Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
It happens at least once a season, but with only seven episodes left I didn’t have patience for Danny’s guest partner.
Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 12 sidelined Baez in favor of a snobby British investigator who insisted Danny work with him to catch a gunrunner, while Jamie had the goofiest case he’s had in a while.
However, Frank and Erin demonstrated yet again that they take their jobs seriously, and their integrity more than made up for the silliness elsewhere.
Danny’s Guest Partner On Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 12 Was One Of The Most Annoying Temporary Characters In Blue Bloods History
I’ve never been a fan of these guest partner episodes, which tend to follow the formula of Baez being sidelined in favor of some guy Danny finds annoying, only for the two to develop mutual respect before the case ends.
The Lyle Lovett ones were all right, and that time Danny was forced to partner with Anthony was pure gold. Anthony’s practically family, and he and Danny exchanging zingers was as much an act of love as it was an act of hate.
This one, on the other hand, felt like a waste of time when there isn’t much left of it.
I’m not a fan of stereotypical British guys who think they’re superior to Americans and put them down at every opportunity.
I guess there are people like that on both sides of the pond since I’ve seen plenty of stereotypical Americans in British and Australian programs.
Still, the ridiculous versions of Americans on Neighbours are far less annoying than yet another American-written Brit who turns his nose up at everything.
Granger had a bad attitude toward Danny from the moment he popped up at a crime scene, and it didn’t get better over time.
Danny: You think this Hughes guy has something to do with how our vic got dead?
Granger: We gave you a perfectly good language, but for some reason, you refuse to use it.
The only person who could ever pull off that kind of humor without annoying me was the late Christopher Hewitt, who made plenty of cutting remarks as Mr. Belvedere back in the late 1980s.
Granger fell far short of that standard.
When he criticized Danny’s grammar, I was distracted recalling Blue Bloods Season 10 Episode 9, when Danny told a perp that his use of double negatives meant he was confessing via his denial.
(Ironically, that was the first episode featuring Mayor Chase, whose attitude also annoyed me this time but whose story did not.)
Granger did save Danny’s life in the end while also ending his vendetta against Archie Hughes, so that’s a point in his favor.
However, if Danny had to have a partner in a case involving gun runners, I wish it could have been Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s Elliot Stabler.
I know that’s something that will only ever happen in fanfiction, as the two shows are not set in the same universe, nor are they on the same network.
Still, the two hotheaded cops bonding over having lost their wives to a mob hit would have made for strong, compelling drama.
Crawford Made Me Wish Erin Hadn’t Given Up Her DA Run, But Her Comeuppance Made It Worth It
One of the reasons Granger was so hard to take was that he was featured in the same episode as Crawford, who is one of my least favorite characters.
Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 12 made me spend time with two characters I can’t stand, which wasn’t cool. However, the Crawford story gave Erin a chance to shine, and that couldn’t happen without Crawford.
Crawford’s insistence on indicting a cop who was most likely just doing his job was annoying.
Cops who abuse their power should be held accountable, but the solution to public perception that they are not is not to indict cops for doing their job correctly.
Also, Erin was recently exonerated after a false claim of jury tampering, so what made Crawford think that Erin would EVER argue something she thought was total BS simply to influence a grand jury to indict?
Erin would have made a better DA than Crawford and her arrogance. Unlike Crawford, she’s actually committed to justice, and she proved it by handling Crawford’s nonsense this time.
Erin argued the case she wanted to argue in front of the grand jury, ignoring the dirty looks Crawford gave her.
The grand jury’s refusal to indict was delicious enough, but then Erin had a strong comeback to Crawford’s complaint about it.
Crawford: You put your finger on the scale.
Erin: I did exactly what you asked me to, except I used a different finger.
Crawford should know by now that she’s not going to manipulate or bully Erin into doing anything.
Erin is more like Frank than Crawford realizes. She does what she thinks is right, and she will not compromise her morals to please her boss.
Frank Was Fighting A Similar Battle To Erin On Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 12
Erin’s issue with Crawford was somewhat analogous to Frank’s with Mayor Chase.
Chase’s belief that he was right to force the arresting officer to drop charges against an ex-cop was infuriating, but what was even more annoying was that he assumed Frank would do the same thing if one of the Dream Team got in trouble.
Chase is ignorant of Blue Bloods history if he thinks that.
On Blue Bloods Season 8 Episode 4, Garrett dealt with a SWAT team that was answering a fake distress call at his home, only to be frustrated and disappointed that Frank wasn’t more empathetic or willing to do much about it.
Frank also refused to give the late Lenny Ross’ daughter a pass for illegal behavior only 9 episodes earlier, and he punished Jamie and Joe for a similar fight outside a bar that was far less violent than the one Cooper got into on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 9.
Chase’s argument held no water. The two men are completely different when it comes to giving people a pass, not that we didn’t know that already.
Frank’s integrity is a given, and it was equally unsurprising that Sid was unequivocally on Cooper’s side.
The thing that impressed me most was that Frank was able to extend so much compassion and grace to Mayor Chase at the end when he blamed himself after Cooper was seriously injured in a road rage incident.
After Frank relayed the fact that Cooper was in serious condition after the next person he pulled a gun on used theirs against him, Chase blamed himself, realizing that the incident wouldn’t have occurred if he’d allowed Cooper to get in trouble for the previous fight.
Frank could have agreed or pointed out that he’d tried to get Chase to see the error of his ways, but that’s not within his character. Instead, he reassured Chase that hindsight was 20/20 and the main person to blame was the ex-cop who kept drawing his gun in situations when he shouldn’t.
I consider myself an empathetic person, but I don’t know if I could be half as kind and compassionate as Frank was with Chase.
That’s a part of Frank’s character that isn’t discussed much. His integrity and intractability are well known, and there’s constant talk of how intimidating he is, but he can also be empathetic, even to those who have crossed him.
That should be talked about more. Compassion and empathy are too rare in modern society, and they soften Frank’s hard edges, yet they are not the thing anyone thinks of when they think of him.
What The Heck Was Up With Henry Wanting A Wake While He Was Still Alive?
I was thrilled the dinner scene was in the middle of the episode, but what the heck was that?
I’ve been worried since before the final season began that Blue Bloods would go the disappointing and depressing route of Henry dying, and now he’s talking about how he wants to be honored while he’s still here.
Part of me thinks they’re making it TOO obvious that Henry will die and that it’s a big misdirection, but then I wonder if that’s just me in denial.
I don’t want Blue Bloods to end, but since it has to, can we please avoid Henry dying?
Of course, the dinner discussions could also be used as a set-up for a prequel about Henry’s time as Commissioner, but still, we don’t need all these mentions of Henry’s death, and we definitely don’t need it to come true!
It Was Clear Those Goofy Guys Were Wasting Jamie’s Time
Jamie’s case was so silly that it’s not worth spending much time on. There are far better undercover assignments he could be doing than that one!
The scene at the end where he proved it was the goofy guys’ kids placing bets on their accounts would have been worth it if it had tied into his plans with Eddie to have a baby.
Instead, it was just… there. After all that time he spent trying to get the “victims’” attention so that he could investigate their case, it just came to a goofy end.
I never object to Jamie on my screen, but that was not his best case by a long shot.
Your turn, Blue Bloods fanatics!
What did you think of Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 12?
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Blue Bloods’ final few episodes air on CBS on Fridays at 10/9c and on Paramount+ on Saturdays.
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