S09.E15: Blues

[wknt3]

Quote

While off duty, Danny encounters a gas station robbery in progress and is forced to use his weapon, leaving him shaken and his family and co-workers concerned. Also, Eddie apprehends a turnstile jumper who pleads for leniency by offering information on a missing weapon that's vital to one of Erin's cases, and Frank learns that a top officer in his department has a dark past.

[iwasish]

Danny? Upset over using his weapon? This I have to see.

[preeya]

WTF did I just watch??

"Trust me you don't want to freakin' know"

Edited February 16, 2019 by preeya

[rhys]

Cornfuzzled --that's me.

[Passepartout]

Danny is a violent cop. Really at times they portray him as such a macho jerk for no reason. 

Jamie is really the cop that is cool, calm, collected, and really tough but fair.

Feel bad for Baez dealing with Danny at times. He treats her like she is his lackey or a pleasant girl, not his partner.

[Biscuit Tin]

I liked each of the individual story lines; but they sure were individual story lines. 

[TV Diva Queen]

Is Jenko going to for for the DA now?  I was confused. I thought her “secret” was was that she liked it but told Anthony that she  asiy hates his style.   If it means for screentime for Anthony, I’m all in. 

[Katy M]

I only watched the first half and I may watch the second half later, but I was really annoyed by Henry telling Danny he had to go find a girlfriend or whatever.  He gets to decide the timing on that and nobody else.  the only other person I would give any say in the matter is Shawn and that's only to the extent that he's uncomfortable with Danny's significant other being around the house a lot, or moving in because he lives there, too, and he's a minor so can't move out yet.  And he has his own feelings.

The "you need to move on" speech is a big peeve of mine.  People's feelings are their feelings and nobody else gets to manage them.

[iwasish]

13 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I only watched the first half and I may watch the second half later, but I was really annoyed by Henry telling Danny he had to go find a girlfriend or whatever.  He gets to decide the timing on that and nobody else.  the only other person I would give any say in the matter is Shawn and that's only to the extent that he's uncomfortable with Danny's significant other being around the house a lot, or moving in because he lives there, too, and he's a minor so can't move out yet.  And he has his own feelings.

The "you need to move on" speech is a big peeve of mine.  People's feelings are their feelings and nobody else gets to manage them.

I pretty much agree with you, it is up to Danny to decide to move on. I saw Henry as perhaps voicing some regret that he never did find someone and that he also felt that Frank had the same regrets, though we have seen that Frank has at least had his share of booty calls and relationships however superficial they were . He didn’t lecture Danny, but gave him a window to the future with the three of them rambling around that big house alone. 

[zoey1996]

I was a little confused about Danny and the kid who tried to stab him.  Was the mother really that clueless that her dear little boy was committing a criminal act when Danny shot him?  Really sad for the other mother, though, who felt she had to kill her son to prevent him from continuing in the criminal life.

Also, liked Jenko's and Jamie's interaction in the station.  Jamie, er Sarge.

[Dr.OO7]

I'm glad Danny pointed out Henry's hypocrisy in suggesting that it's time for him to start dating again (even though I actually agree. A respectable amount of time has passed). Neither he nor Frank have remarried in the 15 years since their wives have died (though at least Frank has shown interest occasionally), so who is he to say it's time for Danny to move on?

[mtlchick]

Anything that pertained to Danny tonight I HAAAAATED.  (And this is from someone who 1) doesn't mind Danny even when he goes overboard and 2) adores Donnie for the most part.)  The mother of the guy who he stabbed really laid it on him.  He showed remorse.  Which would have been fine if you know THE SON DIDN'T TRY TO STAB HIM WITH AN ICE PICK.  Danny is the guy who will find any way to defend himself if something goes south like it did last week.  But this he stood there and took it instead of saying "Look, I am sorry.  But your son was robbing a store and was about to kill me.  What was I supposed to do, die?"

Then with the second mother and his speech about taking a life, etc...that would have been fine except we didn't find out WHY she did it.  

Add on Henry's speech about "time to find someone else now, Danny Boy" when he still has Linda on the mind (and I'm assuming he has not told anyone about his thoughts about being murdered) and I was pretty much pissed off.

On the upside of things, Anthony and Eddie pairing up was a hoot that I laughed out loud a few times.  Even Will was having a fun time in his earlier scene with showing off the stripes, which is something you normally don't get from him.  

 Frank's scenes were...meh.  At least he walked around a lot this time and hey!  He was even shining his shoes!

[3 is enough]

Regarding Henry, I seem to remember an episode where he was involved with a woman who turned out to be a hustler.  In the end, he helped to catch her.  But the family was concerned.  So Danny's statement that he never saw Gramps look at another woman since Grandma died was not correct...

But really , less than 2 years since Linda died- seems odd for Henry to tell him to move on...

I liked the Anthony/Eddie scenes. The rest was just ok...

And Frank walks!  Of course, now I am paying close attention to all of his scenes, so I was sure to notice.

Edited February 16, 2019 by 3 is enough

[Katy M]

14 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

The mother of the guy who he stabbed really laid it on him.  He showed remorse.  Which would have been fine if you know THE SON DIDN'T TRY TO STAB HIM WITH AN ICE PICK.  Danny is the guy who will find any way to defend himself if something goes south like it did last week.  But this he stood there and took it instead of saying "Look, I am sorry.  But your son was robbing a store and was about to kill me.  What was I supposed to do, die?"

Grieving people aren't rational and shouldn't be expected to be.  If she had gone to his house, I would agree with you more, but he went to see her, and the one thing she was really right about was that he shouldn't have gone.  What was he going to say that would make her feel better?  There was nothing.  He went to make himself feel better and it's not her job to make him feel better even though he had no choice.

[babs1226]

16 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

Regarding Henry, I seem to remember an episode where he was involved with a woman who turned out to be a hustler.  In the end, he helped to catch her.  But the family was concerned.  So Danny's statement that he never saw Gramps look at another woman since Grandma died was not correct...

I remember that episode as well, but I don't remember if Danny was involved in that story line.  I know Frank and Erin were.  I think they included that conversation to open the door for Danny to start dating.  I also noticed that, in his next scene with Bayez, he made a comment about her eyes.  I wouldn't be surprised if they start falling for each other.   

[bichonblitz]

Well, if it's time for Danny to move on then why isn't it time for Erin to move on from her divorce? We don't see anybody lecturing self righteous Erin about that. I know it was a divorce and not a death but still not healthy not to date after all these years except for the occassional booty call from her ex.

[Katy M]

5 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

Well, if it's time for Danny to move on then why isn't it time for Erin to move on from her divorce? We don't see anybody lecturing self righteous Erin about that. I know it was a divorce and not a death but still not healthy not to date after all these years except for the occassional booty call from her ex.

It's not not healthy not to date.  It's not like dating is something that everybody HAS to do.  There's nothing wrong with being alone.  Or being a couple. Or whatever.  Except, yeah, Erin and her ex are a little weird because they're dating/not dating.

[bichonblitz]

9 minutes ago, Katy M said:

It's not not healthy not to date.  It's not like dating is something that everybody HAS to do.  There's nothing wrong with being alone.  Or being a couple. Or whatever.  Except, yeah, Erin and her ex are a little weird because they're dating/not dating.

What I'm saying is if gramps or anybody in the family is going to rag on Danny about it, then rag on Erin, too. Or shut up and let people live their lives. 

[stuckin60s]

Isnt Danny still wearing his wedding ring?

[iwasish]

1 hour ago, bichonblitz said:

What I'm saying is if gramps or anybody in the family is going to rag on Danny about it, then rag on Erin, too. Or shut up and let people live their lives. 

Frank has talked to Erin about moving on from  Jack. She has dated a few men, but I do think she spent time mostly building her career and raising Nicki after the divorce. 

I also think the relationships that Frank had with his wife and Henry with his were somewhat different than Danny’s with Linda. I think the older men didn’t confide in their wives about “the job” and hid a lot of the toll it took on them. Linda was a nurse, she saw a lot of what Danny saw and was able to support him emotionally. I think their marriage in that respect was more “intimate” than Frank and Henry’s were. I’m not questioning the love any of them had for their wives, just the way each related to their spouse.

[milner]

I thought the kid Danny shot was also beating up the store clerk at the beginning as well as attacking Danny. Won’t Clifford’s file be sealed because he was a juvenile at the time ?

[Sarah 103]

10 hours ago, iwasish said:

I pretty much agree with you, it is up to Danny to decide to move on. I saw Henry as perhaps voicing some regret that he never did find someone and that he also felt that Frank had the same regrets, though we have seen that Frank has at least had his share of booty calls and relationships however superficial they were . He didn’t lecture Danny, but gave him a window to the future with the three of them rambling around that big house alone. 

That's what I thought. My guess is that Henry may regret not having dated seriously and being alone at his age. Henry also knows that Frank is modeling the same behavior. I think Henry may be worried and does not want Danny to make the same mistakes. I also agree with everyone who said it's too soon and that it is wrong to put pressure on someone who is still grieving to date. My point is that I understand why Henry did it, but I think it was the wrong thing to do. 

9 hours ago, mtlchick said:

On the upside of things, Anthony and Eddie pairing up was a hoot that I laughed out loud a few times.  Even Will was having a fun time in his earlier scene with showing off the stripes, which is something you normally don't get from him.  

I liked the scene at the end where Anthony tells Eddie she doesn't have to be like him. She should develop her own style and figure out what works best for her. I thought that was great advice. I loved Jamie getting so excited about broken windows policing working. He is Frank's mini-me in so many ways. 

[wknt3]

Random, disconnected thoughts for a random, disconnected episode:

I would be far more interested in the Danny deals with the emotional impact of Linda's death if they didn't mix them in with epsiodes where he was the same RoboDetective he's always been. I know that IRL it's not always a straight line, but it would be nice to maybe see him think a bit more about his own safety and tactical considerations and maybe not get into gun fights and kick down doors based on hunches and his faith his aim is better than the bad guys.

Speaking of Danny the best thing Frank could do as top cop is set up Danny in Boston. Or Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. The guy is a crime magnet and can't run a simple errand without running into a violent felony. I'm sure NYC's crime rate would drop enough if Danny moved to more than offset the cases he miraculously closes. Plus Frank might get Rev. Potter off his back since getting Danny out of NYPD probably decreases NYPD officer involved shootings by like 25%.

I'm surprised so many people liked the Jamie/Eddie interactions this week. On their own they were OK, but they just kept reminding of all the reasons they shouldn't be working together, especially in a supervisor-subordinate situation. Plus that whole plot was just another instance of the show pushing the whole discredited extreme "broken windows" nonsense. I'm going to type something I never thought I would about this show - Eddie was right. The whole idea was a waste of time and money that would have been better spent elsewhere.

I did like the Anthony/Eddie scenes, although that was entirely based on Steve Schirripa's masterful work. They would have been even better if he was working with someone with a better sense of timing who could pull off the reactions. And I loved the scenes where he was telling her that there was more than one way to be a good investigator. Anthony is basically Danny with some self awareness, played by someone who can actually act.

Frank's story was just sort of there. The only scenes I really liked were him with the staff which were great always. The rest weren't bad per se, just very repetitive and meh. Personal theory - Frank wasn't really shining his shoes. Sid just caught him in the middle of his hair coloring regimen and Frank had to cover.

[NonnaSally]

Would anyone care to explain the black mother, murdered son, twenty miles for twenty stitches sub-plot? It was only in reading here that I learned she was the perp, but what was the whole story please?

[Magnumfangirl]

1 hour ago, NonnaSally said:

Would anyone care to explain the black mother, murdered son, twenty miles for twenty stitches sub-plot? It was only in reading here that I learned she was the perp, but what was the whole story please?

I don't know either.  This is another case of the show having too many stories that they can't resolve in 42 minutes.

[MissLucas]

This sure felt odd - was this written by different writers? Or was the writing room just experimenting?

I haven't kept track of how many perps Danny has killed in the line of duty without batting an eyelid. Sure seeing him finally crack would have been interesting but that would require more nuance in the writing. And the juxtaposition with the case of the mother who killed her son just felt weird - especially since we never got an explanation why she did it. It felt as if her whole plot was just added to advance Danny's man pain.

I did not mind Grandpa's words of wisdom that much since I also detected a hint of regret which I thought intriguing. Also: I haven't forgotten about the bossy ME. 

So how did Frank handle the fall-out of pissed off guy going to the press? That's the second plot they did not resolve.

That said I enjoyed Anthony and Eddie working together. That's a pairing we haven't seen before and it worked pretty well. I also loved his words of wisdom to Eddie in the end.

And finally: 'Trust me you don't want to freakin' know' would have gotten 8 year old me in trouble with either of my parents (despite their general style of parenting being much more relaxed than the Reagans). I can only conclude that was the moment Frank decided to no longer waste his time with the belligerent little freak.

[iwasish]

Don’t they usually put an officer/detective on desk duty or administrative leave when they’ve been in a line of duty shooting? Especially a kid being killed? I’m guessing there was an eyewitness in the car that pulled up. 

[Katy M]

6 minutes ago, iwasish said:

Don’t they usually put an officer/detective on desk duty or administrative leave when they’ve been in a line of duty shooting? Especially a kid being killed? I’m guessing there was an eyewitness in the car that pulled up. 

Technically it wasn't line of duty because he was off-duty.  Don't know if that makes any difference, but it shouldn't.  But, I think they just do that until you're cleared and it's declared a "good shoot."  I'm betting there was a security camera that caught the whole thing, plus the witness, so it wouldn't have taken much investigation to see that it was justified.

[iwasish]

7 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Technically it wasn't line of duty because he was off-duty.  Don't know if that makes any difference, but it shouldn't.  But, I think they just do that until you're cleared and it's declared a "good shoot."  I'm betting there was a security camera that caught the whole thing, plus the witness, so it wouldn't have taken much investigation to see that it was justified.

Yes, I figured that was why they had an eyewitness, I’m sure there were cameras as you said. 

The mother coming back was a tip that she  had accepted that her son had indeed done something, she was still not going to forgive Danny, but gave him his due for facing her. 

The other story line with the mother who killed her son.. she never fessed up to why she killed him,but I think the point of that scene in the interview room was to show the change in Danny’s approach to interrogation. Instead of his usual berating, fist pounding and  out and out threatening someone, he used psychology and empathy. (The expression on Baez’s face was priceless). It left the audience hanging as to the why of the  crime, but I think TPTB felt there wasn’t a need to, it was more about Danny. We’ve had parents kill their kids on this show and other LE shows often enough that we can all put some reasonable scenario together in our minds. 

[CaptainCranky]

On 2/16/2019 at 8:14 AM, TV Diva Queen said:

Is Jenko going to for for the DA now?  I was confused. I thought her “secret” was was that she liked it but told Anthony that she  asiy hates his style.   If it means for screentime for Anthony, I’m all in. 

Agree on more screen time for Anthony.

The show was all over the board for me. Danny's angst didn't seem right with his macho mentality. Must be Linda's death is catching up with him.

Someone mentioned a  juveniles file should have been sealed. And the retired cop now coming clean was bogus. Glad Frank did the right thing.

And Frank really can't walk normal. Something has got to be wrong with Tom Selleck.

The Janko office crap still bores me.

Edited February 19, 2019 by CaptainCranky

[Rambler]

I thought it was hilarious how after Danny shot the guy and started feeling regret and compassion for the mother like any other normal human being would do, everyone was all "OMG there is something wrong with Danny!" Gramps was like "Remember when Linda was alive and you were shooting suspects left and right, you could go home and talk to her about it. Then the next day, you would be back to beating suspects, intimidating witnesses, and insulting fellow officers like normal. You need to get laid so that you can return to being the raging, uncaring asshole that we all know and love!"

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, Rambler said:

I thought it was hilarious how after Danny shot the guy and started feeling regret and compassion for the mother like any other normal human being would do, everyone was all "OMG there is something wrong with Danny!" Gramps was like "Remember when Linda was alive and you were shooting suspects left and right, you could go home and talk to her about it. Then the next day, you would be back to beating suspects, intimidating witnesses, and insulting fellow officers like normal. You need to get laid so that you can return to being the raging, uncaring asshole that we all know and love!"

Even before this I thought Danny and Frank both needed to get laid. Erin is getting laid but the frequency is not enough. She's too uptight.

[Katy M]

11 minutes ago, CaptainCranky said:

Even before this I thought Danny and Frank both needed to get laid. Erin is getting laid but the frequency is not enough. She's too uptight.

Yes, because getting laid and having sex with everyone you see is always the answers to all of life problems.

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

Yes, because getting laid and having sex with everyone you see is always the answers to all of life problems.

Duh this is a TV show that has little or no relationship to the real world. For all the absurd storylines we see one more trip into fantasyland would not be a stretch.

You are dead on for the real world but this show isn't real.

In the real world Jamie and Eddie would never be allowed to work together.

Edited February 19, 2019 by CaptainCranky

[tessabq]

Tom Selleck had a hip replacement a few years ago. I know, from experience, that can change the way you move. 

[Katy M]

I finally watched the rest of this.  I liked the Eddie/Anthony stuff.  I think he gave her some good advice about being a sponge (as in absorbing info/not being a mooch).  Then, I thought it was interesting that Frank said kind of the same thing about Jamie at Sunday dinner.  That he liked to get all different kinds of views to make the most informed decision.   Jamie's definitely my favorite, so maybe I'm reading too much into interactions, but sometimes I get the feeling that he's Frank's favorite, too.

[Sarah 103]

10 hours ago, Katy M said:

Jamie's definitely my favorite, so maybe I'm reading too much into interactions, but sometimes I get the feeling that he's Frank's favorite, too.

I don't know if Frank would admit to having a favorite, but Jamie is the most similar to him so maybe that's what you're seeing. Danny is more like Henry. 

[Sake614]

My dad’s been gone 24 years and mom still wears her rings.  And she hasn’t dated. Hasn’t even looked at a man. My father was her one and only love and they were married just shy of 45 years when he died. 

Some people are never ready to ‘move on’ and that’s fine. 

[CaptainCranky]

Just watched the 3-8 episode. Another 4 story lines which sucks. None of them worthy of decent comments.

My only observations are Erin sure does like to hassle Anthony and Frank has turned into a first class jerk.

[CaptainCranky]

This show continues to befuddle me. I've lost all interest in Frank Reagan's character.

The Jamko storylines have gotten more unbelievable with each episode. They are a cute couple but their sneaking around is now totally absurd. This relationship will not last the way their precinct storylines are being written. 

As for Danny, SSDD. Unkempt and living on the edge with each case.

The only Reagan this week that was believable was Erin. Finally some compassion from her character.

[yankydoodle]

It's good to see Danny affected once in a while when using his own gun. Really good acting by Donnie.