It has to be hard to be Joe Hill.
He didn’t grow up with Frank and feels like he’s always living in his late father’s shadow — and he didn’t even know the guy.
He also isn’t used to Frank disciplining his relatives the same way he would any cop who screwed up, which also contributed to his annoyance on Blue Bloods Season 13 Episode 13.
Although Joe’s most significant problem with Frank is that he doesn’t measure up to the father he never knew, the work issue had to have bothered him too.
The situation was more complicated than it seemed. On the one hand, Joe disobeyed orders from a superior officer. On the other, he followed NYPD protocol even if the FBI agent in charge disagreed with that protocol. It had to have felt as if Joe was being punished for doing what he’d been trained to do.
It didn’t help that the FBI agent was convinced of his rightness and accused Frank of nepotism because Frank didn’t automatically agree with him.
Sid: But the law says Joe didn’t do anything wrong. If we hear toilets flushing or drugs being destroyed, we go in.
Jeff: So you’re talking his side?
Frank: No one said that.
Jeff: He’s your grandson, right? So I assume that means he’s Teflon.
Anyone who has ever dealt with Frank for more than ten seconds knows that’s not how he rolls, but the FBI agent’s accusation irritated Frank, and Joe might have thought that Frank came down extra hard on him to disprove the man’s accusation.
I wish that Joe had talked to his half-brothers about what had happened. They could have reassured him that Frank wasn’t singling Joe out; they both have stories about Frank reinforcing NYPD policies even when they had a good reason to ignore them.
Of course, Joe wasn’t about to do that. He already feels like an outsider who doesn’t measure up, so why would he risk Danny or Jamie taking Frank’s side? That would only make Joe feel even more isolated and alone.
Whether Joe’s punishment for disobeying the FBI agent was deserved, one thing was for sure: he needed to learn the proper way to talk to the Commissioner.
Joe may be Frank’s grandson, but in the office, he’s a cop, and Frank is the Commissioner. Joe’s comments were inappropriate for any employee talking to their supervisor, never mind a cop talking to the head of the police department!
Joe: You told me that my father was a take-charge guy, always the first to charge in. So maybe what this is about is that you don’t want history repeating itself. Reflect on that!
Frank: Hold on! I have reflected on that. A lot. Often in the middle of the night. So this whatever it is that’s between us, it ain’t us.
Frank responded to it as Joe’s grandfather, aware there was some issue between them that he didn’t quite understand. However, Joe can’t talk to superior officers like that if he hopes to be on the force for very long!
Frank’s also right that Joe has to learn to follow directions, though Danny never fully mastered that either, and it hasn’t hurt his career any. There have also been times that Jamie ignored his commanding officer to protect emotionally disturbed citizens.
But Joe is young and hotheaded and doesn’t seem to believe in respecting superior officers at all. He must learn to follow the rules before deciding when to break them.
That final scene with Frank and Joe was one of the most touching Blue Bloods scenes ever. Joe — and the audience — got glimpses not only of Joe Sr but also of Mary Reagan, who died long before the series began.
Joe’s upset was understandable. Conversely, I had several bones to pick with Erin over her anger toward Eddie.
Jack: If Jennifer asked for a lawyer, it’s Eddie’s obligation –
Erin: It is not her obligation to get lawyers for people who stab other people!
Erin’s anger that Eddie helped an arrestee get an attorney was ridiculous.
I get that she wasn’t happy to have to butt heads with Jack when she thought she’d rid herself of him. Still, Erin’s anger seemed focused on the idea that it would be harder to make her case if the defendant had a decent lawyer.
If Erin’s ability to prosecute accused murderers depends on the police not informing arrestees of their right to an attorney, there’s a bigger problem than Eddie hiring Erin’s ex for this one.
The cops and the prosecutor should both be on the side of justice, not on making it as easy as possible to arrest and convict people.
It’s a good thing that reporter from the Ledger didn’t know about this; how would it look for Erin’s campaign if a news story broke that Erin resented defendants being advised not to speak to her without an attorney present?
Erin also seemed extremely invested in the idea that Jennifer was a premeditated, cold-blooded murderer. Even if she was right — and Anthony’s discovery suggested it was possible — she still could have had empathy for this defendant.
She came off as wanting to punish a rape victim for defending herself because of her insistence on painting her as some sociopath who took a life for the hell of it.
Erin could have argued that even though it was understandable that Jennifer would want to kill her rapist before he could hurt her again, this murder didn’t count as self-defense because she wasn’t in immediate danger. That might have played better with a jury, and then she might have gotten somewhere.
Of course, Erin’s judgment was clouded by Jack being the defense attorney. If he was defending Jennifer, Erin had to defeat him at all costs. That might be why her empathy disappeared.
I could understand why Eddie wanted Erin and Jack to try again, especially after her conversation with Jack. Eddie is a bit of a romantic, and Jack’s explanations for what went wrong boiled down to the “Reagans are intimidating” problem, which Eddie and Jamie have successfully navigated.
If Erin resented Eddie for putting her nose into her relationship, she should have said that instead of pretending it was about her case being harder to win.
Danny and Baez’s case of the week was interesting — serial killer cases usually are. But did anyone else realize that psychiatrist was the culprit the second he showed up?
He gave off a weird vibe while describing his profile of the killer, and the thought immediately popped into my head that he did it.
It was also weird that he was in his office by himself when Danny showed up to arrest him, especially since the receptionist said he couldn’t be interrupted.
I don’t think he was faking his mental illness, but Walker no longer needed to mask his symptoms once he was caught. He realized that letting go of his friendly psychiatrist persona could work to his advantage, so he didn’t bother putting any energy toward acting sane anymore.
What did you think, Blue Bloods fanatics? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
Blue Bloods’ next new episode won’t air until March, but you can watch Blue Bloods online whenever you need a visit with the Reagans.
Blue Bloods airs on CBS on Fridays at 10 PM EST / PST.
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.