11×13 Fallen Heroes

Jamie faces official reprimand from Frank when he refuses to explain why he contests the arrest report of a fellow officer assaulted in the field, a rising rookie with allies in City Hall. Also, Danny and Baez clash when their lead suspect for the murder of a legendary comedy club owner is one of Danny’s favorite standup comedians, and Eddie balks after she agrees to an undercover assignment for Anthony then learns his informant is Don Voorhees (James Le Gros), a former corrupt parole officer she and Jamie arrested, on BLUE BLOODS

CBS Press Release

Initial Thoughts

These are my thoughts on the thirteenth episode of season 11. Much 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 Jamie and Frank storyline was virtually perfect; that slow build to Frank’s explanation of who Jill was and the emotional significance was breath-taking and is a reminder that this is a show that can still surprise its viewers. It exceeded my expectations; the synopsis and promo pics had raised the question of what was so significant about Jill that Jamie would behave in the same way he had while investigating the Blue Templar? Again it came down to Jamie’s love for his brothers and wanting to honour them. In contrast, Eddie’s story was only a handful of scenes, but it was a different way to build on the history she has with Voorhees. The episode effectively showed how Jamie and Eddie’s prior knowledge of Jill and Voorhees determined their reactions and led to helping them improve their situations.

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.

Training Towards Disaster (Jamie)

It feels so rare that this side of Jamie is shown, such a friendly and open boss, as typically we only see him having to issue discipline. The sole purpose of this conversation in the RMP is to ensure we all feel the loss of Jamie’s relationship with Hektor later on. Between this and Deon in The Common Good, Jamie’s not having much luck in maintaining trust with his mentee. Of course, Jamie is quizzing Hektor on values that are relevant to what happens during the episode, namely “respect the dignity of each individual and render our services with courtesy and civility” and “maintain a higher standard of integrity than is generally expected of others because so much is expected of us.”

Regarding the Jaws reference, it’s easy to imagine that Danny and Joe made sure Jamie watched the film at a relatively young age. After all, it’s a cop who beats the shark, and not just any a cop, a former New York City cop.

The Critical Moment (Jamie)

This demonstrates the difference between theory and practice; Hektor has memorised the statement that he should respect the dignity of everyone he meets, but he doesn’t know how to deal with Jill’s behaviour. As they weren’t there to respond to a call, it seems unlikely she’d been aggressive with anyone until he walked in. Hektor is still very new to the force, so he is taking the situation personally. (Baker later comments that a more experienced officer wouldn’t have treated it in the same way)

Raised at 1PP (Jamie)

Sid’s very careful to make sure everyone starts to voice their opinions on the situation before dropping the bombshell that Jamie is the one they think has submarined his partner. It became complicated once it was clear that the team knows Hektor and have almost as much reason to believe in him as they do in Jamie.

DA Surprise (Eddie)

Voorhees’ involvement sets off warning bells for Eddie; how can you rely on the information he provides when he has shown himself to be so untrustworthy? It seems likely that it’s the nature of the case that makes Eddie unable to forget about it, despite her reservations. Voorhees has shown himself to be a little desperate with him being so quick to reaffirm his willingness to continue helping. (Eddie refers to events that happened in season 8’s Erasing History and season 9’s Past Tense)

Meeting at 1PP (Jamie)

Frank is trying to get a read on what Jamie’s thinking and hopefully an explanation, but in the end, he’s possibly more confused and frustrated than before the meeting took place. Frank tried to switch this to their personal relationship rather than official, but it wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t contentious like when it happened in Playing With Fire, but Jamie’s keeping the lines clear. 

Jamie is a terrible liar, even when it’s a lie by omission (reminiscent of season 3’s Scorched Earth, where he had to cover for Vinnie when answering questions from Erin)

Impassioned Plea (Jamie)

The level of intrigue is built with Jamie’s certainty that Jill is a good person and denial that she’s not deserving of any help. At this stage of the episode, it remains unclear what Jamie knows to have such faith in Jill.

1PP Update (Jamie)

Frank appears to be giving Jamie the benefit of the doubt, he may not understand why Jamie’s done what he has, but Frank’s assuming it’s justifiable and so is starting to downplay the situation. However, the attention being paid to the issue is increasing; they’ve run out of time.

Honesty from Voorhees? (Eddie)

Despite Eddie’s refusal to work with Voorhees, she’s been unable to forget about the investigation. Eddie’s curiosity has to be the reason she visits Voorhees. With what Eddie knows about him, she realises that his priority will be to get something for himself, but she also accepts there has to be an element of truth in the information if he hopes to gain a reward.

Suspension (Jamie)

Again, being a Reagan is assumed to mean that there’s an entitlement. Jamie’s paying the price for the choices he has made, but did the boss who informed Jamie of the suspension have to do it in the middle of the precinct so everyone could watch it happen? Was he planning to do that, or was it just in reaction to walking in on the argument, so he decided he needed to humiliate Jamie? If the intention was to show all of the officers that they were punishing Jamie, then it appears to be a success.

Reagan Family Dinner

Jamie and Frank stating everything is ‘fine’ when it isn’t is so like Frank and Henry in Spilling Secrets, a reminder that the Reagan men are very alike. When Eddie steps in to defend Jamie’s view, it prompts a fairly petty response from Frank. Is it because Eddie can demonstrate her trust in Jamie, or does it make Frank suspect she knows more than he does? Have to assume there was a conversation at some point, even if Jamie didn’t share the specifics. As Eddie takes the lead in the dinner conversation, it allows Jamie to be grumpy (and he grumps beautifully). Despite the ongoing antagonism between Frank and Jamie, there’s still some fun between Danny and Erin.

Pop’s Visit (Jamie)

The second time this season that Jamie has been on suspension, it’s happened so often he probably has a set routine for exercise. As Jamie is still catching his breath, it makes it much more difficult to read his tone, but there’s probably a mixture of frustration and sadness. Either Frank recognised he wasn’t getting anywhere so asked for help, or Henry felt the need to step in after family dinner. In trying to force Jamie to speak up, they’re making it more difficult. Jamie doesn’t immediately dismiss Henry; it’s when Henry pushes that Jamie has to refuse. Why was Henry insistent that they go out for coffee? Is it that Henry wants the conversation to take place on neutral territory?

Undercover Prep (Eddie)

This scene reaffirms that Eddie was now showing some faith in Voorhees, while Anthony had become more assertive and had probably reached the limit he’d set on trusting Voorhees.
This scene feels a little disjointed, the pacing is possibly struggling a bit at this point, and although it sets up the conclusion, it feels more like a reminder that this storyline exists.

Jill’s Truth (Jamie)

As soon as Jill referred to Frank as Jamie’s dad, it was the heads up that there was a lot more going on than we were expecting. Even with Jamie having taken an active interest in Jill and arrested her half a dozen times, it doesn’t seem like he’d have been talking about his entire family. But with the revelation of her history in the marines with Danny, it all made a lot more sense. Frank reassures Jill that Jamie hadn’t broken his promise to her but noticeably didn’t make a similar promise himself.

Danger in the Bar (Eddie)

Maybe it was going to be enough to get Hobbs to agree to Eddie’s offer, but not entirely sure this approach would get to a point where they could show that Hobbs was forcing women, as Eddie’s making the offer. It could be that’s one of the reasons he was immediately suspicious and checking for Bluetooth signals. It’s easy to imagine that Hobbs was supposed to be the type of guy who enjoyed the power he felt by making the women do what he wanted, whereas Eddie was taking control of the situation. Voorhees had completed his journey of redemption, but it isn’t clear what Hobbs would be charged with, other than attacking Eddie. (This makes the third time this season that Eddie’s been forced to the floor in an attack, the women of Blue Bloods are in the thick of the action scenes this year.)

Informal 1PP Meeting (Jamie)

Frank’s smile shows just how proud he is of Jamie; now he understands the situation, his demeanour has changed completely. Jamie’s promise to Jill ensured he kept her trust and allowed him to watch over her, even if he couldn’t affect a change to her situation.

”With every win comes a loss”; Jamie isn’t going to have a chance to make things up with Hektor. This isn’t unusual for Jamie; of all the characters in the show, he’s the one most likely to make a mistake and have no opportunity to fix it. It may be impossible to resolve the issues with Hektor, but Frank has been busy. Frank says it’s part of Jamie’s punishment, but there’s no doubt that he’d decided on Jamie spending time at the community centre so he could provide Jamie with a sense of success and closure.

The Reunion (Jamie)

Frank arranged things perfectly; with Danny’s arrival, Frank has acted to help Jill and made sure that Jamie’s efforts are fully recognised and appreciated. The look Danny shared with Jamie during the hug; can only imagine the gratitude that Danny feels he owes to Jamie, that Jamie went so far and put so much on the line for Jill.

I’ll admit I would love to have seen the conversation between Frank and Danny; however, it’s obvious why it couldn’t be shown within the episode. It would have reduced the impact as Jamie (and the audience) are surprised by Jill and then Danny’s arrival.

Final Thoughts

Both stories reflect on fundamental aspects of Eddie and Jamie’s personalities, the values they share, their compassion and their willingness to believe in others. Eddie’s storyline may suffer a little from being briefly told against such an emotional and involving story, but it’s still an unusual addition to the Voorhees saga.

Jamie’s decisions were based on the family’s dedication to service and the belief that family comes first. Although his refusal to speak to Frank or Henry might appear to contradict the second point, Jamie was paying the debt the family owed to Jill for her part in making sure Danny came home safe. Jamie also had to respect Jill’s decision to keep her situation secret. It seems as though Jamie was treating this promise with the same sanctity as a priest who has taken confession, which makes sense considering a past reference to the tradition of a family priest in Collateral Damage.

It’s been rare that Jamie has a story that showcases his empathy and compassion following his promotion to sergeant. However, this was a reminder that he is still the same person who believed Melissa Samuels when Renzulli couldn’t in Hall of Mirrors and protected Billy in The Brave. Similarly, Eddie has only had the opportunity to bond with babies since they moved to the 29th precinct, but she was still willing to give Voorhees a chance to prove himself.

The extent to which Jamie risked his career to keep his promise to Jill, a woman to whom the family owed so much, is perhaps a timely reminder of the lengths the family will go ahead of the season finale. The phrase ‘the end justifies the means’ alludes to taking any action necessary if it allows you to achieve what you need. Here Jamie is undermining the trust of his fellow officer so that he can keep helping Jill. With what is known about the finale, it provides food for thought on how far the Reagans might go to protect Joe. It also reminded us that while Jamie and Eddie are involved in different parts of the episode, there can still be a moment or two to demonstrate how they care for each other, even if it’s just showing their support.

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