‘Blue Bloods’ season 7, episode 7 review: Danny and Anthony’s team-up; Eddie comforts Jamie
Danny Reagan on “Blue Bloods” really should carry around a sign with him over his head bearing a rather simple message: “Does not play well with others.” After he blamed the District Attorney’s office over their role in a key witness being killed before the trial, that led to him and Anthony being forced to make a rather-unwelcome collaboration from most of the episode.
We won’t pretend that this storyline, one at the center of Friday night’s new episode entitled “Guilt By Association,” was altogether original for this show. We’ve seen similar investigations in the past regarding discord between the PD and the DA’s office. The one thing that made this special from the creative standpoint was pairing up two characters who don’t often operate directly. In some ways, Danny and Anthony are alike in that they fulfill similar roles within their separate departments; it is the way in which they go about their business that is somewhat different. Erin was able to resolve the case within court during what was one of the scarier confrontations we’ve seen so far this season; let’s just say that the real guilty party did not necessarily appreciated being outed in the middle of the courtroom.
Are Anthony and Danny on better terms after working together? We wouldn’t say that, but we like the prospect of them working together in the future.
Jamie’s guilt – At first, we thought that this storyline tonight was going to just be a fun one where Jamie reacted to the news that Eddie was seeing someone. (That is what gets our ‘shipper heart beating!) What it turned into was far more severe. Early in the episode, the partners did what they could in order to save a jumper from ending his life. Upon doing so, this man later went and killed the girlfriend who he blamed for his mental anguish. In turn, Jamie felt as though he had wrongfully changed the course of history.
Eventually, Eddie was there to console him … and then offer to go out for drinking and darts! While that’s not exactly a date, it does look like her new relationship could already be on the rocks.
Frank feels the heat – While “Blue Bloods” is (thankfully) not a show about politics, how politics impact the police often do play a role. We saw that tonight when Frank was pressured into trying to support an investigation into excessive use of force by police officers. It is a troublesome issue, and one that should continue to be monitored. After all, this is something that is a focus of many people all around the country aside from the show.
In this instance, though, Frank was right in pointing out the political motivations of it, where opening an investigation into the police demonstrated that you were looking out for the concerns of the people. The results that it would create did not justify the means or the effort to initiate it. While there were strong opinions aplenty in here, we are starting to feel this season especially like we’re just revisiting similar notes with Frank time and time again.
Overall take – “Guilt By Association” was best when focusing on Jamie and Eddie, mostly because their storyline was the most personal on all fronts. Not only did we have a suggestion that there could be deeper feelings there someday, but Jamie also had to wrestle with what happened to the jumper. Police often do have to handle the specter of death, but not frequently under these precise terms. Episode Grade: B+.
(Photo: CBS.)