Blue Bloods Season 12 Episode 17 Review: Hidden Motive

What is Mayor Chase up to?

On Blue Bloods Season 12 Episode 17, Jamie and Frank argued after Chase secretly tapped Jamie to be his new head of security.

Jamie was sure Chase was making this move to get revenge on Frank for perceived wrongs, but I didn’t quite get how that would work.

Frank said that Chase’s interest in Jamie wasn’t as straightforward as wanting him because he was a Reagan.

That much made sense. Jamie has proven himself to be an exemplary cop who has come a long way in a short time.

It wasn’t that long ago that he was a beat cop who didn’t have any interest in anything more than that. Now he’s a sergeant in charge of a dozen or more cops who does his best to balance work and family interests.

Anyone would be proud to work with him, including Mayor Chase.

Chase tried to do an end-run around Frank to make this request, probably because he assumed Frank would have a problem with it. But where I’m lost is why Jamie was upset with Frank over it.

Jamie: You didn’t think to give me a heads-up?
Frank: I didn’t know he was going to call you. So am I supposed to give a heads-up to every cop who might be transferred, or just you?
Jamie: I didn’t say that.
Frank: I can read the room.

Jamie got mad at Frank for not giving him a heads-up — something Frank only chose to do because he was following protocol rather than giving Jamie special treatment.

I got that Jamie didn’t like being left out of decisions that influenced his career and that he felt that if Frank knew about it, he should have told him. But I still don’t get what that had to do with Chase trying to stick it to Frank.

Sure, Chase insulted Frank by routing his request through Sid and not talking to him directly, but so what?

Was Chase hoping that Jamie accepting the job would cause a rift with Frank? And if so, that could easily be solved by Frank and Jamie talking honestly, as they did at the end of the hour.

Frank also indicated that this had something to do with Chase’s gubernatorial aspirations.

I guess he’s choosing the people he wants to accompany him to the governor’s mansion should he be elected, but I’m still not sure what that has to do with his decision not to tell Frank directly that he wanted Jamie to be part of that team.

The conflict here was confusing. I’d rather Jamie had spent his time being conflicted about what to do without being upset that Frank didn’t tell him ahead of time that he had a decision to make.

Meanwhile, Anthony’s story about Leo was ostensibly about his fear that Leo was rejoining the mob.

Anthony didn’t do much investigating into that, though. Instead, he focused on trying to get Leo financial help so that he wouldn’t have to depend on money from a mobster.

Erin: A medical loan?
Anthony: Eavesdrop much?
Erin: It wasn’t intentional.

This story served as comic relief more than anything else. I laughed at Leo’s bemused reactions when his girlfriend went into labor. Something tells me these two are going to need a lot of help and that Anthony may have trouble staying on top of his work for the next little bit.

Thankfully, the Anthony vs. Erin part of this story was kept to a minimum. Anthony is still mad that Erin stalked him a while back, and Erin is still putting her nose into his business, but that’s easier to take in small doses.

Eddie and Badillo’s case was one of the more interesting stories of the hour.

Blue Bloods often tackles common social problems from the cops’ perspective, and this story was no different. Instead of showing the Youtuber as a hero who successfully stood up to police abuse of power, this story was about a troublemaker who tried to provoke cops so that his audience could cheer him on while he fought with them.

He was obnoxious, annoying, and entitled, and I was glad that Eddie arrested him. Free speech has never meant that you can say whatever you want without consequences, something which agitators on both sides of the political spectrum seem to have lost sight of, and the guy deserved to get arrested.

I didn’t like Badillo’s attitude, though it demonstrated how much pressure cops are often under, thanks to their poor public image.

He shouldn’t have blamed Eddie for any of what went down. She didn’t “take the bait.” If anything, she was trying to keep Badillo from getting into trouble. The incident happened fast, but he seemed more upset than she did while it was happening, making it doubly ridiculous for him to accuse her of hotheaded or impulsive behavior.

It’s always fun when Henry shows up to save the day, though, and he did it in more ways than one this time!

I heard you think that Reagans are all goody-two-shoes and hotheads. Well, you’re not wrong. But we do come in other colors. Keep your eyes open and you just might see it.

Henry

If anyone could put Badillo in his place, it was Henry. He has a way of smiling and speaking gently while subtly twisting the knife. He used the same techniques that got that Youtuber to take his video down to warn Badillo to stop judging Eddie or the rest of the Reagans.

Finally, Danny and Maria’s case of the week was bizarre.

This case seemed goofy from the get-go, with a rookie cop who couldn’t even tell the difference between an unconscious victim and a dead one. Maria was upset about the Spences’ arguments during the investigation, but I just wanted them to be quiet!

And when Grace woke up, the case was easily solved. But I was half expecting it to be that newbie cop. I thought maybe he mistook her for a perp and hit her, then realized she actually lived there.

That guy was so green I wouldn’t have put it past him!

The real solution was far less interesting. It was a robbery gone wrong, and the Spences’ faithful driver turned out to have been behind it.

We’ve seen something like this before on Blue Bloods, and I wasn’t attached to any of these characters enough to care about this.

Your turn, Blue Bloods fanatics. Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts about Blue Bloods Season 12 Episode 17.

If you missed the episode, watch Blue Bloods online right here on TV Fanatic.

Blue Bloods airs on CBS on Fridays at 10 PM EST / PST.

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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.

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