Blue Bloods kicked off Season 13 with a bang.
The Season 13 premiere Keeping The Faith had the Reagans facing challenges, from Erin trying to salvage a trial to having ex-husband Jack Boyle (Peter Hermann) back in her life.
Also, Frank and Archbishop Kearns (Stacy Keach) decided to see what the people of New York really felt about the cops.
The biggest story was about Jamie as he and Eddie faced the choice of which of them might be forced to leave their precinct.
But a brutal shooting threw the Reagans into a tailspin, and the aftermath may affect them for some time.
This made for a gripping Season 13 premiere that will resonate for a while for Blue Bloods fans.
Eddie and Jamie face a tough choice
Eddie and Badillo were walking down the street, with Badillo noting more cops had died in the previous year than since 2001. They got a call about a domestic disturbance and arrived to see Andre (Dario Vasquez) and Sofia (Anais Almonte) Castillo fighting.
Jamie came up to help them, arresting Andre for having a gun on him and checking on Eddie.
In court, Erin heard her witness, Marina Parks, was missing and suspected cartel leader Carlos Munoz (Juan Francisco Villa) was behind this. The judge ordered the trial postponed as Anthony looked for Marina.
Jack Boyle showed up to talk to Erin, but she was too distracted by the case falling apart.
Jamie and Eddie checked in with their new boss, Captain McNichols (Stephanie Kurtzuba), who broke it to them that she couldn’t let spouses work in the same precinct. She gave them until the end of the day to decide which of them would have to transfer out.
Baez was adjusting to motherhood as Danny told her she couldn’t worry about such long-term events while joking about putting a chip in her kid. They met Anthony at Marina’s home when Joe Hill showed up.
Joe explained Marina was also a federal witness for him. Just as they were discussing things, Marina’s body came falling from the roof with “snitch” written in Spanish across her forehead.
Frank heard the reports that more police officers quit the NYPD the previous year than in history. Also, Frank was being disinvited to a public ceremony while a new poll found public officials were no longer trusted.
Frank noted how, nowadays, people assumed institutions were seen as corrupt and leaders as untrustworthy, and it was hard to see how it would change. Garrett asked, “WWTRD: What would Teddy Roosevelt do?”
Danny and Anthony told Erin there were no clues to Marina’s murder but knew Munoz was behind it. Erin gave them the weekend to solve it.
Eddie talked to Jamie about not wanting to leave, and Jamie agreed as he was going to ask for the transfer. Badillo interrupted to tell Eddie the Castillos were at it again.
Erin met Jack for dinner, knowing anything she did would be under a microscope, including her ex-husband. Jack was surprised Erin thought he wanted to back off as he actually wanted her to meet Warren Bradford, a possible big donor for her campaign.
Eddie and Badillo found Andre attacking Sofia and then shot his gun at them. He also slashed their tires so they couldn’t follow him as he drove Sofia away.
A Reagan goes down
Jamie confronted Erin about Andre being released despite the fight and the gun use, with Erin shocked to hear about him shooting at Eddie. She was distracted by the Munoz trial as the pair argued, with Jamie declaring he was tired of being “The quiet one” in the family.
Jack talked to Erin about how he felt insulted she was worried about him having secrets that could hurt her. It turned out the pair had been hooking up once again, but Erin was wary of taking it further, especially with the press on her.
Archbishop Kearns was surprised to see Frank show up looking like he was going on a fishing trip. He told Kearns to put on some “civilian clothes” so they could go out together.
When Kearns asked what this was about, Frank said they had both “Lost our flock” and needed to take a page from Teddy Roosevelt and tour New York without any aides at their side. Kearns agreed but swore he would never be on the subway.
Frank also said no phones and, “You bring your rosary, and I’ll bring my gun.”
Anthony managed to obtain a phone call from Munoz ordering a hit on Marina to his underling…who just happened to be Andre. Danny called Jamie, who was following Andre to his boat.
Checking the boat out, Jamie saw Andre dragging Sofia to the boat. Danny and Joe arrived as Andre spotted them to shoot Jamie. Danny and Joe charged over to help as Andre managed to get away.
Danny and Joe raced Jamie to the hospital with a frantic Eddie showing up to cry, “You can’t leave me alone!” Henry arrived to tell them even Frank’s staff had no idea where he was.
Frank and Kearns were taking an uber around New York, soon coming across a motorcycle gang causing havoc right outside a police precinct.
Seeing no one trying to stop this, Frank muttered, “Maybe we need a new sheriff in town.” Kearns marched into the precinct to tell the desk sergeant about the gang, with Officer Malone (Joseph John O’Connor) snapping, “It’s a jungle out there, and that’s that.”
Malone was naturally quite surprised to recognize Frank, who assured him he had a “free pass” to speak his mind. He tried to defend himself on “It’s the way of the world,” as Frank said, “Stay safe. If that is not redundant.”
Erin arrived at the hospital and was upset to hear Crawford’s policies freeing Andre led to Jamie’s shooting. The doctor told Eddie the bullet was near Jamie’s spine, and the surgery was so risky that he openly asked if they wanted a priest on hand.
Erin was guilty that her last words with Jamie were an argument, while Danny used a story from when they were kids on how the Reagans always needed to blow off steam.
It was Kearns’ turn to show off a 123-year-old church about to close because of the lack of congregants. He was upset that a chalice smuggled out of World War II Warsaw was now missing, along with the donation box.
Kearns asked Frank not to call the theft in as “It would not be an act of faith.” Frank couldn’t believe Kearns was putting so much faith in people to do the right thing, as Kearns noted they both had a lot of work to do.
A special dinner guest
The doctor told the family they had removed the bullet, but there was still a road to recovery. Danny and Joe began hunting Andre as Joe brought up his father’s death. He wondered how the family was able to move on with Danny saying somehow, Joe’s dad was always with him.
Anthony showed Erin Andre’s car with Sofia’s body in the trunk. Erin had managed to get Marina’s grand jury testimony admitted for the trial and hoped to add another murder charge to things. Anthony was wary of Erin’s attitude, but she assured him she’d be okay.
Danny and Joe led a pack of cops to the printing press Andre had worked at. They took him down, with Joe beating Andre before Danny, for once, was the voice of reason. When Joe demanded to know why they should do it by the book, Danny snapped it was what Jamie and Joe’s dad would do.
McNichols stopped by the hospital to check on Jamie, and Eddie asked her to try and keep them working in the same precinct. Eddie said she had to be the first person to know if Jamie was in trouble.
Erin met Jack at a bar to say Jamie would be okay. They bantered about some old times together and played some pinball.
Jamie was being discharged in a wheelchair as there was still a question of how much long-term damage he had. He wanted to just leave without any fuss, but of course, Frank was there to lead a pack of cops applauding Jamie’s heroism. He managed to pull himself out of the wheelchair to return his father’s salute.
Kearns joined the family dinner and was confident the thief might turn himself in. Joe joked Kearns was the “rookie” at the table, as everyone was happy to have Jamie with them. Kearns led them in grace before enjoying the meal.
It was a tough episode for Jamie, yet it showed the Reagans’ bond to kick the new season off well.
Blue Bloods Season 13 airs Fridays at 10/9c on CBS.