more than usual as it was filmed in my neighborhood in Queens. The mayor’s poorly spoken words at the presser, and the officers turning their back on the mayor at the wake mirrored a similar incident a few years ago involving NYPD and the current mayor after two officers were targeted, ambushed, and shot for being NYPD. The scenes between Erin and her ex, Jack Boyle were good as were those among Jamie, Eddie and her boyfriend. Erin’s encouragement of Jamie pursuing Eddie seemed OOC for Erin, especially given the recent events with Jack Boyle. She more than anyone could advise Jamie of the perils of romantic relationships within your work. Danny and Anthony’s antagonism was comic yet productive. Danny was at his best speaking with the mother, and their final scene together was probably my favorite moment of the episode.

This was an extremely well written, well paced and well directed episode. All of the regular cast were included in an organic way, and the dialogue felt authentic to each character. I’m not an April fan, but Sarah Drew has always done a phenomenal job of portraying her. Last night was her best episode to date. Since I follow Jesse Williams on Twitter, I realize how personal this episode was for him. My husband and I loved Jackson’s lines (paraphrased) “I didn’t say you were racist. I said you were biased. And bias can be changed.” As a Latina, I appreciated that Jackson said “Brown” not black. And The Talk. Chandra Wilson, Jason George and the young man who played Tuck were outstanding. I watch very few network shows so I’m not certain that this hasn’t been broached before on another show in such depth and with such sensitivity by regular characters we know and care about.

I can’t say I loved this episode, but I was definitely satisfied with its ultimate outcome. I stopped liking Owen when he married Cristina. For me this ep provided insight into what seemingly changed Owen from the badass we were introduced to, into the ultimately uninteresting two dimension background character he’d become. Seems like this season and KV’s mission is not to retcon but to resolve. (I’d go so far as to say that the show has been on an aimless course since the crash aftermath and Cristina’s exit.) It’s been enjoyable to see loose ends tied up - the Megan story; the backstory of why Owen wants that picture book family, come hell or high water; and Riggs arc meeting its natural conclusion and a peaceful, natural and respectful exit for his character from Meredith’s life. This episode wasn’t great, but it was well executed and imo, better than the majority of the eps from last two seasons, maybe even the last three. I never liked Owen with Amelia, but I enjoyed their scenes together in this ep. They may be better as really close friends - at least the stage has been set for that possibility.

Longtime Blue Bloods viewer and forum reader; first time poster in this forum. This episode was extremely disjointed. My sense is that this was (or large chunks of) the original second episode. There were 5 discrete stories: Frank/Mayor; Jack B’s shooting; Danny & Baez’s investigation; Jamie & Eddie’s case; and Linda’s death/Danny’s guilt Linda was one of my favorite characters, and Amy Carlson definitely one of my fave Blue Bloods actors. It threw me for a loop the first time Linda was mentioned to Danny by the psychiatrist. Last season’s finale gave the impression that Danny was reassessing his NYPD career. The second mention (the reveal of the helicopter crash) gutted me. I felt DW portrayed the pain and guilt resulting from Linda’s death convincingly. The family dinner felt authentic, even if the renting the house for Danny without telling him did not The boys’ seeming normality in light of their Mom’s passing did not seem inappropriate to me. I assume a few months have passed, and as another poster up thread said, Jack & Sean may have shared a room at Henry’s & Frank’s, and have spoken amongst themselves, and very likely with Frank and Henry. My husband’s dad passed when he was 15, and H. admits he didn’t really react “appropriately” to his dad’s death until his mom passed almost 20 years later. So that didn’t create an issue for me. I do wish there had been less storylines to digest. The overarching problem was that without Amy Carlson, there was no way to unveil Linda’s death without broaching it in the first episode.