It’s never easy to have a target on your back, especially if you’re a Reagan.
As if Danny didn’t have enough on his plate last week accidentally helping a woman’s stalker find her, he now had to turn to Jamie for aid when someone put a hit out on him.
That was added by the return of Joe Hill, Eddie meeting her new partner, and Erin’s case getting her in hot water for a tough Blue Bloods.
Someone is after Danny
Be Smart Or Be Dead opened on a melancholy note as Danny visited Linda’s grave. Unfortunately, it was spoiled by a woman (Annelise Cepero) aiming a gun at him.
Eddie and her new partner Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan) got off on the wrong foot with him calling her “Reagan” and insisting on driving. They answered a call where deli owner Ram Singh (Gugan Deep Singh) related that a customer entered, stopped a robber with a gun, said “be smart or be dead” and even handcuffed the guy to a shelf. Ram was reluctant to say more.
Leticia Harris (Adeloa Role) was holding a press conference accusing Erin of being on a witchhunt for her mother, who Erin was prosecuting for a decades-old murder. Erin admitted to Anthony she’d tried to recuse herself, but Crawford refused.
At a hospital, Frank checked in on an injured Joe Hill, who’d been jumped by a mysterious assailant. Joe wanted to brush it off, but Frank intended to investigate who was behind this.
Jamie told Danny that the woman, Elena Marquez, from the cemetery had been arrested just before killing him. Jamie added Gormley was ordering him to keep an eye on him rather than take it up with Frank.
Joe’s attacker was Javier Estevez, a long-time crook Joe had arrested for attempted murder who just got out of prison. Eddie wanted to find out who the “good samaritan” was, while Badillo just wanted to take an easy arrest. The serial numbers on the handcuffs hinted the guy might have been an off-duty cop.
At trial, Leticia defended her mother, Sandra (Cheryl Freeman) to cast doubt on the fingerprints on the gun. Erin pointed out to Crawford that keeping quiet all this time on what she saw would hurt the case. She was also still upset about Erin pushing this as “you had good intentions, which in the Reagan playbook makes it all okay.”
Who wants Danny dead?
Elena claimed she didn’t think it was “honorable” to shoot Danny in the back at his wife’s grave. She admitted she was pregnant and wanted out of the gang life with killing Danny serving as the price for her freedom. She then revealed Danny was targeted by Arturo Munoz aka La Nieve (“the Snow”), from Mano Sangriento, the gang responsible for Linda’s death.
Frank visited Joe at his apartment to talk about Joe’s dad for a bit before getting around to Joe not telling who had beat him. Joe didn’t see a point as the perp would be out fast and he’d just get more bad press. He wasn’t sure what Frank wanted with Frank musing “maybe you do” before leaving.
Danny wasn’t happy about Jamie locking down his apartment to the point of rooming with him, the pair bickering like they were kids again.
Eddie dropped by to return Henry his handcuffs. Yep, Henry was the good samaritan. Eddie tried to get him to promise not to do it again, but Henry scoffed he was too old and experienced to stop. He also got her to promise not to tell the others.
It turned out Munoz was the nephew of Rojas, the drug lord Danny arrested for Linda’s murder, looking for revenge. So Jamie and Danny decided to fake Danny’s death with photos of his “corpse” as a way to sucker in Munoz.
At trial, Leticia played her big card — making it sound like Erin was doing all this just to embarrass Crawford and take her job. Judge Angioli (Richard Klein) overruled Erin’s objections to force Anthony to admit Erin had expressed an interest.
Frank arranged for Estevez to be arrested on federal charges so he couldn’t make bail. Joe still didn’t want to cooperate even when Frank made it clear he’d be suspended if he didn’t identify his attacker. He dryly said he was doing just what Joe wanted, treating him like any other cop.
Crawford identified Sandra as the killer, with Leticia bringing up how Crawford had lied before about not seeing Sandra in order to cast doubt on her current testimony. She pressed how Erin had done all this because she wanted Crawford’s job. Erin’s objection was cut off when Crawford bluntly said she thought the same thing.
A hard verdict
The Reagan dinner had Erin annoyed with Henry dryly stating that people should be happy for their help while Eddie hinted folks shouldn’t keep secrets. Danny indicated Jamie should have minded his own business, Erin wished she’d minded her own business, and Frank summarized everyone sounded “so whiny” about this as “sitting on the sidelines is not in this family’s DNA.”
Elena was given the phone with the photos of Danny’s “murder” to trick Munoz into admitting her ordered the hit. However, Munoz (Juan Franciso Villa) was smart enough to know that the murder of the son of the police commissioner should have been much bigger news.
Realizing it was all going south, Danny led the cops as they raided the place, but Munoz escaped with Elena through some tunnels. They got a lead on the cell phone as Elena managed to get the drop on Munoz with a knife at his throat. It turned out Munoz had raped Elena and he was the father of her child. Danny talked her into giving up as Munoz was arrested.
Joe identified his attacker in a lineup as he and Anthony bantered about the Reagans (Anthony cracking “who has dinner with the whole family every Sunday anymore?”) as they realized “these guys are the real deal” who would do anything for each other and the greater good.
It made Joe realize how lucky he was to be part of them.
Eddie and Luis had another argument before another cop told her that Luis had a habit of changing partners for various reasons, and she realized he was deliberately goading her into doing the same.
Frank met with Joe again to talk about how proud his father would be of him. Joe said he’d be happy to accept an invitation to the next dinner.
The jury came back to find Leticia not guilty, with Erin wondering if Crawford had secretly thrown the case and it was obvious Crawford still considered this a political game of Erin’s.
The Reagans regathered for “home movie night” which turned out to be surveillance video of Henry stopping the robbery (Jamie had figured it out). The rest of the family got a kick out of where their mantra for justice came from.
When Henry said he “felt relevant,” Frank smirked, “more like irreplaceable.”
Amid the drama of Erin vs Crawford and Eddie’s new partner, the show also reminded us why the Reagans, as Anthony put it, are “a cut above us mere mortals.”
Blue Bloods Season 12 airs Fridays at 10/9c on CBS.