It’s not often that Danny’s sensitive side takes center stage.
He’s often a hothead who browbeats confessions out of criminals or butts heads with his siblings.
But on Blue Bloods Season 10 Episode 18, Danny took it hard when a perp commited suicide, and his reaction was far more compelling than his usual story.
Danny’s case started out as a standard Danny/Baez case.
It wasn’t all that interesting. Two girls died of a drug overdose, a doctor said the drugs were unusual, and Danny and Baez did their usual thing to get people to talk.
The drug dealer they finally arrested was fairly bland as such characters go, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with the reveal that Jules, the girls’ “den mother,” had bought the drugs that killed them.
After all, Danny had already pointed out that one of the two adults supervising them had to know where the drugs came from, and the woman was uncooperative from the get-go.
It looked like we were in for the standard perp chase and arrest… and then Jules hung herself.
It was especially sad that she’d locked her little dog out of the room and it was yapping to be let in when Danny and Baez arrived.
At first, I thought they’d got there in time and Jules was going to make it and face some consequences for her part in the girls’ death. But there was no miracle in store for her, and Danny was left with the feeling that injustice had won the day.
Three more people died last night because of this bad batch. That’s five people and counting. You’ve got to start being straight with us.
Danny
This kind of story is a great vehicle for Danny because it reminds viewers of the reason he became a cop in the first place. Sometimes he enjoys being able to lord it over suspects a little too much, but at bottom he cares about victims and wants to get justice for them.
That was why he was so upset about Jules’ death. He felt it was selfish and denied everyone the ability to get justice for the people who died from the bad drugs.
I was on the fence about him calling Jules’ suicide cowardly.
People often judge completed suicides that way, and in most cases the person was living with insurmountable pain. Blue Bloods shouldn’t reinforce that stereotype, but at the same time, this wasn’t a typical suicide.
Jules’ choice might have come partially out of guilt, but she didn’t decide to kill herself until she knew she was about to be caught. So Danny was likely right that she only did it to evade having to take responsibility for her actions.
Meanwhile, Frank’s investigation into a priest for his old friend took several interesting turns.
My only complaint about this story was that too much of the actual investigation was off-screen.
Sid complained about his discomfort with the whole thing and Frank ordered him to investigate anyway, but then we jumped to Frank telling Kevin that the priest was no pedophile.
There must not have been time within the confines of a 40-minute hour to fully depict the investigation, but I wish Blue Bloods had cut something else and given us at least one scene of Sid investigating.
What was the point of him dragging his feet about it if he was going to have no further role in the story?
Monsignor: Couldn’t you just tell me he was innocent of what I asked?
Frank: Is that really what you wanted?
That was a minor blip in an otherwise fascinating story, though.
Kevin learned more than he wanted to thanks to Frank’s investigation, but Frank was right — his old friend didn’t really want just half the truth.
This was one of the few times where Frank wasn’t on the side of enforcing the letter of the law. Spiritual law is different from secular law, but still. He and Kevin have dedication to enforcing rules in common, and Frank isn’t usually one for bending them.
Frank: Technically, I am not a cop. The commissioner cannot be a sworn officer. And I am not here because I think you broke any laws. Not our laws, anyway.
Priest: I understand.
Frank: But I was a detective, which means I spent a lot of time on your side of the confessional. And I also developed a pretty good instinct for when I’m being told the whole story and when I’m not. So let’s have it.
Priest: I betrayed my vows once, 12 years ago.
But this was a more difficult situation than Kevin acknowledged too.
Yes, priests are supposed to take a vow of celibacy and this one broke his — and was continuing to live in a semi-family arrangement in the rectory.
But at the same time, the priest was trying to make amends for his behavior and be the best father he could for his son under the circumstances, and something felt wrong about Kevin breaking that up for the sake of enforcing Church doctrine.
I had to wonder if Kevin ever suspected that the priest had a child and ignored that suspicion until Frank confirmed it. It may have been an open secret that Kevin had to deal with once it was no longer secret.
Elsewhere, Jamie and Eddie’s case didn’t get the airtime it deserved. The kids’ arrest and confession seemed rushed, and I was left wondering what the heck Mia was thinking.
Mia: You don’t know what some of these kids have been through.
Jamie: It isn’t about what these kids have been through. It’s about what they did in that store.
Mia: No. It’s about what’s been done to them by the system.
She claimed the kids had been acting out because they didn’t have school and had few opportunities in their community. But what did she think encouraging them to engage in illegal activity was going to accomplish?
And furthermore, did she really think she wasn’t going to get caught? She was supposed to be helping these kids and instead she got them arrested. Someone was likely to talk in those circumstances.
Finally, I wasn’t sure how to feel about the way Erin treated ADA Wilson.
The woman was brand new, got ambushed by reporters, and let something slip she shouldn’t have. She also greatly admired Erin and misunderstood why Erin spoke to the press during a previous case.
If I were Wilson, I would have been heartbroken had the DA I most admired reacted with such fury over a mistake.
On the other hand, Wilson got defensive too quickly and insisted Erin would have done the same thing, which didn’t help her case.
Even so, though, Erin was too hard on her and could have made her points a different way. Plus, while she’s right that some mistakes can’t be taken back, the fact is that as an ADA, Wilson is going to make heartbreaking mistakes.
It comes with the territory, and Erin should be helping her navigate that instead of berating her.
What did you think, Blue Bloods fanatics?
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Blue Bloods continues to air on CBS on Fridays at 10 PM EST/PST. The Blue Bloods Season 10 finale will air on May 1, 2020.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.