Sometimes, the best choices are also the hardest ones.
Right after Jamie was tempted to join Mayor Chase’s detail, the Reagans had to handle everything from a missing child to Erin facing a tough case to Frank wondering whether to honor a hero’s request.
In the end, Long Lost proved that making the best choices never comes easy to anyone, especially on Blue Bloods.
A child goes missing as a hero rises
The episode opened with a boy, Jimmy (Leo James Davis), and his mother walking down the street, bantering about his spelling. She decided to let him have his wish of walking off, only to hear him screaming. Turning the corner, she saw him gone.
At her 20th college reunion, Erin ran into Michael Davis (Jeffrey Schechter), an old college rival and current public defender. They bantered a bit about their jobs, with Davis accusing Erin’s office of ramping up the conviction numbers, and he had an innocent man named Ty Williams in jail.
Danny and Baez talked to the distraught mother and shared she had a threatening text on her phone. She revealed that Jimmy was adopted and blamed herself for what happened.
Frank watched TV as Marine Captain Chuck Phillips (Emerson Brooks) was interviewed about saving a woman from an attacker. All he wanted in return was a meeting with the Commissioner. Moore warned this might be a bad idea, but Frank saw no harm in at least talking to the guy.
Jamie came out of the precinct to see Officer Todd Berner (Marcin Paluch) and Sgt. McNichols (Stephanie Kurtzuba) arguing until McNichols punched Berner in the face. McNichols refused to explain herself to a stunned Jamie.
Jamie talked to Eddie about McNichols, who Eddie once rode with. He wanted to report her, but Eddie asked him for a chance to find out what was bothering McNichols.
Danny and Baez tracked down Jimmy’s birth mother, who denied taking him but believed her ex, Tommy, Jimmy’s biological father, may have. The man had just gotten out of prison and was upset to hear his son was gone.
Anthony brought Erin up to speed on Willams’ case as he was convicted of running over his girlfriend, Julia, after finding she was carrying another man’s child. However, Anthony warned there were a lot of holes in the case that might mean Williams was innocent.
Erin met Williams (Wesley T. Jones), who denied the crime, with Davis blaming the D.A.’s office for pushing Williams into a false confession to try and get parole.
Tommy’s parole officer couldn’t believe Tommy would kidnap his child as he’d turned his life around in prison. She suggested they come with her to meet Tommy the next day.
Eddie talked to McNichols, who still refused to tell why she punched a fellow officer. Eddie mused on McNichols having once been in an abusive relationship. McNichols revealed this was because Berner refused to let McNichols’ daughter play in the hockey team he coached.
Eddie couldn’t believe McNichols let her temper get the best of her like this and worried how it would affect her career.
Phillips met Frank to defend his actions and did what any of the Reagans would do. Frank realized Phillips wanted to join the NYPD, pointing out the tiny issue the man was far past the age for recruitment. He thus wanted Frank to make an exception for him to join with Frank musing on the offer.
Frank and Jamie are put on the spot with police issues
Phillips was at a liquor store when a robbery took place. He hit the guy with a bottle to subdue him as the gun went off while no one was hurt.
Frank wanted to commend Phillips, but Moore related that if Phillips took this to the press, the city council would likely adjust the law to let him join the NYPD. Frank pointed out how bad it would look making a Marine hero be silent just to help his reputation.
Jamie and Eddie talked about McNichols’ problems, and McNichols wanted to set a good example for her daughter. Jamie sympathized but couldn’t ignore this while Eddie snapped that coming down on McNichols would just make it harder with their fellow cops. “There’s a reason you and I don’t have friends at this precinct.”
Anthony related that a man named Maurice Bell was the real father of Julia’s child. He talked to Bell (Biko Eisen-Martin), who denied being with Julia. He also had an alibi of being out of the state when she was killed.
Tommy (Jared Johnston) entered the parole office to find Danny and Baez waiting. He admitted being upset about Jimmy being given away but was okay with him having a better life. However, he seemed upset to hear Jimmy was missing.
Erin had to fight to ask Davis for help piecing together evidence on Williams’ case. However, he seemed taken aback at the idea of Bell being the killer.
Just as Moore predicted, the city council amended the law so Phillips could join the NYPD. The final decision was Frank’s as Moore warned how bad it would look if Phillips couldn’t translate his military skills to a cop, as two lucky breaks didn’t mean he could do it forever.
Jamie dropped by to see Henry about the mess of his cops. Henry said these issues were never black and white and “leadership means trusting your own judgment over all else.” He also knew Jamie had made up his mind; he just wanted to hear from someone else.
Making some tough choices
Tommy’s alibi seemed to check out as Jimmy’s adoptive mother came by with a photo of Jimmy eating ice cream and a note on the back that he would be home soon.
Danny and Baez talked about the case, with Danny upset as he was just believing Tommy. They knocked at Tommy’s home, where his dying father was in a wheelchair. He immediately gave up Tommy, who took his son to the carousel the family had long enjoyed.
The cops hit the park to find Tommy and Jimmy by the carousel. Baez took Jimmy away as Tommy wanted a day with his father and son before it was too late. He knew he was going back to jail but at least got to know his son first. The pair had a tearful farewell before Danny arrested Tommy.
Erin pressed Maurice on lying about his alibi, with Bell smirking that Williams was not innocent but had done far worse than killing his girlfriend.
Jamie decided to handle things inventively by making McNichols and Berner partner for a month to smooth over their differences. That included Berner not coaching the hockey team, with McNichols giving the backhand compliment that Jamie wasn’t as bad as everyone said.
Frank met Phillips to relate how he had a difficult time adjusting from the army to the NYPD. He told Phillips that going by a gut feeling wasn’t right for the police force, especially when one wrong move caught on video could tarnish the entire department.
As Frank said, the point of the police was not to fight a war but keep the peace, and would be doing a fine soldier like Phillips a disservice by making him a cop. Phillips didn’t agree but respected Frank too much to press this in public. Frank then invited Phillips to meet him and Danny at a bar later for dinner.
At the Reagan family dinner, they were surprised to hear Frank turned Phillips down, but Danny understood how hard going from the Marines to the police was.
Erin wondered if Frank was affected by taking a chance hiring Witten back, only for her to quit. That led to a talk on how much everyone had changed while on the job.
Frank admitted he wasn’t wondering about Phillips but himself, as a few years ago, he would have gladly welcomed Phillips on. He thus wondered if he was changing for the worse.
Danny pointed out everyone had to make hard choices and Frank more than others. Frank mused that he just found it “harder and harder to live with them.”
It was an episode filled with hard choices as Frank had to handle more than the rest of the clan.
Blue Bloods Season 12 returns with new episodes Friday, April 29 at 10/9c on CBS.