09×22 Something Blue

As Jamie and Eddie’s wedding day approaches, Frank worries about the toast he’ll deliver at their rehearsal dinner. Also, Erin interviews a witness whose story leads her to doubt Eddie’s honesty, since she took his initial statement, and Danny and Baez unravel the complicated love life of a young homicide victim, on BLUE BLOODS.

 

CBS Press Release

Initial Thoughts

These are my thoughts on the final episode of season 9. A lot of it is my interpretation of what is not said and may exist purely in my imagination. If you agree or disagree please let me know as I’d still love to hear from you regardless, I just ask that you’re polite. It’d be great to debate ideas and see what interesting theories emerge.

This is probably one of the most challenging posts I’ve had to write. I don’t want to be unrelentingly negative as producing a TV drama is a difficult task and I don’t want to make it seem as though I don’t appreciate the hard work everyone involved puts into making it. However, this is the moment that everyone, or at least all Jamko fans, had been waiting for…

Ahead of the episode, there was the excitement for the wedding whilst trying to retain a cautious optimism regarding how much time could actually be devoted to the ceremony considering everything that a normal episode includes. Then the promotion kicked in. The hype before the episode was responsible for setting a false expectation, without it, I would have been fully prepared for such a small amount of screen time (although I still think I would’ve been disappointed by the elements that were shown).

Scene by Scene Breakdown

In case you want to remind yourself of any of the scenes, click on the headings for a link to the relevant clips on YouTube, courtesy of Jamko4ever.

Officer Janko Visits the DA’s Office

Erin seriously misjudges the tone of this meeting. She welcomes Eddie as a family member with talk of the wedding and then accuses her of failing to do her job properly. Ultimately Erin was more willing to trust someone she’d just met than someone she’s known for several years. She may have queried whether the witness was telling the truth but it wasn’t exactly an exhaustive line of questioning was it? (Erin you may later claim to be behaving professionally but it isn’t what’s happening in reality. There’s a reason why Anthony says he should have handled it.) 

Jamie & Eddie Discuss Erin

It’s time for another domestic moment – it’s as though the production suddenly remembered they actually had a shared space outside of the precinct. Jamie is in a difficult position at the start of this conversation, he appears to play devil’s advocate as he attempts to head off family problems so close to the wedding. He does come dangerously close to causing a bigger problem by not agreeing with Eddie but there’s no doubt about his feelings thanks to his automatic response to Eddie’s description of Erin. There isn’t even a moment’s pause as he tells Eddie that she’s a smart, confident, accomplished, and ridiculously beautiful woman.

Jamie & Erin at the Courthouse

From the outset, the setting of this scene makes it very clear that Jamie didn’t seek Erin out after Eddie’s comments. When he encounters Erin he doesn’t immediately raise the problem, instead, they chat about Frank. There is a sense of Jamie not being happy with Erin, but perhaps not wanting to make the situation worse, and it is Erin who then pushes him to speak up. Even when Jamie does talk about the problem he does it in a very reserved way. Erin may claim that she was treating Eddie just like any other NYPD officer when Eddie visited her office but that doesn’t explain why she started the meeting with wedding talk. You get a sense of Jamie’s exasperation at Erin’s response as he walks away.

A Harsh Wake-Up Call

The start of this scene is amusing, it doesn’t take long for it to be revealed that Jamie has been sleeping on the couch (it was unlikely the show was going to provide a glimpse of their bedroom…). Eddie’s anger may run a little to the passive-aggressive; she seems to go to the trouble of preparing Jamie’s smoothie just so she can wake him up using the blender. Sadly this is the last scene in this episode where Jamie and Eddie exchange any dialogue. It’s not quite an argument but it isn’t a happy conversation. While it might be viewed as an interesting contrast to the happy occasion of the wedding this means that Jamie and Eddie only share bittersweet moments. 

The biggest problem with this conflict between Eddie and Erin is that Eddie seems to be falling between being treated as a normal cop and being a Reagan. It feels a little late in the season to return to the potential issues of becoming part of the Reagan clan. It was touched on briefly back in Meet the New Boss, and again in Rectify, but apart from that early bar scene it’s always presented as a point of conflict for Jamie and Eddie rather than something they sit down and talk about. It potentially says a lot about the Janko family relationships that Eddie’s questioning why Jamie did something for her without being asked. Of course, Eddie did do something similar in Authority Figures when she attempted to stop the pranks despite Jamie not asking for any help. 

A final observation about one of the props that’s visible on the table behind the couch, that ever-present photo of Joe. It shows him in uniform, which does mean it’s instantly recognisable, but the same photo is frequently seen in the show. It’s the photo that’s used in Jamie’s cover, in Frank’s office, and in the family home. Perhaps the props team could photoshop him into a casual outfit just for a bit of variety?

Eddie on a Stakeout

It’s something of a surprise that Eddie still has the Porsche. This is partly because of its age, it was a high school graduation gift and those things aren’t cheap to maintain, but also because it was a gift from Armin. Any gift from Armin is likely to have been bought with the money he’d gained through committing fraud. There may not have been any legal issues but would Eddie really want to keep it considering all the negative associations it should have?

Anthony has a unique perspective on the Reagans as during this season he’s dealt with more than half of the family. The conversation between Anthony and Eddie, about the all-consuming nature of the Reagans, seems to be picking up on an idea that had been forgotten. Again it recalls what Eddie was feeling at the end of Meet the New Boss and that her sense of identity could be lost. It doesn’t make sense that they waited so long before returning to this idea. This could’ve provided a much more meaningful issue for Eddie and Jamie to deal with rather than the minor conflicts which appeared during the season.

Eddie & Anthony Arrest the Witness

Eddie and Anthony were first shown working together in Blues. This is another occasion where they make a great team, as seen by how they let the witness know he’s been found out. There’s a nice move from Eddie as she scares the witness into running simply by clearing her throat.

Jamie Visits Frank

As a call back to Playing With Fire this scene provides a great bookend to the season. The two scenes take place under very different circumstances and really underline that Frank and Jamie’s relationship has improved significantly. The completely deadpan delivery of Jamie’s reaction to Frank’s ‘joke’ is priceless and is probably one of the highlights of the episode for me. They might be sitting in the Police Commissioner’s office but Frank can still be the embarrassing parent.

The conversation includes the bombshell that Eddie has a dead brother. Jamie says it so matter-of-factly that you could believe that you’d missed an episode where this had been covered before but there hasn’t been anything in any of the Janko interactions which have suggested that Eddie once had a sibling. It does make me want to take another look at Lena’s behaviour and her need to protect Eddie. I’m not sure any event can excuse Armin’s behaviour but it does now make me wonder.

The main point of Jamie and Frank’s conversation is how to address Eddie’s pre-wedding nerves and the acknowledgement that perhaps the Reagans need to change their ways. Frank’s observations, with Anthony’s comments earlier, suggests that this change might be something that happens in season 10. Eddie is being used as the driver for this but the Reagans weren’t quite so job-focused in the past, they did actually socialise and have friends outside of work. Perhaps the production team are acknowledging that they’ve gone too far and intend to address it.

Eddie Visits Erin

Eddie takes full responsibility for the conflict that’s occurred between her and Erin (as well as the fallout with Jamie). It’s nice that Eddie feels that the conflict was due to Erin treating her as an equal but I do think Erin was too quick to accept the witness’s answer whilst remaining sceptical about Eddie’s. Erin wasn’t as unbiased as she claimed and she’s let off the hook far too easily. I think that Eddie’s comments regarding Jamie are fairer, she had to know that if she tells him about a problem he’s going to try to help – it’s what he does. The last line of Eddie’s is delivered perfectly, “I’m just getting started” holds so much promise for what may come in the future.

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

Lena just can’t help herself with her speech at the dinner, poor Eddie’s face when Lena mentions Armin (really Lena couldn’t you have left him as the one who shouldn’t be mentioned?). Lena’s toast to Jamie leaves no doubt as to how highly she thinks of him. A mother’s highest praise is acknowledging that her soon-to-be son-in-law’s love for her daughter is equal to her own.

One niggle with the scene, this is the wedding rehearsal and yet there seem to be more shots of Erin and Eddie than of Jamie and Eddie. It would be nice to see a little more of the bride and groom; perhaps this would have provided an opportunity to show something more than the brief moment of physical contact that occurs when they bump shoulders, even if it was another instance of out-of-shot hand-holding (especially after the Dream Team managed to get a group hug). Another thing that bugs me about the scene is the toast to Jamko, it was kind of fun in the trailer but within the episode itself I actually find it annoying – this is probably because of what happens next. A shoutout to the fans immediately before the ‘wedding’ really just makes the whole situation worse.

The ‘Wedding’

The brief build up we get is lovely but it would be more appreciated if it wasn’t the only part of the wedding we got to see. Jamie is probably worried just because Frank has disappeared, it’s not a great start to your wedding if your only parent isn’t present. This leads into a sense that the wedding is actually focused around Frank, initially, this is due to Jamie and Danny both wondering where he’s disappeared to but then we’re shown that Frank is with Eddie. That wonderfully empowering message that a woman is not a possession, and therefore doesn’t need to be given away, is tossed aside so we can have Frank come to Eddie’s rescue and agree to walk her down the aisle. The justification for this request has been pulled from thin air; there had been previous mentions that Eddie was nervous about the wedding but that doesn’t automatically translate into a specific fear that she’s incapable of walking up the aisle without falling over. Of course, another reason that Eddie is reliant on Frank is that she has no attendants, not a single bridesmaid despite Jamie having three groomsmen. Is there any reason why the bride and groom would differ so greatly in their choices regarding this element of the wedding except to create a situation where Eddie was alone. So the wedding scene manages to avoid focusing on the bride and groom – to the extent that they never share a single frame – instead, the only constant of the scene is the father of the groom.

There are some nice details such as when the Reagan men position themselves on the steps with Henry waving at the rest of the family even though the pews they’re sat on are only a few steps away (it’s also adorable that Jamie and Danny assist Henry down the steps – there is possibly a real-world practicality to this but it still creates a sweet moment). We also get Jamie’s very confident assurance that he wants to marry Eddie. Sadly these moments don’t build up to anything so it all falls somewhat flat.

Final Thoughts

A minor point to start with but I believe this is the first episode in the show’s history without a single scene in the Reagan family home.

This was promoted as a wedding episode and so you would expect it to be one of the most lightweight season finales in the show’s history. It is but sadly it’s not because the episode is focused on a happy, romantic wedding. Although multiple storylines could’ve provided some balance there just isn’t a lot of particular substance. Danny and Baez’s case was another by the numbers police procedural and the Dream Team had a funny storyline which might at least put to bed some of the squabbles they have. The rest of the episode, while tackling what it means to be part of the family, didn’t really quite gel well enough to provide any emotional lift. There were some lovely moments but, as I’ve already mentioned, it didn’t quite succeed in building towards anything – with the wedding being cut off just as Eddie walks down the aisle it was left hanging. So we have a wedding episode where the wedding doesn’t include the bride and groom ever even standing next to each other let alone sharing a kiss, and the only physical contact between the two during the whole episode is when they bump shoulders while at the wedding rehearsal. I don’t believe that the audience is made up of Victorian maidens who demand that the relationship must appear chaste to ensure they’re able to maintain their virtue.

Ultimately the biggest problem was the promotional material – it promised far more than the episode delivered, this needs to be used as an example of how not to promote an episode. It also feels as though we spent more time on the relationship dynamics of the Dream Ream than we did on the couple getting married.