‘Blue Bloods’ season 6, episode 12 review: Can a shield number be cursed?

When we first saw that the episode title for Friday night’s new episode of “Blue Bloods” was “Cursed,” there was a big part of us that was not making the connection one way or another between this and the main storyline with Frank Reagan.

Before this episode, we did not realize that the police commissioner was anywhere near as suspicious as he was. Did this feel out of character? We would say so if this was about anything other than Frank’s late son Joe. A woman in Officer Carpenter was requesting the same shield number that Joe wore when he was an officer, but it also was one that got him killed. Meanwhile Carpenter’s own father also wore the number, and he also met an untimely end. The one fear Frank had about giving the shield up, in particular after consulting with the family, was the idea that it could lead to a less than favorable result for her out in the field.

When Carpenter was shot near the end of the episode, Frank had a terrible reaction only to realize that her new shield had not even been made yet. It was just a coincidence, but this lead to a meaningful conversation between the two about who Joe was in the closing minutes. Was this plot somewhat random? Sure, but we are glad the show hasn’t forgotten about the character, who died prior to the first season airing.

We’d say that in comparison to this, everything for the remainder of the Reagans this week just didn’t have the same punch. Danny’s emotionally journey that led to firing off his gun was intense as always, but it is also something that we have seen many times in the past. Nothing else this week had that sort of “pop” to it, and that’s a shame given that we were coming off of a really strong winter premiere. Grade: B-.

(Photo: CBS.)