S11.E04: Redemption

[preeya]

Frank must decide whether the department can accommodate a request to remain in the field from Detective Allison Mulaney, a lauded cop who is wheelchair-bound after being wounded in the line of duty. Also, Erin is conflicted by the weight of her authority in the sentencing of a man guilty of vehicular homicide; Danny and Baez pursue a ride-share rapist and Jamie and Eddie team up to aid a fellow officer when his partner is shot on the job.

 

[Brookside]

I haven't watched this for ages, but Covid is making me desperate regarding my TV choices.

I think it's mainly because Frank is such a sanctimonious dick and sighs in a way that no human being actually sighs.

Off to watch Schitt's Creek.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Brookside

[Brian Cronin]

Someone help me out here. Some nutjob with a knife shows up in a schoolyard. Mr. Farmer is there because he lives in the neighborhood. Anthony is then there for....reasons. He then calls Erin to come in to...watch a nutjob with a knife and see Farmer defend the kids? Who in the world wrote that scene and thought that it made ANY sense? Was the guy holding the kids at bay with the knife for, like, a half hour? Was Erin just down the block? Why in the WORLD couldn't Anthony and Erin just be nearby for an unrelated matter when the call came in? Or heck, why did they have to be there to see it period? Couldn't it just make the news? I don't always like the plots on Blue Bloods episodes, but I typically expect just basic storytelling competence from the show. This was shockingly bad writing. 

[preeya]

7 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

Someone help me out here. Some nutjob with a knife shows up in a schoolyard. Mr. Farmer is there because he lives in the neighborhood. Anthony is then there for....reasons. He then calls Erin to come in to...watch a nutjob with a knife and see Farmer defend the kids? Who in the world wrote that scene and thought that it made ANY sense? Was the guy holding the kids at bay with the knife for, like, a half hour? Was Erin just down the block? Why in the WORLD couldn't Anthony and Erin just be nearby for an unrelated matter when the call came in? Or heck, why did they have to be there to see it period? Couldn't it just make the news? I don't always like the plots on Blue Bloods episodes, but I typically expect just basic storytelling competence from the show. This was shockingly bad writing. 

Actually all 4 plots of the entire episode were not plausible. The Sunday dinner was also dumb.

Edited January 9, 2021 by preeya

[Magnumfangirl]

Lazy episode.  It seemed like a very special episode from the 1980s.  🙄

[EtheltoTillie]

Did they ever figure out who shot the cop shooter?  

[mtlchick]

Of note: they were in the middle of filming this episode when the lockdown happened in March and Donnie wrote they completed filming 3 weeks ago. Which explains why there are a lot more background people in this compared to the rest of the season. 
 

The only thing I enjoyed was the dinner scene. Reminded me of the one in season 2 where they mocked Jamie on how he used to swallow everything when he was a kid. But this goes to show that 4 storylines are too much and the current 3 work a lot better. 

[Katy M]

11 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

Someone help me out here. Some nutjob with a knife shows up in a schoolyard. Mr. Farmer is there because he lives in the neighborhood. Anthony is then there for....reasons. He then calls Erin to come in to...watch a nutjob with a knife and see Farmer defend the kids? Who in the world wrote that scene and thought that it made ANY sense? Was the guy holding the kids at bay with the knife for, like, a half hour? Was Erin just down the block? Why in the WORLD couldn't Anthony and Erin just be nearby for an unrelated matter when the call came in? Or heck, why did they have to be there to see it period? Couldn't it just make the news? I don't always like the plots on Blue Bloods episodes, but I typically expect just basic storytelling competence from the show. This was shockingly bad writing. 

that made no sense to me either.  I don't even remember if there were other cops around.  If not, how did Erin beat them there. If so, why didn't the cops shoot the guy with the knife?  Or something.  It's not like he had barricaded himself in somewhere. They were outside.

4 hours ago, GussieK said:

Did they ever figure out who shot the cop shooter?  

No, and since they never explained why Jamie is so sure the partner didn't do it, I'm going to assume he did.  

 

4 hours ago, mtlchick said:

Of note: they were in the middle of filming this episode when the lockdown happened in March and Donnie wrote they completed filming 3 weeks ago. Which explains why there are a lot more background people in this compared to the rest of the season. 
 

The only thing I enjoyed was the dinner scene. Reminded me of the one in season 2 where they mocked Jamie on how he used to swallow everything when he was a kid. But this goes to show that 4 storylines are too much and the current 3 work a lot better. 

I enjoyed the dinner scene also.  I'm wondering if that was one of the parts taped when they came back.  It would explain the pent up energy.

[sigmaforce86]

The writers need to decide if they want consistency in their characters or if they want each member of the family to have their own plot/story in each episode.  It really bothered me how out of character Frank was - there is no way that with an officer shot, in surgery and possibly not going to make it that he would be hanging out in the gym with the disabled detective.  In any other episode Abby or Garret bursts in, tells Frank the news, grabs his coat for him and Frank is straight off to the hospital.  For pity's sake he's walked out on the Mayor and Governor to "be with my men" as he puts it.  There had to be a way to handle having Frank manage his story of the week and acknowledge that one of his officers was gravely wounded but to not mention it at all even a "I just came from the hospital" throw away line was a huge mistake.

[NJRadioGuy]

A few random thoughts on this. I didn't hate it but also didn't love it.

The disabled detective - I'd watch the hell out of a show featuring Det. Mulaney. Ali Stroker pulled that part off brilliantly, and I hope we see her again. As for her circumstances, there's still plenty of good police work she could do with a squad. Undercover with a partner, chasing leads on active cases via computer (which is quite honestly how a great deal of real-world cases get solved today), being a skilled interrogator in the interview room, and best of all, taking the stand to give evidence. She'd be a rock star in the courtroom for the prosecution.

Lineups are done with photographs these days, not live in the stationhouse.

Interviews in the box are always recorded, and if he's not been charged he has the right to walk out the front door immediately. Period. If that smarmy prick was as smart as he was portrayed later, the first words out of his mouth would have been "am I being detained?" And if yes, his next words would have been "Lawyer. Now." Or if no, "I'm outta here. See you, Detective." 

When Flores looked to be a viable perp the first thing that should have been done was a GSR test, which either would have ruled him out immediately or put him as a prime suspect. When the killer was ultimately shot in the head, based on the angle of the wound and position of his head, they'd be able to recover the projectile and run it through a ballistic examination. 

Put out a confirmed 10-13 officer down on the radio and you'll have every RMP and detective in the area on scene within a minute. The entire scene will be a sea of blue. And hell yes, the commissioner and all the bosses would be at the hospital until the officer stabilizes or passes. 

Enjoyed the dinner scene. That was fun and a nice tension-breaker.

No way the rapist gets convicted. The illegal tracker on his main vehicle yielded evidence that ultimately ended with the victim being rescued from the other car. Decent detective work, but without a warrant, that's a fruit of the poisoned tree defense that would likely get the charges dismissed. Why the lazy writing here? "Hey, Baez, we got a warrant for a tracker. Here's my plan..." All they would have needed.

How would that perp have even gotten the call to pick up his initial victim? It's all done by phone messaging, and there's honestly no way to tap into that. Dumb writing. Again.

The drunk driver's lawyer was awful quiet the whole time. All Erin has to do is turn the case over to the judge with no recommendation. Normally the State makes a recommendation, and the defence makes their case for a reduced sentence. The judge then reviews the sentencing guidelines, examines the conduct of the accused before and after the offense and more often than not comes up with a fair punishment. Even without the playground heroics, the guy was a first-time offender, probably gainfully employed, and showed extreme remorse for his actions. No way that earns the max, which would be reserved for a repeat offender 3X over the limit, leaving the scene afterwards, etc. Now, throw in the heroics, and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts he wouldn't even see the inside of a prison cell or at most a few months. 

[jaimesommers]

4 hours ago, NJRadioGuy said:

Enjoyed the dinner scene. That was fun and a nice tension-breaker.

I enjoyed the dinner scene, too - wish we’d get more of those!

[TV Diva Queen]

On 1/9/2021 at 3:20 AM, Brian Cronin said:

Someone help me out here. Some nutjob with a knife shows up in a schoolyard. Mr. Farmer is there because he lives in the neighborhood. Anthony is then there for....reasons. He then calls Erin to come in to...watch a nutjob with a knife and see Farmer defend the kids? Who in the world wrote that scene and thought that it made ANY sense? Was the guy holding the kids at bay with the knife for, like, a half hour? Was Erin just down the block? Why in the WORLD couldn't Anthony and Erin just be nearby for an unrelated matter when the call came in? Or heck, why did they have to be there to see it period? Couldn't it just make the news? I don't always like the plots on Blue Bloods episodes, but I typically expect just basic storytelling competence from the show. This was shockingly bad writing. 

......and Anthony just watches as he waits for Erin to get there.  Yeah, cuz that's in Anthony's DNA, to show restraint.

[mtlchick]

On 1/9/2021 at 3:55 PM, Katy M said:

 

 

I enjoyed the dinner scene also.  I'm wondering if that was one of the parts taped when they came back.  It would explain the pent up energy.

It was filmed 1-2 days before the shut down.  I know they stopped filming March 13th, and the scene with Marisa (in her huge wig) and Donnie with the car was filmed on the 12th. 

[Ebau]

On 1/10/2021 at 2:15 PM, NJRadioGuy said:

I didn't hate it but also didn't love it.

That pretty much sums it up for me. I've really nothing to add. 

[Blondnotstupid]

The schoolyard scene didn't make any sense to me either.  All I could guess is that the first cop on the scene called Anthony because (this is all I can figure out) he knew Erin was the prosecutor assigned to Mr. Farmer's drunk driving case.  But that really doesn't make sense.  That case wouldn't have been the lead item on the news and patrol officers probably don't know what cases are currently being tried and who is working on them.  Plus, I don't think prosecutors are called to crimes-in-progress despite this show doing that frequently.

As to Det. Mulaney, why didn't Frank just ask her at the start how she envisioned doing the job?  If she has a plan--which I would expect a Detective to have--great.  Either it sounds good or Frank suggests changes.  That would be a real-world approach.  But they wrote this like Frank figured out how to make it work and Det. Melaney agreed. She didn't even say "that's what I thought would work". 

The dinner scene was good except the writers again violated continuity.  They talked about Danny dating a flight attendant and then meeting Linda.  They've said many times that Danny met and dated Linda in high school. So unless a high school Danny was flying back and forth to Chicago that story falls apart.  They also implied Frank met Mary after dating lots of hot chicks.  But again, I think they have implied he met her in high school, too.  I could be wrong about that but that was the impression I had.

[Sarah 103]

On 1/23/2021 at 6:59 PM, Blondnotstupid said:

The dinner scene was good except the writers again violated continuity.  They talked about Danny dating a flight attendant and then meeting Linda.  They've said many times that Danny met and dated Linda in high school. So unless a high school Danny was flying back and forth to Chicago that story falls apart. 

It doesn't completely fall apart. We know Danny was a serious party animal before he married Linda. My understanding was he met Linda in high school, dated a ton of other people, and then settled down and married Linda years later.