‘Blue Bloods’ season 6, episode 11 review: Did a book sink Frank Reagan’s career?

Going into Friday night’s new episode of “Blue Bloods,” there was one story that intrigued us more so than any other: How Frank was going to be able to handle some of his past coming into the present, and also just what he would have to be ashamed of.

Was Tom Selleck’s character a murderer or anything else terrible? No, but he was still concerned about what his former partner was doing in releasing “Back in the Day,” which focused on some of the ways in which they cleaned the streets years ago. At the time in which they were young cops, these were standard operating procedure; however, these actions are frowned-upon today, and they could land him in trouble. Lawsuits were thought about and considered, but in the end Frank decided to publish a foreword to the book so that he could at least exercise some control. He decided that he was not going to be ashamed of who he was, and with that, he was not going to fight it. It was an interesting end, and it perhaps showed that Frank was not so beholden to getting his way every minute of the day. This episode seemed to revel in the unexpected, since there was a time when it looked like a long legal battle would be waging over this.

As for some other stories in this episode…

Danny – The most compelling part of his story this week was watching his questionable parenting tactics, employing an anti-bullying technique from his own past to help his son out. We spent most of the episode thinking that this was going to come back to haunt him in some terrible way, but it didn’t end exactly how we imagined.

Jamie and Eddie – This just seems to be a theme these days: One of them does something that makes the other one question their trust. This time around, it was her going too far to catch a criminal to the point where others could be in danger.

Erin – She managed, with the help of a witness, to take down a powerful political figure. Consider this a huge win for her! We only wish that the entire story was as powerful as the final few minutes when she finally got him in handcuffs.

In the end, this was a signature “Blue Bloods” episode, and a great way to start up the new year. Sure, we do still wish that Jamie and Eddie would just kiss and start dating already, but it was otherwise entertaining and did a few things to break the classic mold. Grade: B+.

(Photo: CBS.)