Season 7 Discussion

[CooperTV]

49 minutes ago, mojito said:

The ME somehow knows that the choker is an adult, and Danny figures out that since the suspect was an older teenage boy, the mother had to be the choker. The average-sized mother whose hands are probably smaller than the teenage boy's hands. WTF?

This entire episode right there, honestly! I was so baffled that somehow a male teenager who is like, at least 5'8, is somehow less strong and less tall than a middle-aged woman of an average height and complexion? Did the writers actually forgot men has more upper body strength and height than women? So much crappy writing with too much plot holes, ugh!

Although I enjoyed the Erin/Anthony/Hod ADA subplot. The hot ADA should come over more often! His "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" was the comedy gold!

I had a moment of "Oh, it's you" when I saw Jamie at the dinner table.

[hookedontv]

I was just thrilled beyond belief that it was an Eddy-free episode. Sometimes it's the little things in my TV life that make me happy...

[mtlchick]

Quote

I had a moment of "Oh, it's you" when I saw Jamie at the dinner table.

Ha!  Danny and Erin are being rotated to sit out an episode or two per season now, but Jamie had like 4 shows a few seasons back when he was just at dinner.  And now he's asking for pork, which is funny since Will is a vegetarian. 

Outside of seeing Cousin Larry! from Perfect Strangers and the "In the name of the Father" line, I mentally checked out of this one. 

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

Outside of seeing Cousin Larry! from Perfect Strangers

I used to love "Perfect Strangers." It's been easly over a decade since I watched the show. Which character did Larry/Mark Linn-Baker play? I saw on imdb that the character's name was Carleton, but I don't remember which character that was. 

[MissLucas]

19 hours ago, CooperTV said:

I was so baffled that somehow a male teenager who is like, at least 5'8, is somehow less strong and less tall than a middle-aged woman of an average height and complexion? Did the writers actually forgot men has more upper body strength and height than women? So much crappy writing with too much plot holes, ugh!

I knew it had to be the mother I just had no idea how they were going to figure it out - neither did the writers it seems. Also: that dude had serious parkour skills but nobody cared which was kinda sad.

Frank going after the mayor? *yawn* I hope David Ramsey gets paid really well for enduring all those scenes where his character has to put up with Frank and his superior wisdom.

Erin's plot was at least half-way interesting - and it's nice that she finally cares about the people whose testimony she needs to put away criminals. I still remember her trying to strong-arm that young guy into the stand although it would have meant a life in witness-protection.

[Hudson0325]

I'm at the point where I just hate watch this show.

Oh and I'm always Team Mayor

[wknt3]

23 hours ago, CooperTV said:

This entire episode right there, honestly! I was so baffled that somehow a male teenager who is like, at least 5'8, is somehow less strong and less tall than a middle-aged woman of an average height and complexion? Did the writers actually forgot men has more upper body strength and height than women? So much crappy writing with too much plot holes, ugh!

Although I enjoyed the Erin/Anthony/Hod ADA subplot. The hot ADA should come over more often! His "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" was the comedy gold!

Yeah this show had never been the most realistic or tightly plotted, but it seemed like this week was especially bad. At least the Erin plot was fun and made some effort to try to make some sort of sense (although I don't see why Erin and Anthony would get credit or why they seemed to handling the case after the arrests) but the writers couldn't make some effort to come up with something that was at least internally logically consistent for Danny's case? I mean just off the top of my head - traces of lipstick on the forehead where she kissed him after strangling him or maybe her nails left marks. Or maybe cast a bigger woman and a smaller kid?

10 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I used to love "Perfect Strangers." It's been easly over a decade since I watched the show. Which character did Larry/Mark Linn-Baker play? I saw on imdb that the character's name was Carleton, but I don't remember which character that was. 

He was the mayor's aide. As a Law & Order franchise fan I was a bit surprised that he wasn't the actual bad guy!

4 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Frank going after the mayor? *yawn* I hope David Ramsey gets paid really well for enduring all those scenes where his character has to put up with Frank and his superior wisdom.

The show must pay and treat its actors well given the top tier talent it attracts. But yeah I can't imagine what goes through his head when he sees those scripts...

[MissLucas]

44 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

But yeah I can't imagine what goes through his head when he sees those scripts...

He probably muses that being Mayor of Star City is the easier gig since they tend to get killed by mid-season (unless their name's Oliver Queen) - here he can only hope of getting squashed by Frank's righteousness one day.

[wknt3]

Hmmmm. So it looks like they are going to follow up on the evidence tampering. Good. I wonder if they are airing episodes out of order again? It would make more sense for this to follow "Love Lost" with the continuation of that plot thread and "No Retreat" following it to set up the season finale with a confrontation between Frank and the mayor. If so I wonder what the reasoning is behind CBS shuffling air dates like this?

[mtlchick]

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The show must pay and treat its actors well given the top tier talent it attracts. But yeah I can't imagine what goes through his head when he sees those scripts...

David Ramsay said that it's because of his role of Mayor Poole on season 2 that led him for get the role on Arrow which is why he still shows up here from time to time.  But considering the mind fuckery in Star City, you would think this show would be a relaxing day.  Instead he's being turned into Frank's main punching bag.  (minor spoiler in the press release for the finale. https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=47540) 

[NJRadioGuy]

Whoever's writing this garbage seriously needs to read a few good manuals on evidence and admissibility. This is the fourth or fifth time this show has seemed to press the idiotic notion that having a testifying eyewitness is more important than video evidence. The DA's office was given clear permission to install a remote surveilance camera in the guy's apartment. The camera clearly captured multiple felonies, with the doers' faces visible. That's enough to get arrest warrants and to send in the cavalry. Video evidence is second only to DNA evidence in terms of being "rock solid" in the minds of prosecutors. Jurors eat that up and ask for more. A very typical perp interview starts with the video surveilance. Two investigators go into the box with the suspect, and after a time, show him the video and say "Who's that guy right there? Instinctively, and often within seconds, the perp will say 'yeah, that's me', or 'yeah, that's <so-and-so>. Bingo. Done. See ya in 20 years. There's video evidence of the crime. The suspect puts himself there, punching his own ticket to Sing-Sing.

Defense attorneys know the game. No defense att'y will *ever* let a suspect/client make a statement. None. Ever--unless it's absolutely a case of mistaken identity and the guy has an absolute airtight alibi (as in video of him with friends across town, phone GPS records putting him there, etc). Investigators don't need a confession or a statement (although it makes it easier to get a conviction). An eyewitness is great, video is better, DNA is best. Any combination of the three and it's often game over for the perp, and an almost 100% chance he takes a plea.

And do you seriously expect the precinct commanders and bosses higher-up wouldn't be climbing all over each other to raid that building, for narcotics detectives to not want some high profile collars from there? Cleaning out a building like that makes careers for everybody involved. No way in hell a building would get that bad and the PD not become involved early on.

Pro-tip: In real life, the action is in the stairwells, not the corridors. And a few strategic apartments in the complex. Good ghods, has nobody in the writers' room ever watched season 1 of The Wire?

Wouldn't it be a hoot of David Ramsey ends up as Mayor Diggle once Ollie moves on to something else? Hey, experience and everything <G>.

[mojito]

This is the show that had two people shooting it out with two other people in an elevator and the two cops survive, unscathed.

I would love to hear CBS's summary of who this show's target audience is (besides old people). Surely, this would include people of limited knowledge and factual information who long for the days when the "good guys" (white hats) always won and were always right, and trouble makers (non-white hats) were put or kept in their places. It's my latter point that I find so fascinating, and it keeps me marveling at the lengths the writers will go to turn the clock back so viewers can fondly recall the days of greater social inequality.

[Sarah 103]

14 hours ago, mojito said:

I would love to hear CBS's summary of who this show's target audience is (besides old people). Surely, this would include people of limited knowledge and factual information who long for the days when the "good guys" (white hats) always won and were always right, and trouble makers (non-white hats) were put or kept in their places. It's my latter point that I find so fascinating, and it keeps me marveling at the lengths the writers will go to turn the clock back so viewers can fondly recall the days of greater social inequality.

I enjoy Blue Bloods. I had heard that it was a conservative show, but for the longest time I didn't see it. To me, that didn't mean it wasn't there, just that I wasn't seeing it. One day I watched an episode of Hill Street Blues right before Blue Bloods and it became crystal clear that Blue Bloods was conservative, it just took me awhile to see it. I don't think of the driving force as an odd nostalgia for social inequality. I think of the overall message of the show as "the system works, but people are flawed and cause problems". In Hill Street Blues it was "good people trapped in an imperfect system." 

As for target audience, I have no idea. 

[wonderwoman]

1 hour ago, Sarah 103 said:

II don't think of the driving force as an odd nostalgia for social inequality. I think of the overall message of the show as "the system works, but people are flawed and cause problems". In Hill Street Blues it was "good people trapped in an imperfect system." 

Exactly! I've been struggling to articulate this distinction for years. Thanks. 

I think the same distinction could be make between Blue Bloods and Law and Order.

[Evagirl]

I really like all the actors in this show and hope the writers can be more creative for at least another couple of seasons.

It's time for somebody to be married besides Danny.  But I guess they don't have room at the dinner table for another couple of plates.

[NJRadioGuy]

23 hours ago, mojito said:

This is the show that had two people shooting it out with two other people in an elevator and the two cops survive, unscathed.

I would love to hear CBS's summary of who this show's target audience is (besides old people). Surely, this would include people of limited knowledge and factual information who long for the days when the "good guys" (white hats) always won and were always right, and trouble makers (non-white hats) were put or kept in their places. It's my latter point that I find so fascinating, and it keeps me marveling at the lengths the writers will go to turn the clock back so viewers can fondly recall the days of greater social inequality.

While there are a great number of things to fault about BB, if anything they're far too easy on perps of colour. I hate to say it, but in the real world, real homicides in urban settings (very sadly) involve black-on-black crime, and very often over dope, retaliation or settling a beef over something that a generation ago would have the two going at it with fists instead of guns. I don't think anybody compiles racial stats on violent crime, but ask any gold shield in the city and they'll tell you the same sad stories. I'm not editorializing it in any way, just sayin' that's how it really is.

But what also "really is" is perps aren't always the morons they are on TV, and the ones with a brain will utter exactly one word after they're popped: "Lawyer." And unlike the horseshit world of the Reagan Police Department, when a perp lawyers up, the investigators stop the interview immediately. But unlike the world of the Reagan PD, the perps usually aren't generally interviewed until there is solid evidence against them and an arrest warrant has already been sworn out. Their statement at that point is icing on the cake if they choose to talk. If they don't, it's straight to lockup.

As for that shootout in the elevator, don't even get me started. Good ghods that was awful. As is most of what Saint Danny does on a weekly basis.

[CooperTV]

4 hours ago, Evagirl said:

It's time for somebody to be married besides Danny.

With the speed Jamie is going, he'll never start dating, let alone get married. This dude is permanently stuck.

[NJRadioGuy]

This is what I always hated about episodic TV. The status quo must be maintained at all costs. I'd quite honestly like to see Frank in a relationship--a slow one--and see how it changes the family dynamic. Not to set the woman up to be a scammer or criminal, but the real deal. They had so many chances to make this happen over the years.

[mojito]

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While there are a great number of things to fault about BB, if anything they're far too easy on perps of colour. I hate to say it, but in the real world, real homicides in urban settings (very sadly) involve black-on-black crime, and very often over dope, retaliation or settling a beef over something that a generation ago would have the two going at it with fists instead of guns. I don't think anybody compiles racial stats on violent crime, but ask any gold shield in the city and they'll tell you the same sad stories. I'm not editorializing it in any way, just sayin' that's how it really is.

It's the non-perps (city leaders, community activists) who I'm talking about as being depicted as unreasonable. 

I'd like to see a Sunday supper guest.

Can't imagine what it must be like to go to church every Sunday and be committed to a family dinner. Does anyone ever miss?

[NJRadioGuy]

I guess none of the members of the Reagan Police Department ever pull a Sunday tour, there's no OT or extra shifts and there are no "commissioner must be here" crises on Sundays either. For families not in public service, though, it's quite common. That was our family when I was very young.

[MissLucas]

What I would like to know : is Linda an orphan? Or does she really not get along with her family? Or does her family live abroad? Imagine marrying into a family that expects you to show up for dinner each and every Sunday (not to mention having to sit there and listen to Frank and Grandpa explaining the world to you). No wonder Erin and Jaimie are still single.

2 hours ago, mojito said:

Can't imagine what it must be like to go to church every Sunday and be committed to a family dinner. Does anyone ever miss?

Nicky once tried to bolt but was subtly guilted back in.

[Hudson0325]

I always wonder if Danny, Linda and the kids ever do what most couples whose families live in town do during the holidays - Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other. I have a feeling ALL holidays must be spent with the Reagans.

[CooperTV]

10 hours ago, scout305 said:

I always wonder if Danny, Linda and the kids ever do what most couples whose families live in town do during the holidays - Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other.

I don't think Linda's parents are even alive. And her brother is a douche, so she obviously doesn't want to see his face all that much.

[Crs97]

I would like Anthony to come to dinner.  I think his easy-going nature would fit in, but I think he would also hold his own when Danny starts complaining about those pesky civil rights Erin likes to uphold.

[CooperTV]

7 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I would like Anthony to come to dinner.  I think his easy-going nature would fit in, but I think he would also hold his own when Danny starts complaining about those pesky civil rights Erin likes to uphold.

I'm pretty sure we already had an episode with Anthony and Danny attempting to work together. They hate each other. Not because Anthony is into civil rights but because they're basically the same person.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

We also know Linda has a spotty relationship with her sister. She came into the city when her daughter modeled in Fashion Week. They bonded a bit when the daughter was poisoned, but that was the end of hearing about her.

[wonderwoman]

Re the evidence tampering: I thought so initially, but after watching I'm throughly confused and would appreciate any clarification.

And, as a general rant: Once, just once, I've love to see someone come into conflict with the Reagan's and NOT be portrayed as a flaming asshole! There, I feel better.

Edited April 29, 2017 by wonderwoman

[CooperTV]

Quote

The season finale. When Danny intercepts a shipment of several million dollars that was heading to a drug cartel in Mexico, he becomes a target when they come back for revenge. Also, Jamie works independently to track down a serial killer who preys on the elderly, and Mayor Poole confides in Frank that he plans to retire.

Promos

[MissLucas]

10 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

And, as a general rant: Once, just once, I've love to see someone come into conflict with the Reagan's and NOT be portrayed as a flaming asshole! There, I feel better.

Not going to happen. One day we'll see grandpa reading the riot act to Pope Francis. The evidence tampering plot was weird because I suspected that it was tied to the previous case. The fact that Erin and Anthony didn't even consider the possibility that they had a massive in-house problem was weird. Just as weird as the solution - apparently the two incidents are not connected.

[mojito]

Pretty juvenile:

The family talked about all Americans being immigrants as though they were educating 6-year olds on the subject. 

These two Russian officers were the same Russians I see depicted all the time on TV shows. I don't think they did or said a single thing to break the stereotype. That's too bad that they couldn't come up with a way to make them secretive, but still more likable and less prone to call Danny a girl or say that their bullet holes were badges of honor. 

[misstwpherecool]

Ah the smell of political subtext & commentary in the morning or at the dinner table in the afternoon actually.

Russia Russia Russia.

Smelling follow up story/trip to Russia with in the next year. And I love how on these cop shows they walk into something like a sauna in winter street clothes and don't break a sweat. This has me steamed.

[wknt3]

40 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Not going to happen. One day we'll see grandpa reading the riot act to Pope Francis. The evidence tampering plot was weird because I suspected that it was tied to the previous case. The fact that Erin and Anthony didn't even consider the possibility that they had a massive in-house problem was weird. Just as weird as the solution - apparently the two incidents are not connected.

Yeah it was very strange. Why do basically the same plot again so soon if you're not going to connect it? Especially since you left everything hanging a couple weeks ago in such a clunky fashion. How does it not even get a mention? Where they setting up some sort of DA's office Blue Templar type plot and decided not to? Did they just not notice that they set up a huge mystery and half assed a resolution 2 out of the last 3 episodes? I mean the writing on this series has never been great, but usually it's at least bad in an understandable way like pretending Frank isn't wrong or never has a political agenda. Or making your guest characters lazy ethnic stereotypes and thinking this makes your recycled action plot something different or relevant. I mean if you're going to ignore the basics why not just make each act break a shot of Frank's service weapon hanging on the wall?

[hookedontv]

Any episode without Eddy is OK by me! Hey, I don't ask for much...

[shksabelle]

Karenin, Kevin, and Vronsky. Someone read his Tolstoy. ??

[mtlchick]

Quote

So it looks like they are going to follow up on the evidence tampering. Good. I wonder if they are airing episodes out of order again? 

Didn't watch all of it yet (it's been a rough week with several deaths in the family) but they're not: filming for this one was delayed for 2 days due to the blizzard that hit in NYC in mid March.  Season finale is next week. 

[Sarah 103]

6 hours ago, mojito said:

The family talked about all Americans being immigrants as though they were educating 6-year olds on the subject. 

My problem with the Sunday dinner was that it didn't feel connected to the episode. I get that both people fighting in the bagel store were immigrants, but the conversation during the dinner just didn't work for me. 

[Bazinga]

5 hours ago, mtlchick said:

it's been a rough week with several deaths in the family

Sorry for your losses.  My sympathy to you and your family.

[webruce]

The flask in Ellen's coat was here reminder that she quit, as her son said. To bad Russ wasn't better for her before her death.

[NJRadioGuy]

I'd rather watch Vronsky and Levin starring in RedBloods any day over this hot mess. The whole episode felt disjointed, badly written and directed even more poorly. Could someone in network television please post a memo in the writers' room that not all confrontations need to be viciously adversarial, and 100% black and white? Or in this case, Blue and Red? Think Commissioner Dad would be pleased to see how poorly his Detective First Grade son treated visiting detectives, and representatives from a foreign agency that the NYPD will undoubtedly have to work with frequently in anti-terror investigations? I can tell you this much, any copper worth his salt would bend over backwards to befriend a foreign colleague. Lifelong friendships happen that way.

As for the evidence tampering case, I'd love to hear an attorney's take on this. To my understanding, once a lab verifies that the confiscated material is a narcotic, that's that. At least in New Jersey, you can get a conviction if the "product" is baking soda if the perp believes it's the real McCoy. Also, where's the record of the chain of custody? Where are the big red seals on the Bankers' Box?

As for the Bagel Stabbers, how 'bout getting them in a room with a good arbitrator or two (not named Reagan) and diffusing the situation before it escalates?

[rhys]

I didn't catch the response to Danny's (?) question of "why are the Russian cops on a plane before the crime happened?"

And does Stacy Keach have super obvious hair plugs in front?

[CooperTV]

2 hours ago, rhys said:

I didn't catch the response to Danny's (?) question of "why are the Russian cops on a plane before the crime happened?"

They knew who the dude was already and where he was going (to find his ex with the child).

[KLovestoShop]

I'm a lapsed Catholic, and I'm getting tired of the stories that are about priests and the Reagan family values.  I have no idea why the writers have to focus so much on the Church, but it's annoying.  And Stacy Keach as a priest?  Stunt casting much?   

[CooperTV]

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

I'm a lapsed Catholic, and I'm getting tired of the stories that are about priests and the Reagan family values.

I'm surprised this started bothering you only now. The Reagans are Catholics, the issues of faith and religion are coming up on this show from season 1. I'd say now there's less of that than before because in the previous seasons we have Danny who was always struggling with his faith as a parallel to Frank. And now they're writing Frank as more critical of the Church as a political force. I would prefer they'd come back to the earlier seasons when Frank was friends with a  different Archbishop.

[Evagirl]

3 hours ago, CooperTV said:

I'm surprised this started bothering you only now. The Reagans are Catholics, the issues of faith and religion are coming up on this show from season 1. I'd say now there's less of that than before because in the previous seasons we have Danny who was always struggling with his faith as a parallel to Frank. And now they're writing Frank as more critical of the Church as a political force. I would prefer they'd come back to the earlier seasons when Frank was friends with a  different Archbishop.

Also at one time Jamie was considering the priesthood.

[Artsda]

Wow, that was a good finale. 

Danny losing his house and setting off the cartel to retaliate and the family dinner scene at the end was great.

Interesting Jamie solved the serial killer story on his own he might as well become a detective at this point. 

--

Entertainment Weekly - Post Mortem with EP.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Artsda

[Bobbin]

Poor Erin. Ripped one week for breaking the rules, ripped the next for not breaking them.

So now all the Reagan women have long hair. Maybe next season it will be Erin with a bob.

[honeydo7]

All the previews I watched for this episode, made it look like Grandpa Reagan became a victim of the murderous "senior citizen" attacker......did my eyes deceive me or did the writers/producers decide at the last minute to scrap that idea?  

[Sarah 103]

10 hours ago, Bobbin said:

Poor Erin. Ripped one week for breaking the rules, ripped the next for not breaking them.

So now all the Reagan women have long hair. Maybe next season it will be Erin with a bob.

Thank you for explaining this. I was totally confused about what Erin's boss wanted.  

[mojito]

Just a little more than halfway through the show, everything was tied up. Geezer Killer caught, cartel branch slaughtered (did any of them survive?), and cartel money seized. 

Nikki's had maybe one line on each episode all season, Eddie's been MIA, Mayor Ironside shows up for the first time in ages, just to say goodbye. Not really going anywhere with these stellar observation. But then, Grandpa's barging into Frank's office to tell him to catch the Geezer Killer was just as inane.

Good season finale. No silly twist that's supposed to leave us dangling off a cliff.

[spunky]

Jamie really needs to stop wasting his talent and become a detective. When will Danny stop being nasty to outside agencies and some of his fellow officers?  I can't believe how fast those boys are growing up. Hopefully Danny losing his house will be the wake up call he needs. Have to say I enjoy Jamie away from Eddie, so hopefully it stays that way. I'll miss Mayor Poole.