On Blue Bloods this week, Frank Reagan got a tempting offer to leave the NYPD finally. While his decision seemed final, the idea of him leaving as Commissioner was jarring for the Reagans to consider.
Then again, the Reagans had their own problems as a ride-along for Danny’s son, Sean, got dangerous.
Frank gets an amazing offer
Protective Instincts began with Danny and Baez on a street, investigating the murder of Zahid Hassan, a grocer shot dead after arguing with the driver of an SUV. His wife, Maya (Vaishnavi Sharma), and son Amir (Shafi Uddin) raced up, seemingly devastated by his murder.
At the precinct, Sean surprised Jamie with a visit as he wanted to do a ride-along with Eddie and Witten as part of a school project, claiming Danny was fine with it.
At a restaurant, Frank was waiting for his old friend Lenny Ross (Treat Williams) to admit the real reason for the dinner. Lenny mentioned his cousin, Steve, who owned the Miami Dolphins with Frank assuming this was a bribe or needing to get Lenny out of yet another jam.
Instead, Lenny was offering Frank the position of Senior Vice President of security for the NFL, a seven-figure job with plenty of perks, all based in New York. Frank was obviously taken aback as Lenny stated that Frank had gone out of his way to help everyone else, and it was past time he did something for himself.
Frank threw his staff with the reaction of “are we not surprised anymore” before telling of the offer. Baker brought up the rumors of Erin running for D.A. and how Frank being out of office would help her chances of avoiding a “monopoly on law enforcement”, affecting his decision.
Danny and Baez looked at a video of an SUV following Zahid to figure out he was deliberately targeted. They checked out the restaurant Zahid worked at, talking to boss Muhammad Qadir ( Fawad Siddiqui), who owned an SUV looking like the one used in the murder. He denied anything, although it was indicated he was sleeping in his office.
Sean gets into a nasty-ride along
Eddie and Witten had fun trolling Sean with banter on how “female cops have to look hot. It’s in the manual” As they answered a minor call, Sean heard the patrol car radio talk about an armed robbery suspect just as someone matching the description walked by. Sean got out of the car to follow the guy, texting updates on his phone only to be punched out by the perp.
An irate Danny showed up at the hospital to scream at Jamie and Eddie as it turned out Sean had lied about his father giving the okay for this.
“He’s an 18-year-old male with the last name Reagan, which means he’s an idiot!”
Frank and Henry discussed the job offer, with Henry talking about the Reagans in law as a “family business” while Frank retorted that everyone else saw it as a “dynasty.” Henry repeated Lenny’s words that Frank wanted something for himself after a long career of service.
Muhammad’s alibi checked out despite phone messages between Zahid and Muhammad’s wife, although Baez pointed out that meant Maya also had a motive. They pressed her as Maya claimed she was home alone then asked for a lawyer.
Sean (sporting a nasty black eye) apologized to Jamie for lying about all this (there was no project) as he just wanted to know what it was like to be on the streets. However, he felt he had to do this as he couldn’t talk to his father and felt better about his texts leading to the man’s arrest.
Family tension rising as Frank makes his decision
The Reagan dinner was quieter and tenser than usual, with Danny clashing with Jamie and Eddie, which got Sean to finally speak up and apologize for it all but taking responsibility for his choices, which just made Danny more defensive.
Danny brought up Erin being upset when he brought Nicky on a ride-along years before. Erin talked to him outside the house about how Danny’s scorched earth policy” of doing whatever it took to get the job done had worked for him for years but needed to be left outside the dinners.
In interrogation, Maya talked of how Zahid had become suffocating and abusive with his behavior and quickly confessed to the murder over her lawyer’s objections. Perhaps a bit too quickly as Danny gave her a prop revolver, and it was apparent the woman had never held a gun in her life.
Frank met with Erin to relate how, no matter what, he would always be a “ghost” hanging over any attempt to run for D.A., and perhaps the NFL offer was best. Erin admitted she wasn’t even sure she would run yet, but if she did, it would be with “eyes wide open,” and Frank didn’t need to cut her any breaks.
Just as Danny figured, Amir showed up to visit his mother in jail, Danny giving him a look at how Maya would fare in prison. Amir talked about his father’s abuse and cheating and finally confessed that he killed his dad.
Lenny came to Frank’s office with Frank turning the job down and wondering if Lenny was getting paid to bring Frank on board. Lenny pressed that everyone wanted Frank to “be a little selfish, you’ve earned it.” Frank replied that he was doing that “just not the way they thought.” Lenny joked he figured Frank would quit over “having 33 bosses and one of them called the commissioner” as the old friends laughed.
Jamie talked to Danny about how he more than understood how it felt for Sean to live in Danny’s shadow, even bringing up Joe. Danny headed to Sean’s dorm to invite him out for dinner and needle him on the fake ID his son had “for emergencies.”
So it appears Frank is staying on for a while, yet Erin could be considering her own run for office while Danny and Jamie had some brotherly quarrels that led to much-needed father-son bonding.
Blue Bloods Season 12 airs Fridays at 10/9c on CBS.