S09.E07: By Hook or By Crook

[wknt3]

Quote

The drug cartel hitman responsible for torching Danny's house resurfaces. Also, an attack on an officer in the line of duty directly impacts a member of Frank's team; Eddie reluctantly introduces Jamie to her mother, Lena; and Erin deals with the consequences of her new role as boss.

[CaptainCranky]

I DVR this so I haven't watched it but another 4 storyline episode. Ugh.

[MDL]

I'm confused! (not unusual) :) 

Wasn't the Lou Diamond Phillips (Delgado?)character killed in an earlier episode?

 

I confess that missed the first 8-10 minutes, so they may contain the "cure" to my confusion.

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, MDL said:

I'm confused! (not unusual) :) 

Wasn't the Lou Diamond Phillips (Delgado?)character killed in an earlier episode?

 

I confess that missed the first 8-10 minutes, so they may contain the "cure" to my confusion.

Spoiler

Yes it turns out it was a fake.  Another corpse tattooed to look like him.

Now here's my confusion. Did we know that Eddie's family was rich?

[AnnA]

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

  Hide contents

 

Now here's my confusion. Did we know that Eddie's family was rich?

Yes. We did.   When Jaime first met Eddie she was driving an expensive convertible sports car (Porsche?).   She told him it was her high school graduation present.    Her father is in prison for fraud.  I don't remember exactly what he did but it had something to do with him scamming people out of their money.

Edited November 10, 2018 by AnnA

[dirtydi]

Eddie's mom was an a-hole.  Reason or no reason  Yes, her dad is in jail for a Ponzi scheme. like Madoff, but on a smaller scale. Jamie is a keeper and I don't blame Eddie for not wanting to introduce her mom, what a horrible person.  Eddie has done a god job with herself in despite her parents (the dad seemed nicer than the mom though, just a criminal).

I like Lou Diamond Phillips as a baddie.  Don't trust that DEA person.

 

I enjoyed everything about tonight's episode.  Equal time for all and everyone was in character.

[CaptainCranky]

6 hours ago, MDL said:

I'm confused! (not unusual) :) 

Wasn't the Lou Diamond Phillips (Delgado?)character killed in an earlier episode?

 

I confess that missed the first 8-10 minutes, so they may contain the "cure" to my confusion.

Well there was a body with the head cut off and everyone assumed it was the LDP character.

[MDL]

Thanks to all for the info. I gotta get home from work more quickly!

[Magnumfangirl]

In the episode where Eddie goes undercover, her mother was from Serbia and I think they implied that she was dead.  So now they scrubbed all of that just for a cheap "Eddie's mom is a bitch" throw away episode.  Dumb.  Since I haven't mentioned it this week, I hate Jamko.  

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

4 minutes ago, Magnumfangirl said:

In the episode where Eddie goes undercover, her mother was from Serbia and I think they implied that she was dead.  So now they scrubbed all of that just for a cheap "Eddie's mom is a bitch" throw away episode.  Dumb.  Since I haven't mentioned it this week, I hate Jamko.  

I thought I remembered the same thing. But, I was too lazy to try to find the episode. Thanks for confirming I'm not crazy.

[Blondnotstupid]

In the real world, the standard of living of Eddie's mom would indicate she was independently wealthy before she married Eddie's dad.  Once Eddie's dad was convicted he would have had to forfeit everything purchased or leased using the money he stole.  That's what happened to Madoff and other Ponzi scheme runners.  Madoff's wife was wealthy before she married him and all she was allowed to keep after his guilty plea were the things her money paid for.  Even jewelry he gave her during their marriage was seized and sold.  Maybe Eddie's mom wants to make sure that no one marries Eddie for money, and that they will stick around even if things get difficult.  She could do that without being such a jerk, though.

The LDP/Delgado story line is reminding me of the Blue Templar and Jamie-undercover-with-the mob story lines.  Taking way too long and making too many stupid plot turns.  The idea that the drug cartel killed Linda is absurd.  Previously they said that Danny was working overtime on a case so Linda decided to put in an extra shift to pick up money.  Danny said she did it when she found out he would be working late--i.e., she made a spur-of-the moment decision.  They she took the place of another co-worker on the helicopter that was, IIRC, picking up a transplant organ.  The helicopter crashed.  So the writers now want us to believe that the drug cartel arranged:  Danny working late on a case, Linda deciding to take an extra shift, an organ becoming available for transplant, that organ going to a patient at Linda's hospital, Linda being put on the transplant team (not her usual assignment--she was shown working on regular wards in recent seasons), and them having an explosive device in place on the helicopter that night.  Really?  REALLY?

Why doesn't the NYPD check Interpol for criminal records of arrested persons?  Did they explain that?  And Erin needs to stop thinking that every single thing someone says or does is a personal attack on her.

The thing I liked about this episode:  Jamie explaining why they always have family dinners.  That was a touching story.

[Katy M]

I hate vendetta stories on cop shows.  

I also liked the story about family dinners.

Eddie's mother remind me of my grandmother.  My mom told me that when my dad asked her to marry him, he didn't want to introduce her to his mother.  She insisted.  I figure she forever rued that decision.

[preeya]

Continuity error: Danny runs out of the warehouse with a wound bleeding on his forehead. Next scene his forehead is as smooth as a baby's ass.

[AnnA]

I really enjoyed this episode and I can't say that about too many of them this season. 

[Sarah 103]

For the first time in a while I felt like each storyline was resolved (to some degree). It didn't feel like a scene was cut or a storyline was rushed. Jamie going back was like a task in a fairytale. He's the only one who didn't give up, making him a worthy suitor. I did wish we got the backstory on why she cares so much about money. 

[3 is enough]

I had guests arrive in the last 10 minutes of the show, and got distracted. Did Baker's husband wake up?  TIA.

[AnnA]

1 hour ago, 3 is enough said:

I had guests arrive in the last 10 minutes of the show, and got distracted. Did Baker's husband wake up?  TIA.

Yes and Abby came into the office and told Frank he was being discharged the next day.

Edited November 11, 2018 by AnnA

[Rambler]

II guess the message Frank was trying to convey to Erin was that all non-violent drug offenders should never be released from jail, because they would then decide to do such things as shoot police officers the moment they are released. Especially the Mexican ones. Well I would tend to disagree with that since that whole War on Drugs thingy didn't turn out so well, but maybe I could start to see the other side of the argument if the lazy-ass writers would just give me a reason the two officers were shot. I mean it seemed like the guy gets off with a slap on the wrist and then he's like "Muwahaha thanks to those dumb librul D.A.s I got sprung from jail after a few nights. I guess I'll just go murder a couple of cops because of the inconvenience".

[Blondnotstupid]

Rambler, the cops who were shot were guarding a witness's house.  Perhaps that witness was going to testify against someone in the cartel the drug dealer works with?  It would have been helpful if the writers had drawn that line for us rather than leaving us wondering whether the dealer shot those 2 cops randomly or as part of a planned hit to protect his suppliers.

My local CBS affiliate (Washington, DC) has started their late news broadcast at 10:58.  I no longer get previews of next week's episode.  Is anyone else's affiliate doing this?

[dirtydi]

It was never hinted at that Eddie's mom was dead.  From Serbia yes, but not dead.  I thought Jamko was on point this episode: romantic, sweet, sexual, and a good team.

[CaptainCranky]

I'm starting to lose my appetite for this show. Tired of the Danny character always uptight about every case like it's the end of the world. He is one of the most abrasive characters on TV I watch. As for Erin and her character she has no leadership skills, legal skills yes but not as the boss. The Frank character is one dimensional. There is no friggin way he knows every action of every policeman, all 30K or so he commands. Jamie and Eddie are cute away from work but that storyline of them working together is an epic fail.

The kids and grandpa are OK.

[Sake614]

Does Danny no longer have a boss at the precinct? A lieutenant? A cPtain? Somebody. ANYBODY to rein him in?

[CaptainCranky]

9 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

Does Danny no longer have a boss at the precinct? A lieutenant? A cPtain? Somebody. ANYBODY to rein him in?

I agree. His character has always lived on the edge but now he's out of control. Even at the dinner table he's a jerk. I wish Jamie had finished the conversation at the end of the show and called him out.

[wonderwoman]

2 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

 

2 hours ago, Sake614 said:

Does Danny no longer have a boss at the precinct? A lieutenant? A cPtain? Somebody. ANYBODY to rein him in?

I agree. His character has always lived on the edge but now he's out of control. Even at the dinner table he's a jerk. I wish Jamie had finished the conversation at the end of the show and called him out.

 

IRL, he'd have been thrown off the force, if not arrested.

[wknt3]

14 hours ago, Rambler said:

II guess the message Frank was trying to convey to Erin was that all non-violent drug offenders should never be released from jail, because they would then decide to do such things as shoot police officers the moment they are released. Especially the Mexican ones.

Actually that was the message that the episode was trying to convey to the viewers. Be scared of Latinos, immigration, and criminal justice reform. And it wasn't particularly subtle about it. I'm a little surprised they didn't find a way to work in MS-13, but maybe they felt they had that covered with the drug cartel? Pretty much your classic Blue Bloods right wing propaganda episode. Although as heavy handed as that whole plot was it was probably the best part of the episode - the Jamko plot was as pointless as ever (even if the first scene with them in the apartment was probably the closet to actual believable chemistry between the two actors they've come) and the Danny plot was just offensively stupid and unbelievable. I wish they would have left Eddie's mom off screen, given us a perfunctory COTW for Danny to solve, and actually given us balance and tied things together, by having Jamie dealing with fallout from enforcing a policy Frank made that is completely justified by statistics, but is unpopular with the rank and file, and had a negative result. Maybe he called off a pursuit of a suspect in non-violent crime because it was too dangerous and the suspect committed another crime? Or he could have had to order his cops to throw the book at a suspect the cops wanted to handle more leniently because it was policy now and that suspect was beaten up in Rikers? I really wish the writers could demonstrate some basic competence and give these great actors some better material.

[Katy M]

50 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

Actually that was the message that the episode was trying to convey to the viewers. Be scared of Latinos, immigration, and criminal justice reform. And it wasn't particularly subtle about it. I'm a little surprised they didn't find a way to work in MS-13, but maybe they felt they had that covered with the drug cartel? Pretty much your classic Blue Bloods right wing propaganda episode. Although as heavy handed as that whole plot was it was probably the best part of the episode - the Jamko plot was as pointless as ever (even if the first scene with them in the apartment was probably the closet to actual believable chemistry between the two actors they've come) and the Danny plot was just offensively stupid and unbelievable. I wish they would have left Eddie's mom off screen, given us a perfunctory COTW for Danny to solve, and actually given us balance and tied things together, by having Jamie dealing with fallout from enforcing a policy Frank made that is completely justified by statistics, but is unpopular with the rank and file, and had a negative result. Maybe he called off a pursuit of a suspect in non-violent crime because it was too dangerous and the suspect committed another crime? Or he could have had to order his cops to throw the book at a suspect the cops wanted to handle more leniently because it was policy now and that suspect was beaten up in Rikers? I really wish the writers could demonstrate some basic competence and give these great actors some better material.

I actually liked the Eddie/Jamie storyline.  

Danny is definitely out of control and should be kicked off the force.  I do think he made a good point that maybe they should run better checks to make sure prisoners don't have violent offneses before deciding what they ask for on bail. Due diligence, people.  But, I wasn't paying too close of attention at the beginning, so I don't know what their charges were.  I know Erin called them "low level drug dealers," which probably meant they would have only been in jail a year or so anyway, then they could have gotten out and shot whoever they wanted.  So, what difference does it really make if they got bail or not?

[MissLucas]

17 hours ago, Rambler said:

II guess the message Frank was trying to convey to Erin was that all non-violent drug offenders should never be released from jail, because they would then decide to do such things as shoot police officers the moment they are released. Especially the Mexican ones. Well I would tend to disagree with that since that whole War on Drugs thingy didn't turn out so well, but maybe I could start to see the other side of the argument if the lazy-ass writers would just give me a reason the two officers were shot. I mean it seemed like the guy gets off with a slap on the wrist and then he's like "Muwahaha thanks to those dumb librul D.A.s I got sprung from jail after a few nights. I guess I'll just go murder a couple of cops because of the inconvenience".

Yes, they never gave us a good reason why the guy was shooting the two cops. And if the D.A.'s office should run every first offender  through Interpol may I suggest cops on protective detail should also not discuss superpowers while on duty but stay alert to their surroundings instead? (Also: dude was a horrible shot, he fired several rounds at close distance and both victims survived.)

LDP makes me miss Numb3rs :( And of course whenever the wife of a hot tempered police officer gets killed in an accident it was not an accident but a hit by a drug cartel. Because those dudes are sneaky like that and try to cover their hits so that nobody notices *eyeroll* 

The Sunday dinner scene was a master class in passive-aggressive micro needling - not sure that was what grandma had in mind, but apparently Eddie finds it touching? Good for her since this is how she will spend every Sunday for the rest of her life.

Eddie's mum was the best thing about this episode. I thoroughly enjoyed this take on classic fairy tale tropes. Valiant prince has to prove his worth by staring down the horrible monster before he's given the hand of the princess. Of course our golden boy passed the test with flying colors!

[Katy M]

22 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

LDP makes me miss Numb3rs :( And of course whenever the wife of a hot tempered police officer gets killed in an accident it was not an accident but a hit by a drug cartel. Because those dudes are sneaky like that and try to cover their hits so that nobody notices *eyeroll* 

I figure it was an accident and LDP was just messing with him. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[CaptainCranky]

5 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

IRL, he'd have been thrown off the force, if not arrested.

Well his dad is the PC. He's got to know his son is out of control. The person I feel for is Baez.

One other thing. If I were Erin I would have gotten up and left the dinner table.

[dirtydi]

8 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

IRL, he'd have been thrown off the force, if not arrested.

Not necessarily.

[Kohola3]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

I figure it was an accident and LDP was just messing with him. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

No way it could have been planned, just a coincidence but LDP is using it to pull Danny's chain.  It's working, too.

[sigmaforce86]

On 11/10/2018 at 6:25 PM, preeya said:

Continuity error: Danny runs out of the warehouse with a wound bleeding on his forehead. Next scene his forehead is as smooth as a baby's ass.

Not bleeding/No wound I'll buy.  But "smooth"?  That might be stretching it, with those forehead wrinkles becoming more prominent he's been heading closer and closer to resembling a Shar Pei for years.

Not much to say about the episode but as far as casting goes - Even though I'm sure it will eventually end badly (dead or in jail) I very selfishly hope they keep the Lou Diamond Phillips story going for awhile just so I can have LDP on my screen often.    And too bad Edie's Mom didn't have even one brief scene with Frank since Christine Ebersole previously played Tom Sellecks sister-in-law in the movie Folks.  But maybe they don't want to remind the viewers of that since it was a complete flop and earned Selleck a Razzie nomination (which he narrowly lost to Stallone).  And last, is Jack off the show for good or for the entire rest of the season?  I thought he'd pop up now and then at Sunday dinners or be home saying it's school break time but they took Tony's name completely out of the credits. You don't usually see that for a regular cast member even if they're only appearing occasionally or not in that specific episode.

[Kohola3]

16 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Even though I'm sure it will eventually end badly (dead or in jail) I very selfishly hope they keep the Lou Diamond Phillips story going for awhile just so I can have LDP on my screen often. 

Because the "good guys" always win in the end, you know LDP will go down eventually.  But I do hope he's around for a few more episodes to drive Danny nuts.  He always plays a great baddie.

18 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

And too bad Edie's Mom didn't have even one brief scene with Frank...

She was great, the best part of the episode after LDP.  A little too many upright goodness is boring.

[CaptainCranky]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:25 PM, preeya said:

Continuity error: Danny runs out of the warehouse with a wound bleeding on his forehead. Next scene his forehead is as smooth as a baby's ass.

I guess I wasn't paying attention as I thought he had fluid in his eyes from the blast.

[Sake614]

21 minutes ago, CaptainCranky said:

I guess I wasn't paying attention as I thought he had fluid in his eyes from the blast.

He did, but he also appeared to have a cut above his eye. Which I also noticed was conspicuously absent in the next scene.

[Sarah 103]

On 11/10/2018 at 10:32 PM, Blondnotstupid said:

Rambler, the cops who were shot were guarding a witness's house.  Perhaps that witness was going to testify against someone in the cartel the drug dealer works with?  It would have been helpful if the writers had drawn that line for us rather than leaving us wondering whether the dealer shot those 2 cops randomly or as part of a planned hit to protect his suppliers.

I thought that was pretty clear from the episode. If a witness about to testify against someone in a cartel is shot, and a drug dealer has just been released from prison, TV Land logic dictates the two are connected. It seemed random for a minute until they explained the situation. I'm also the same person who thought it was clear the nursing home was being shut down in a previous episode. 

On 11/11/2018 at 11:53 AM, wknt3 said:

having Jamie dealing with fallout from enforcing a policy Frank made that is completely justified by statistics, but is unpopular with the rank and file, and had a negative result. Maybe he called off a pursuit of a suspect in non-violent crime because it was too dangerous and the suspect committed another crime? Or he could have had to order his cops to throw the book at a suspect the cops wanted to handle more leniently because it was policy now and that suspect was beaten up in Rikers? 

I love this idea. There's a new NYPD policy that Frank is a big supporter of. The problem is it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. The rank and file gave it a a chance to work; they didn't go into it hating the idea. The rank and file are now strongly against it. Pre-credits you would see Eddie and her new partner dealing with the new policy and talking about how much it stinks. Post credits you would see Jamie talking to some other sergeants at a bar. He's asking for advice how they are dealing with the new policy, and finds out everyone is having problems with it. (Earlier in the episode Eddie has a line about plans that don't include Jamie, a bachelorette party or something like that to explain why she isn't at the bar)

At Sunday dinner, Danny starts to complain about it and Jamie agrees with him. Jamie hates it/opposes it even more than Danny. Jamie gets into an incredibly heated argument with Frank going point for point with him. Frank is quoting statistics and studies while Jamie is giving the perspective from the field. Danny or Erin comments "It's like The Twilight Zone" (because normally Jamie's the one quoting statistics and studies while Danny is arguing the perspective of those in the field) 

After everyone else has left, when it's just Frank and Henry in the living room Henry says "The blessing and the curse." Frank looks confused/doesn't get it. Henry explains "May you have one just like you."

[CaptainCranky]

I've been watching reruns on WGN and an old episode in which Eddie was sexually assaulted by a date midway through the episode she was waiting for the guy to extract revenge when Jamie intervened. She was sitting in a silver Porsche waiting.

To at least me it seemed like the start of a relationship if it was only as friends which of course later it turned out to be a lot more. You could see a spark there between the two.

[Rambler]

On 11/10/2018 at 7:32 PM, Blondnotstupid said:

Rambler, the cops who were shot were guarding a witness's house.  Perhaps that witness was going to testify against someone in the cartel the drug dealer works with?  It would have been helpful if the writers had drawn that line for us rather than leaving us wondering whether the dealer shot those 2 cops randomly or as part of a planned hit to protect his suppliers.

My local CBS affiliate (Washington, DC) has started their late news broadcast at 10:58.  I no longer get previews of next week's episode.  Is anyone else's affiliate doing this?

If that was the case, I wonder what happened to the witness? I guess the witness lived or else it would have been mentioned at the press conference. So if he was some sort of a hitman, then he was the world's worst one. First he gets busted for possession before he can get to his target, then he shoots two cops, but lets the witness get away, and then is caught soon after. He was so bad that the police didn't even need the powers of Super-Danny to solve the case. I guess it's hard to find good help these days.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Rambler

[Biscuit Tin]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:50 PM, Magnumfangirl said:

In the episode where Eddie goes undercover, her mother was from Serbia and I think they implied that she was dead.  So now they scrubbed all of that just for a cheap "Eddie's mom is a bitch" throw away episode.  Dumb.  Since I haven't mentioned it this week, I hate Jamko.  

You're right; I completely forgot that.  I am annoyed that they set Frank up with a "fixer" in one episode and we never saw him again. If he's the commissioner's fixer, we should be seeing him all the time. And what happened to Lt. Carver, who took over as Danny and Baez's boss when Sid got promoted? She's heavily featured in Season 5, then do we ever  see her again? Who is their boss, now? And who is the mayor now? We're half way through the season and we don't know.