11×03 Atonement

When Joe Hill’s lineage as a Reagan is revealed, Frank struggles from a distance when his grandson wants to fight his own battles. Also, when Erin and Anthony receive gift-wrapped evidence, they carefully weigh their options to either take down a long-time mafia leader, or stifle an ambitious mob up-and-comer. Also, Danny’s opposition to authority clashes with Jamie’s adherence to the rules, as both brothers work to solve a murder, on BLUE BLOODS.

CBS Press Release

Initial Thoughts

These are my thoughts on the third episode of season 11. 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.

The storyline for the two brothers provided some entertainment with a touch of humour and drama. The brothers didn’t really clash; Danny’s main frustration that Jamie is so focused on punishing himself, he makes it difficult for Danny to work on the case. There’s a lot to like about this episode, but it’s easier to appreciate when we’re only 3 weeks from the next episode. This is likely to have been originally intended as the final episode of season 10; while there were many points of fun and emotion, it’s unlikely this would have carried viewers across the summer in the same way that Family Secrets did. A bonus was the reassurance that Jamie and Eddie hadn’t given up the apartment and moved into the precinct.

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.

Finishing Last Week’s Dinner

We pick up exactly where we finished the previous episode. There is a constant thread of humour as Joe’s aunts and uncles all try to reassure him. It’s almost comical, with the way they keep reducing the amount of time it will be a topic of conversation; Danny suggests a week, Jamie takes it down to a couple of days, and Erin optimistically suggests a few hours. Eddie gets to provide some advice and creates an opportunity for some gentle teasing as they try to reassure Joe. There were several ways that Eddie could have introduced her point of view, she would know the effect of her comment and did it to help lift the mood. Then Jamie and Erin took the cue and added to the teasing. They are all trying desperately to help Joe deal with the shock.

Memory Test

No-one will be surprised that Jamie starts blaming himself straight away, despite the initial report sounding so flimsy. Have to say that claiming to have been told something by God isn’t going to make a claim seem believable, especially if someone is dealing with a hundred things at once. As much as Ana likely wanted the incident investigated, she was scared of it discovering something she wasn’t ready for, and that’s why her story wasn’t convincing.
Danny sounds every inch the big brother in this conversation, his tone is so calm and gentle, none of the aggressiveness we might often expect. (In the scene where he’s told about the case you can see that he’s just starting to build up to a typical Danny rant, right up to the second when he realises she’s talking about Jamie. There’s an instant change as soon as Danny realises Jamie’s involved)

Fraternal Frustration

This marks the first time that Danny has been seen visiting any of Jamie’s homes. Although he doesn’t have much choice when Jamie’s reported himself. There’s a definite difference between how Danny spoke to Jamie earlier and his tone here. It’s that frustration he has with the way Jamie feels he must respect the rules. They’re just as stubborn as each other, but Danny uses Jamie’s belief in doing the job well to nudge him towards the idea of working on the case.

I thought after they moved out of the old apartment we had seen the last of Jamie’s sports equipment, but when Jamie has time on his hands and wants to exercise in December, it’s time for the home gym.

Danny Disrupts Dessert

We don’t get to see any conversation between Jamie and Eddie. There was clearly a decision made to include Eddie in this scene, as Danny didn’t need to arrive while they were both at home. It was at least considered important that we were given an impression of them spending time together, so it has a bit more meaning for Eddie to be present than some of the scenes in the previous episode. One advantage of Jamie being on suspension, he and Eddie are actually spending time together at home. Maybe Jamie’s the one who prepared the meal as he’s spent the whole day at home. Interestingly, Eddie doesn’t look at Danny at all as she leaves the room, it feels like she and Jamie are communicating with just a look. Eddie initially asking ‘do you want me to leave you to it?’, then ‘shout if you need me, but it’ll be OK’.

Jamie makes a flippant comment to Danny about them not working well together but that no longer seems very truthful after In the Name of the Father and what happens in the rest of this episode. They may annoy each other, but Danny and Jamie can work together.

Poker Night

As a brief aside, have to think this was only a few hours after Jamie and Eddie were having dinner based on what Jamie is wearing. 

We know that Jamie is supposed to be a terrible liar, but this doesn’t seem to prevent him from having an excellent poker face. Although maybe it doesn’t happen that often and that’s why he takes such delight in beating his brother, father and grandfather. Danny gets his own back by making sure that Henry knows Jamie reported himself. Danny might be a bit unfair in suggesting that Jamie is trying to set a record for investigations. It is the third time Jamie was investigated in nine episodes (the two previous investigations were in Fog of War and Vested Interests) but only the second time Jamie was the one reporting himself.

Of course, Joe got into a fight defending the rest of the family rather than for himself. It seemed far more likely that he’d get into a fight if anyone insulted the rest of the family than he would if they were just going after him.

Investigating Quietly

Danny’s knowledge of how his brother’s mind works has paid off. Leaving the file with Jamie means that he discovered the vital clues they need to identify a suspect. There are two ways to look at the fact that Jamie was the one who found this out. First is Jamie’s detective skills are that good that he found something the detectives had so far missed. Second is Danny didn’t want to give up on the case but knew that as he wasn’t allowed to work on it, he didn’t have the time to be as thorough as he would like. Also, Jamie needed to be allowed to solve the murder, so he made sure that Jamie was in a position to find the answer. Jamie doesn’t really seem to get the idea of sneaking the report back to Danny. We know from season 8’s Heavy is the Head that he can be sneaky when he wants to, so Jamie’s probably doing this just to annoy his brother.

Family Connections

Despite Danny being the one Ana went to for help, it’s Jamie’s plea that she responds to. This is so similar to what happened in Careful What You Wish For, the differences in their approach is highlighted when Jamie’s request for help is more effective than Danny’s demand.

Important Conversation

There is such a high level of tension, with what has happened you can’t be sure that Jamie will be successful in talking Andy down. Thankfully Jamie can gain Andy’s trust and concludes the investigation which he never had the opportunity to start. Would it have been different if Jamie had walked onto that rooftop while on duty, and therefore in uniform? Andy may guess that he’s a cop straightaway, but with the state that he was in how would he have reacted on seeing the uniform? It feels like this moment takes advantage of the fact Jamie has managed to get himself a rip.

Reagan Family Dinner

It’s unusual to get two family dinner scenes in a single episode. The only other time it’s happened was My Brother’s Keeper, and that was because Danny and Jamie needed to apologise so treated the family to an extra meal.

Frank may be worried about Joe, but he’s doing everything he can to reassure the rest of the family, with some assistance from Eddie and Jamie. In Family Secrets, Jamie was the one who was shown to be worried about Frank getting hurt. That’s probably why he and Eddie are speaking up now, it’s not just about reassuring the rest of the family, it’s also about some comfort to Frank.

Final Thoughts

It isn’t surprising that the story took the direction it did, Jamie holds himself to such a high standard that he can’t ignore his own mistakes. Danny and Jamie aren’t really clashing because of this, Danny’s really just frustrated that Jamie is so willing to blame himself. Danny prefers to bend the rules and prioritise solving the crime, while Jamie feels it’s important to respect the standards they should be held to in all situations. They may not exactly see eye to eye, but Jamie and Danny now have a much better working relationship. It may well be that it changes again, but for now, it’s much improved.

Strange to be at this point in season 11 with Jamie and Danny having worked together in every episode when in season 8 they only shared family dinner scenes. Donnie Wahlberg had said at the beginning of the year he wanted to work with Will Estes more; that’s definitely happened here. Across the first three episodes, Jamie has spent almost as much time at the 54th precinct as at the 29th.

The setup of the story seems a little convoluted, but that was necessary to give Jamie a reason to reject a case out of hand, but for Danny to be able to start an investigation. It’s great that the writers are trying to challenge themselves and create new situations for the stories. They might not always be entirely successful, but it keeps things fresh. The slight downside was that Eddie was only briefly involved in the story. Instead, her most notable contribution was at the family dinner table. Hopefully, there is a longer version of the apartment scene to give a better sense of them spending time together (even if it’s only available via DVD). It’s just a little frustrating that so far this season we’ve only been given short glimpses of them together. Can only hope that Redemption will mark a change and we’ll start to see more storylines where they’re both involved.

There will be a bonus post before the end of the year on the Joe story arc.