Talk about bizarre!
Blue Bloods Season 12 Episode 19 featured Erin dealing with a stalker, but not one that meant her any harm. This case got weirder by the minute, and she ended up being the hero who saved her stalker’s life.
What kind of stalking story was this?
Lenny the stalker was mostly harmless. He rambled on and on about the price of food in restaurants, and the perfume both Erin and his wife wore and begged her to help him prove he got a raw deal 12 years ago.
If Erin had to have a stalker, Lenny was the kind she wanted. He didn’t want to hurt her. He just wanted her to admit he was right about the previous DA’s actions.
Ultimately, there was nothing she could do but apologize, so she could have saved herself some time and energy and just done that in the first place. She might not have known the specifics, but she knew that the DA on the case at the time was sleazy.
Anthony: Did Bernie Lidgett seem like a straight shooter to you?
Erin: I avoided him as much as I could. He was a serial horndog before there was a word for it.
Beyond an apology, it wasn’t clear what Lenny wanted. It wasn’t like Erin could reopen his case or undo the last 12 years of his life.
Anthony and Danny’s investigation turned up next to nothing, and then everything changed because it turned out Lenny had poked out a mob kid’s eye in jail.
Erin sending Lenny away to parts unknown to escape the mob felt like a pat, easy solution to the problem. Lenny was gone, never to be seen again, and she didn’t have to worry anymore about whether there was any truth to his claims.
This story had so much potential, but it fell flat.
Danny and Anthony’s investigation was all off-screen, so we didn’t even get any of the typical zingers these two throw at each other, which is the most fun part of any Danny/Anthony story.
How disappointing!
The mob angle came out of nowhere and didn’t add much to the story. The mob grabbed Lenny while Erin watched, and then all of a sudden, he was talking with Anthony and Erin, and they were sneaking him onto a plane.
How did he get away from the mob?
The whole thing made no sense. This felt like a pointless story that went nowhere and then ended.
Jamie’s drugged driving story was far more compelling.
Jamie is the last person anyone would expect to be driving under the influence of anything, and it only happened because someone slipped something into the guacamole.
You’d think that Jamie would be aware he was impaired before he left the party and called a Uber then, but I guess it took time for the THC to hit his system.
Eddie: Your dad won’t let an innocent man hang.
Jamie: No. He can’t come near this. No one in my family can.
Eddie: Why?
Jamie: The minute it even looks like strings are pulled, I’m done. I’ll never have the respect of my cops again.
The whole thing ended up being a mess that Jamie didn’t want Frank’s help with because of how that would look.
Jamie’s position was understandable. Even after the evidence proved he did his best to be a safe driver and that he had nothing to do with the accident, there were probably some idiots mumbling to themselves that he got away with DUI because he’s a Reagan.
It wasn’t that long ago that Jamie was perturbed by the idea of a bar where cops were sent to sober up instead of being arrested for DUI, but the public has short memories and probably never knew about that, anyway.
Frank’s staff undermining his hands-off policy about this was funny until it wasn’t. Frank didn’t want them to do anything and wouldn’t do more than hire a lawyer to handle Jamie’s case, and that was as it should have been.
Frank and Jamie were both right about this. Frank couldn’t give Jamie special treatment, and Jamie didn’t need it to look like he had gotten any.
Of course, since Jamie’s car was parked on the other side of the road when the cops found him, with no apparent damage, I’m not sure why the cops believed he was involved in the accident in the first place. But still, since that’s what he was accused of, Frank had to let it play out.
Henry’s story was also compelling.
Henry: I saw the doctor for my physical last week.
Frank: I know.
Henry: He called this afternoon and said he wanted me to come in.
Frank: You feeling okay?
Henry: I feel fine. But when they call you to come in, it’s never good news. And let’s face it, I’m probably past my sell-by date.
Frank had no right to do what he did.
The doctor was 100 percent in the wrong, too. He shouldn’t have talked to Frank whether or not he planned on being in the room when Henry came into the office, and he definitely shouldn’t have kept medical info from Henry.
Henry needed to know whether or not it was a slow-growing cancer that didn’t need treatment. And he had a right to that info.
Frank and the doctor both should have known better, and I was glad that Henry came down hard on Frank when he found out the truth.
Ah, Francis, I’m too old to say it and you’re too hold to hear it, but I’m really disappointed in you. You’re a great fixer, but when are you going to learn that every situation can’t be fixed?
Henry
Henry was right. Frank didn’t want to deal with Henry’s health issues or Henry’s potential anxiety about them, and that’s why he asked the doctor not to tell Henry the truth.
Henry was also right that Frank is way too much of a fixer and that he was only staying out of Jamie’s situation because the law demanded it. Even then, Frank found a way to help Jamie without breaking the rules.
Fortunately, Jamie didn’t talk his way back into trouble despite his lack of belief that you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth! Sometimes he’s too much like his father for his own good.
He probably wouldn’t have been happy if he had found out what Eddie did for him. I’m not sure that a wife investigating her husband’s DUI is kosher, but she got the evidence she needed, and the arresting officer was all too glad to provide it.
No one brought up Eddie’s involvement again, so I guess the ends justified the means in this case.
Ultimately, Jamie didn’t do anything wrong other than not call a cab when he left the party instead of waiting until he was on the road, unable to drive properly. He’s a good cop and a good sergeant, and it would have been a shame if the department had to let him go over this stupidity.
So while Eddie’s behavior might not have been 100 percent appropriate, I’m willing to overlook it this time.
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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.