S09.E14: My Brother's Keeper

[wknt3]

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t's Reagan versus Reagan when Danny goes against Jamie's direct order during a hostage negotiation. Also, Nicky asks Erin for help when her friend is in jeopardy of losing his scholarship because of a crime he didn't commit, and Frank helps a distraught officer who accidentally shot an innocent girl.

[iwasish]

Didn’t Frank save  another officer who was holed up in his house threatening suicide in a much earlier episode? 

Jamie is in no place to criticize Danny. How many times has he gone against orders or “protocol” in response to a situation. He’s always yammering about the fact that the rules and the book aren’t  always the best way to handle the circumstances they find themselves in. 

Danny on the other hand is just too much of a hot dog. Frank doesn’t need 35k officers just set Danny loose and he’ll solve every situation. It’s just not realistic. 

[MissLucas]

What I learned from watching too much tv: as a hostage negotiator you only get to do your job when you're the lead character - same rule applies to SWAT teams. I suppose they could start a self-help group somewhere.

What I learned from Blue Bloods in particular: New York is the size of Walnut Grove that's why Reagans always run into each other. Also: if the Godfather is not available for settling problems there's Grandpa.

That said I enjoyed Grandpa playing king Solomon and the brothers making up afterwards. Not sure what to make of Erin's ongoing plot - at least it feels like an ongoing plot. I wonder what's up with that. And her scene with Bebe Neuwirth's character roasting Frank was great - only topped by Baker and Garret gleefully dumping the Reagan boys' mess at Sid's doorstep where it actually belonged.

Edited February 9, 2019 by MissLucas

[wknt3]

I actually liked this one. They used Jamie's promotion do something other than the same Jamie/Eddie stuff with a layer of squick on top for like the third time this season and they found a way to feature everybody without it feeling overstuffed. Pretty much everyone got some good stuff this week, even the secondary characters. Heck they even managed to come up with some good material for Len Cariou! I don't think they really managed to do anything new, but in a season where they have managed to get in their own way more often than not it was nice to see them let their wonderfully talented cast sell the heck out of a by the numbers, but competent script.

[mojito]

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What I learned from Blue Bloods in particular: New York is the size of Walnut Grove ...

And the police Department is just slightly larger than Mayberry's. A conflict between two officers gets escalated straight to the top? I would think you would first go to your superior officers and let them process this. 

Good grief. What a silly fight. Might as well have thrown drinks in each other's face, it was so dumb. Or bitch-slapped each other. Or just said, "Pooh on you!" I mean really, Jamie, you couldn't pass the meat? And Danny, what do you know about table manners?

[mtlchick]

6 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I actually liked this one. They used Jamie's promotion do something other than the same Jamie/Eddie stuff with a layer of squick on top for like the third time this season and they found a way to feature everybody without it feeling overstuffed. Pretty much everyone got some good stuff this week, even the secondary characters. Heck they even managed to come up with some good material for Len Cariou! I don't think they really managed to do anything new, but in a season where they have managed to get in their own way more often than not it was nice to see them let their wonderfully talented cast sell the heck out of a by the numbers, but competent script.

I think it was my favourite of the season (which in an ironic twist, hit a series low in terms of viewership.)  All 5 main characters had something to do that didn't feel as forced compared to recent episodes and Frank's "work children" complaining of not wanting to deal with Frank's actual children was great. 

[Sarah 103]

5 hours ago, mojito said:

And the police Department is just slightly larger than Mayberry's. A conflict between two officers gets escalated straight to the top? I would think you would first go to your superior officers and let them process this. 

My guess is that it doesn't go to the superior officers because each superior office is likely to support the officer under their command. Instead it goes to some tribunal like body that is supposed to be impartial. Also, enjoyed your reference almost as much I enoyed @ Miss Lucas's reference. 

2 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I think it was my favourite of the season (which in an ironic twist, hit a series low in terms of viewership.)  All 5 main characters had something to do that didn't feel as forced compared to recent episodes and Frank's "work children" complaining of not wanting to deal with Frank's actual children was great. 

I agree with you. Honestly, I want more short scenes of Baker, Sid, and Garrett in a room together. They have a great dynamic. 

Overall I really enjoyed this episode. None of the storylines felt rushed for time, which hasn't happened in awhile. I have been waiting for a Jamie/Danny story like this since the promotion and I was not dissapointed. I loved the way they handled it. It's kind of sweet that as much as they fight and disagree with each other, they both respect and admire each other. 

[mojito]

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My guess is that it doesn't go to the superior officers because each superior office is likely to support the officer under their command. 

I would think it would be up to your superiors to escalate. I can't imagine that you'd escalate from your level and skip past your superiors. I would expect the police force to be really big into chain of command. Of course, this is Reagan World.

Edited February 10, 2019 by mojito

[Rambler]

I must say that I am very confused with the NYPD's policies. So a cop accidently shoots and kills a little girl and Frank immediately goes to the cop and tells him he can see an NYPD grief counselor and even offers him an administrative job while he works through his issues. Meanwhile a few episodes back, a decorated detective with many years of experience becomes a new father and hesitates to shoot a suspect in a gunfight. Does he get the same consideration? Nope, he is immediately forced to retire under threat of losing his pension. I wonder what sort of message Frank is sending to his officers? “If you get into gunfight, you better goddam kill somebody or I have no sympathy for ya!” Heh

[Janie430]

I think Erin's arc this season has really been about separating herself from the family in some ways, but not in others.  More than the others, she's been shown trying to keep Nikki in the fold by asking her to come to the dinners every week, and talked about how important it is to stay close.  In some ways, it's always been a little harder for her because she's not a cop, but a lawyer, and she's had a job that's often opposed to theirs.  The higher she goes up the food chain, the less their interests will be identical.  They have consistently shown that her family was antagonistic to Jack, possibly before they were even married, and they've always shown her as having to meet the others in the middle (which is often no where near the middle, but way on their side of the table).  I think they're showing she's becoming done with it.  Done with the debates and arguments and having no separation between family and career.  I don't know where they're going with it, but it feels real to me.  What you put up with at 30, isn't funny at 45.

[Sarah 103]

On 2/9/2019 at 9:15 PM, mojito said:

I would think it would be up to your superiors to escalate. I can't imagine that you'd escalate from your level and skip past your superiors. I would expect the police force to be really big into chain of command. Of course, this is Reagan World.

To me "This is Reagan World" is another way of saying "it's TV, just roll with it" and in this case I am more than willing to do so. There are other times when I am not. 

[wknt3]

On 2/9/2019 at 9:07 PM, Sarah 103 said:

My guess is that it doesn't go to the superior officers because each superior office is likely to support the officer under their command. Instead it goes to some tribunal like body that is supposed to be impartial. Also, enjoyed your reference almost as much I enoyed @ Miss Lucas's reference.

We really don't know what process was followed. I think it's fairly realistic it would quickly be escalated since it's a conflict between detective and patrol and between 2 family members of the commissioner. I could see several scenes pretty similar to Sid and Garrett at lower levels of command as they concluded that stepping into this pile was above their pay grade.

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I agree with you. Honestly, I want more short scenes of Baker, Sid, and Garrett in a room together. They have a great dynamic.

They are great actors who elevate whatever material they are given. And you're right about more of them together without Frank - they have a great dynamic that works even better when they aren't being defined by Frank (which pushes Sis into being a caricature so that Frank can look reasonable by comparison, Garrett into being the voice of realism and pragmatism that is proven wrong by Frank, and makes Baker the door holding "stand by your man" loyalist.) 

23 hours ago, Rambler said:

I must say that I am very confused with the NYPD's policies. So a cop accidently shoots and kills a little girl and Frank immediately goes to the cop and tells him he can see an NYPD grief counselor and even offers him an administrative job while he works through his issues. Meanwhile a few episodes back, a decorated detective with many years of experience becomes a new father and hesitates to shoot a suspect in a gunfight. Does he get the same consideration? Nope, he is immediately forced to retire under threat of losing his pension. I wonder what sort of message Frank is sending to his officers? “If you get into gunfight, you better goddam kill somebody or I have no sympathy for ya!” Heh

In Blue Bloods world the right thing to do is to never back down, no matter what the tactical situation or your better judgement might call for. Considerations like "background" or unnecessary risk to yourself and others can be safely disregarded because after all the only danger is that someone will be hurt who could have been shot by the criminals anyways and only evil liberal wimps care about over aggressive police tactics instead of under aggressive policing.

13 hours ago, Janie430 said:

I think Erin's arc this season has really been about separating herself from the family in some ways, but not in others.  More than the others, she's been shown trying to keep Nikki in the fold by asking her to come to the dinners every week, and talked about how important it is to stay close.  In some ways, it's always been a little harder for her because she's not a cop, but a lawyer, and she's had a job that's often opposed to theirs.  The higher she goes up the food chain, the less their interests will be identical.  They have consistently shown that her family was antagonistic to Jack, possibly before they were even married, and they've always shown her as having to meet the others in the middle (which is often no where near the middle, but way on their side of the table).  I think they're showing she's becoming done with it.  Done with the debates and arguments and having no separation between family and career.  I don't know where they're going with it, but it feels real to me.  What you put up with at 30, isn't funny at 45.

That's an interesting take that I hadn't fully considered. I'm not sure they're fully aware of what they're doing or where they're going with it. They never seem to follow through when they have a plan so we're probably better off if this is just developing organically. I have had a sense with some of her stories this year that it's another time where they want to have Frank be wrong,, but can't manage to actually follow through.

Edited February 11, 2019 by wknt3

[Biscuit Tin]

I love Sid and Baker and Garret together. It's true Baker stands by the door a lot, but she isn't always a loyalist. I like when she looks at Frank like, "Don't," as she is shutting the door. If he were to ask, "Don't what?" She looks like she would reply, "Just DON'T."

[luvapickle]

On ‎2‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 2:27 PM, mojito said:

And the police Department is just slightly larger than Mayberry's. A conflict between two officers gets escalated straight to the top? I would think you would first go to your superior officers and let them process this. 

Good grief. What a silly fight. Might as well have thrown drinks in each other's face, it was so dumb. Or bitch-slapped each other. Or just said, "Pooh on you!" I mean really, Jamie, you couldn't pass the meat? And Danny, what do you know about table manners?

When they were in Sid's office they said it went to each of their superiors. But after that it would end up on Frank's desk, which they didn't want.

[Lukeysboat]

Erin’s clothes are usually unattractive, IMO, but in this episode they were especially hideous. Who dresses her?! She’s a good-looking woman forced into terrible fashion week after week. Sad. 

[yankydoodle]

Jamie and Danny going head to head was good, especially at the dinner table. And Pops sorting them out was great.