Blue Bloods Season 14, Episode 16 Review: The Reagans Fix Everyone’s Problems Too Easily
Blue Bloods Season 14, Episode 16 may be called “The Gray Areas,” but there’s not much for the Reagan family to navigate in the hour. All of the episode’s plotlines are relatively easy to solve, and all of them end with the Reagans fixing the problem in one way or another. It serves as an example of how the CBS show is a feel-good, family-oriented procedural worthy of its longtime fan following — but it’s not the best that this series can do.
“The Gray Areas” starts with a veteran NYPD officer becoming a public figure after a life-threatening subway assault, leading to an argument between Frank Reagan and Mayor Chase. Elsewhere, Eddie Janko-Reagan is to the rescue again, this time for her own partner. And the case of the week for Danny Reagan and Maria Baez involves the world of mixed martial arts, but that just adds flash to a pretty typical story.
Blue Bloods Season 14, Episode 16 Wades Into PR Waters
Frank and Erin Battle Others’ Perceptions of Them
The two biggest storylines in Blue Bloods Season 14, Episode 16 involve public perception. The “A” plot happens when Sergeant Ray Russo makes the unwise decision to send his rookie partner away with an assault victim, and is beaten up by the five people who originally attacked the man. This is a suspect moment from the start, because as the partner points out, it’s a five-on-one situation so in no way is this going to work out. But then it becomes even more suspect as Mayor Chase arrives with the press to praise Russo’s efforts. Russo becomes the mayor’s poster child, and in return the mayor offers him a made-up job.
The best part of this plot is getting to see Dylan Walsh again, especially since Walsh was just killed off Superman & Lois. But the story itself is typical political gamesmanship, in which Frank has to contend with other people’s ambitions and doubts himself just enough before being right in the end. It’s interesting that when he proposes working with the Mayor, he says that he has a plan to address safety in the subway and they can present it together — not that they can discuss a solution together.
Frank Reagan: Garrett, he used one of our police officers as a prop.
Erin Reagan’s storyline starts with a mock trial winner praising her as a great prosecutor, but once he’s on the other side of the table, the character pivots to accusing her of painting everyone with a broad brush. And once she and Anthony get him off the hook, he’s back to looking up at her. Erin is 100 percent correct when she tells Christopher that he’s the one who jumped to conclusions, but the way he is written practically causes whiplash. It’s as if the character was made specifically for Erin to impart that lesson. The best aspect of this plot is also the guest star; that’s Station 19 star Okieriete Onaodowan, who just appeared in Law & Order Season 24, Episode 5, “Report Card.”
Blue Bloods Glosses Over Danny’s Close Call
Episode 16 Doesn’t Reference His Previous Experience
Some procedurals keep close continuity, while others take a more relaxed, week-to-week approach. Blue Bloods opts for the latter route with Danny Reagan’s storyline in “The Gray Areas.” Watching this episode, viewers would have no idea that Danny almost died in the previous hour. He’s his usual sarcastic self, and his partner makes no mention of it either — despite the fact that Baez was gone when her partner nearly got shot, so one thinks she might have asked about it. In fairness to the writers, there’s no set time that’s passed between episodes, so all of that may have happened off-screen. But with that close of a call, it would have been nice to have an on-screen acknowledgement.
Instead, Danny and Baez investigate the death of an MMA fighter, thrown out a window before the big fight. His opponent is the obvious first suspect and the only one seriously established. That’s because as soon as the suspect mentions match fixing, viewers know that the true perpetrators are going to be the big, tough guys, who drag people to a warehouse and threaten to shoot them. The surprise is that the suspect’s coach is one of them. But because all of these characters are broadly drawn, it only matters insofar as Danny gets another win. The MMA angle simply means there are some loud, bright scenes at a weigh-in and at the fight to make the plotline more visually exciting.
Blue Bloods Lets Jamie Fall on His Sword
Once Again, Eddie’s Storyline Tugs at the Heartstrings
Eddie is at her best when she’s fighting for someone who has been wronged, but since Blue Bloods Season 14 came back, that’s pretty much all she’s gotten to do. In Episode 16, it’s trying to stand up for her partner Luis Badillo after he’s caught smoking marijuana not too far away from a police charity event. As is pointed out, this is an incredibly stupid decision, so the plotline feels a bit contrived. But it sets up Eddie and Jamie to try and find Badillo before Internal Affairs does. Eddie does her usual campaigning in front of her boss before Jamie steps in and lies, saying that he was the officer who reported Badillo but it was a false report. He gets a citation that goes on his record, but this is just brushed off as Jamie doing “the right thing” for a fellow cop.
Luis Badillo: You still haven’t given up on me yet?
Eddie Janko-Reagan: I never will.
It’s also an example of thematic repetition. Eddie tried to save the career of her old friend Rachel in Episode 14, and then the future career of trainee cop Jaylen Davis in Episode 15, and now the career of her own partner in Episode 16. Just because the character is good in thiis space doesn’t mean that’s the only kind of plot she should get. Eddie discovering that Badillo spends time with the son of his previous, deceased partner is a clear attempt to add more emotion to the story. Yet that’s not enough to justify the fact that Eddie and Jamie are going well outside the lines to protect him, whether it’s lying for him or wanting to get him into rehab — not so much to help him as so he can avoid a drug test.
But from the script’s perspective, this grey area is fine because it’s for Eddie’s partner. Blue Bloods Season 14, Episode 16 gives Badillo a second chance, as well as Christopher, while Danny closes his case and Frank solves his PR crisis. Everything works out in the end. It makes viewers feel good, but it’s not that challenging or exciting.
