S11.E03: Atonement

[zoey1996]

Frank struggles after Joe Hill's lineage as a Reagan is revealed; Erin and Anthony receive gift-wrapped evidence; Danny's opposition to authority clashes with Jamie's adherence to the rules, as both brothers work to solve a murder.

The last scene with Christmas dinner was kind of sad.  Nice to see Jack & Nicky there, briefly.

Cases of the week were OK.

 

[highway61]

So after teasing lots of Joe, now not so much. Poochy has gone back to his home planet.

It took 10 years and a pandemic to get some Danny and Jamie stories together. Yay!

And I'm not an expert in gangsters, but I don't think they have to go to the DA's office to find out who's running the gangs. Hey, maybe...

 

[SuzieQ]

This episode left me a little confused.  The first 2 episodes were really much better than the last couple seasons and i found myself liking the show again as opposed to just watching to clear out the DVR.  While a decent episode, I really hope they didn't introduce Joe (which they did really well) just to yank him out of the show!  That would be such a waste!  The character has really grown on me.  I really hope that's not the end of him.  All the melodrama for nothing! Agree with above poster who said the closing dinner scene was sad.  Good to see Jack, but really don't care if I ever see Nikki again.

[Woodrose]

Poor Joe. Guy did nothing wrong, yet his life has been turned upside down.

I was thinking the Joe arc would end with him getting a job as a police officer in Kansas or somewhere, where it would mean nothing that his grandfather was Frank Reagan. This was a much bleaker ending, with Joe left bereft. I do not approve.

I'm also enjoying Danny and Jamie working together.

Lucky for Erin and Anthony that up and coming gangster with the blue eyes does all his own hit jobs, no contracting out. On the street in broad daylight, no less.

Bye Joe. Hope we see you again for a better ending.

[Woodrose]

RIP Nick Cordero. Good to see Blue Bloods remembering him at the closing credit.

[kurtz]

59 minutes ago, Woodrose said:

RIP Nick Cordero. Good to see Blue Bloods remembering him at the closing credit.

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. 

[mtlchick]

1 hour ago, Woodrose said:

RIP Nick Cordero. Good to see Blue Bloods remembering him at the closing credit.

Still heartbreaking.  

Hey show?  Stop making Molly Chavez a thing and attempt a hook up with Danny.  Just hearing her name made me roll my eyes. 

2 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

This episode left me a little confused.  The first 2 episodes were really much better than the last couple seasons and i found myself liking the show again as opposed to just watching to clear out the DVR.  While a decent episode, I really hope they didn't introduce Joe (which they did really well) just to yank him out of the show!  That would be such a waste!  The character has really grown on me. 

 

2 hours ago, Woodrose said:

Poor Joe. Guy did nothing wrong, yet his life has been turned upside down.

I was thinking the Joe arc would end with him getting a job as a police officer in Kansas or somewhere, where it would mean nothing that his grandfather was Frank Reagan. This was a much bleaker ending, with Joe left bereft. I do not approve.

 

I think the issue with Joe is the timeline that has been set.  We met him "before the pandemic."  And now this show is "several months past the pandemic" which they didn't properly explain (several interviews have confirmed this so if you didn't read this, you wouldn't know.)  So this is either set in an alternate Christmas 2020 where the pandemic lasted a few weeks (lucky bastards) or this is now Christmas 2021.  Which means Joe either had either a few months or over a year to mull over the fact he's now a Reagan.  I will say the scene with Joe (Jr?) and Frank was well done but sad.  It made it seem that Frank is losing his son all over again.  But I don't blame Joe for pulling back from the family for now.  If he's getting into fights at work, it's not worth the headaches. 

Incidentally, the next episode on January 8th was the one that was in progress when the March lockdown happened and they had 2 days left to film on it.  Looks like they managed to complete it. 

[Sarah 103]

I hope we get to see more of Danny and Jamie working together. I would love to see a case where each one gets to use his unique skill sets to solve the case and it takes both of them working together. Also, I think it would be fun to seeing Jamie and Erin together in a storyline. We've had tons of storylines about Danny and Erin, but they haven't done nearly as many with Jamie and Erin.

I hope Joe becomes a regular character. My guess is he just needs some to adjust and figure everything out, but maybe if we're lucky will be a regular character.

[Magnumfangirl]

47 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I hope Joe becomes a regular character. My guess is he just needs some to adjust and figure everything out, but maybe if we're lucky will be a regular character.

I don't think he's going to be.  One of the producers admitted that the show already has too many regulars and not enough time to give them good stories.  I liked Joe, too; so it's too bad.  

[Katy M]

On 12/19/2020 at 5:28 PM, mtlchick said:

And now this show is "several months past the pandemic" which they didn't properly explain (several interviews have confirmed this so if you didn't read this, you wouldn't know.)  So this is either set in an alternate Christmas 2020 where the pandemic lasted a few weeks (lucky bastards) or this is now Christmas 2021.  Which means Joe either had either a few months or over a year to mull over the fact he's now a Reagan.

Since this is a fictional world, why not just not acknowledge that there was ever a pandemic in the first place.  I doubt it will be over Christmas 2021 more likely (historically speaking) Christmas 2023.

 

4 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

I don't think he's going to be.  One of the producers admitted that the show already has too many regulars and not enough time to give them good stories.  I liked Joe, too; so it's too bad.  

That's kind of a valid point. We were already complaining that having 4 stories in an episode was ridiculous.  They try doing 5 a week, each one will have about one line.  But, why introduce him at all in the first place?  

[Woodrose]

After the first episode this season, I looked around to see what the producer was saying about COVID19 and masks etc, and read this interview with Kevin Wade. So I knew Joe was going to be around for a three episode arc to start this season, and now we've seen the last of him for a while.

https://deadline.com/2020/12/blue-bloods-spoilers-recap-coronavirus-whoopi-goldberg-season-debut-kevin-wade-interview-police-cbs-1234649887/

Quote

 

WADE: Well, that relationship was…we mapped it out over the first three episodes. I don’t want to spoil the other two but it’s a contained arc that we play where Joe Hill is faced with a decision of does he go public with the fact that he is part of this family or is he forced to go public with the and what would that affect be on him.

snip...

So, we play that out and then we will hopefully revisit with Joe Hill further on in the season but, I don’t have to tell you this Dominic, we have a lot of actors to serve who’ve been doing this for 11 years now.

DEADLINE: To put it mildly

WADE: Exactly. Those stories are kind of prescribed that there’s a Will Estes / Vanessa Ray story, certainly a Tom Selleck story, a Donnie Walberg story and a Bridgette Moynahan story. So, we really don’t have much real estate in terms of being able to bring in another series regular, and it was never planned to be that way.

 

 

I agree with Katy M:

50 minutes ago, Katy M said:

But, why introduce him at all in the first place?  

So unsatisfactory.

[Bazinga]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

But, why introduce him at all in the first place? 

The story ended up being it's very hard to be a Reagan in law enforcement.  Poor oppressed, misunderstood us.

[Magnumfangirl]

9 hours ago, Bazinga said:

The story ended up being it's very hard to be a Reagan in law enforcement.  Poor oppressed, misunderstood us.

 I think it was more that it's hard to fit in to a family you never knew you had.  I also think it might have started out as a different story, but two shortened seasons changed it.  He could've also been a back up plan if one of the regulars decided to leave at the end of season 10.

[Neiman]

If they have too many characters, then keep Joe and send Jamie & Eddie to Kansas or somewhere. 
 

I liked seeing the older grandkids at the table. Don’t mind Danny’s oldest, but hope Nicky goes back to where she came. 
 

I’m glad they decided not to dive into the Covid storylines. 

[Sarah 103]

16 hours ago, Katy M said:

We were already complaining that having 4 stories in an episode was ridiculous.  They try doing 5 a week, each one will have about one line.  But, why introduce him at all in the first place?  

The problem wasn't the number of characters, the problem was trying to give each one a storyline every week. Think about Hill Street Blues, L.A Law, West Wing, or other large ensemble dramas. They also had large casts with multiple storylines each episode, but every chracter did not have a storyline every week. They rotated which characters were in the spotlight and which were in the background episode to episode.

Blue Bloods did fine with three storylines each week, even though there were more than three groups of characters. The problem wasn't adding characters, the problem was adding storylines. 

[TV Diva Queen]

3 hours ago, Neiman said:

If they have too many characters, then keep Joe and send Jamie & Eddie to Kansas or somewhere. 
 

I liked seeing the older grandkids at the table. Don’t mind Danny’s oldest, but hope Nicky goes back to where she came. 
 

I’m glad they decided not to dive into the Covid storylines. 

me and my 20 yo daughter have an irrational hate for Nicki.  I can't explain it, but its real AF

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

The problem wasn't the number of characters, the problem was trying to give each one a storyline every week. Think about Hill Street Blues, L.A Law, West Wing, or other large ensemble dramas. They also had large casts with multiple storylines each episode, but every chracter did not have a storyline every week. They rotated which characters were in the spotlight and which were in the background episode to episode.

Blue Bloods did fine with three storylines each week, even though there were more than three groups of characters. The problem wasn't adding characters, the problem was adding storylines. 

Exactly. I think that with Selleck and Wahlberg looking to cut back a bit they decided to fill the time with a storyline for every character each week, instead of keeping with three plots and having the family member who wasn't featured as a character in one of the main plots while filling any screen time needed by giving more to one of the many underutilized great actors in the supporting roles. While they have done more to feature some of them from time to time they certainly aren't utilizing them to their potential, especially Len Cariou. It also hasn't helped that are so reluctant to do anything new so we were getting rushed versions of stories they had already told before better.

Edited December 22, 2020 by wknt3
fix typos

[mtlchick]

For the Friends fans in here, this made me chuckle. 

At the dinner table, you had two people who dated a Gellar (Tom Selleck and Bonnie Somerville.)  

And Joe Hill, which was the fake name that Phoebe’s dad gave when she met him for the first time (the episode where her grandmother dies.) 

 

[TV Diva Queen]

On 12/26/2020 at 2:54 PM, mtlchick said:

For the Friends fans in here, this made me chuckle. 

At the dinner table, you had two people who dated a Gellar (Tom Selleck and Bonnie Somerville.)  

And Joe Hill, which was the fake name that Phoebe’s dad gave when she met him for the first time (the episode where her grandmother dies.) 

 

Funny - the could have been in-laws, if it wasn't so creepy that Monica dated her dads best friend....but that's for another page.  

[AnnA]

According to my cable guide, this is the episode they're showing tonight.

I have no idea why we're not getting a new episode.

[AnnA]

On 12/21/2020 at 4:33 PM, TV Diva Queen said:

me and my 20 yo daughter have an irrational hate for Nicki.  I can't explain it, but its real AF

Same here!

[mtlchick]

On 4/23/2021 at 8:16 PM, AnnA said:

According to my cable guide, this is the episode they're showing tonight.

I have no idea why we're not getting a new episode.

They have only 16 episodes this season so a lot of reruns. They finished filming this season on April 19th, which is later than normal.