‘Blue Bloods’ season 5, episode 19 review: Saving a source v. stopping a crime

What is the real meaning of ethics in journalism? This is the story that came up and took center stage on “Blue Bloods” Friday night. In many ways, “Through the Looking Glass” was a story about perspective. Everyone had one, and they often tried to enforce their opinion on others.

For example, you had the story tonight of an investigative reporter who was out to expose the problems with certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn by telling the story of one murderer who killed for the sake of killing, and offered up no remorse or explanation other than that specific gangs controlled the streets. Pretty terrible stuff, made even more terrible by the fact that she refused to turn over the name. In her mind, it was a question of ethics. She traded anonymity for the story, and did not want to give in and change her perspective when Frank implored her to do so. Her refusal to help the case eventually led her behind bars, until she was eventually let go and somehow, a source ended up calling in the tip that broke the case wide open.

What did we learn here? That sometimes, the right thing to do as a citizen can overrule the right thing to do for your career. This is still a reporter out to expose deficiencies in the NYPD, but occasionally she can be on the same page as them.

The Frank story was far and away the best of the night, since watching Danny teach a lesson in tough love feels like something we’ve seen many times already. His perspective is one where you learn things the hard way, and that doesn’t always work. Personally, we prefer storylines that are presented as a little bit more gray; for example, Frank’s plot was stuffed full of ambiguity this week, and on the strength of that, we still found this to be compelling, thought-provoking drama that was worth the wait to finally have the show back on the air. Grade: B+.

What did you think about this “Blue Bloods” episode? Share with a comment.

Photo: CBS