Blue Bloods ended Season 12 on some significant shifts.
After an episode where Jamie faced danger to his job and Henry had a health scare, the Reagans closed out Season 12 with a few dangerous cases, a showdown between Frank and the D.A.’s office, and a big turn for a couple of family members.
That made Silver Linings a solid finish to Season 12 as fans prepare for the summer break.
An explosive opening
The episode opened with Eddie and Badillo entering a store as a pair of customers talked of someone with a knife. They found a man holding a bag, claiming he didn’t have to pay for anything. He pulled a knife as Eddie pulled her gun.
The man dropped the knife to run, with Badillo tackling him so they could arrest him.
Frank was at a press conference complaining about the D.A.’s office “failing this city,” and Crawford was to blame for her policies, like saying that store man was “non-violent” and thus not worth prosecuting, which added to the crime rate.
Frank went on about how those working under Crawford had to speak out. When a reporter pointed out that included Erin, Frank shrugged that she was part of that problem which did not go over well with his daughter.
Danny got a call from Elena Marquez (Annelise Cepero), who had snuck out of witness protection to check on her mother, but someone was hunting her. The heavily pregnant woman had nowhere to hide as someone broke in.
Across town, Jamie met Joe Hill as the FBI and NYPD raided a hotel filled with Margo Sangrieto gangsters. A woman held a gun to her head, identifying herself as Margo Ruiz (Greta Quispe), who had only joined the gang to find her missing daughter, Soli. Jamie promised he’d find her as Margo surrendered.
Danny and Baez arrived at Elena’s home, but when she opened the door, a bomb went off, blasting everyone back. Danny raced to the injured Elena.
Baker told Frank that Crawford wanted to talk, and his “declaration of war” worked. Erin stormed in to demand what Frank was thinking, attacking the D.A’s office. He tried to play nice and said Erin’s “days of sitting on the fence are over.”
Erin was upset that Frank made it sound like a mutiny and repeated the advice he’d given Jamie not to influence his kids’ decisions. He also theorized Erin was more afraid of winning D.A. than losing it as she left.
Eddie was amazed the D.A’s office wanted her to sign a report brushing off the man as not even having a knife and stormed out. Baez and Danny talked of how Arturo Munoz, the drug dealer Elena was testifying against, was out on bail.
The doctor had to break it to them that Elena had died, but they managed to save her infant daughter. They looked at her as Baez talked of how it seemed they made little difference in what they did. Danny encouraged her to look at the bright side of things, and Elena’s daughter would know her mother died trying to make the world a better place.
Margo told Jamie more about how she and Soli had been trafficked into the U.S., but the “coyote” stole Soli away. She was taken for a mental check as she insisted she wasn’t crazy, just determined to help her daughter. Realizing Jamie wasn’t going to let this drop, Joe agreed to help him.
Some rough searches get underway
Danny and Baez found a video of some masked men setting the bomb and tracked their car, which had been stolen from Munoz.
Eddie was outraged the store perp had been released with Badillo saying their job was done as soon as the arrest was made, which Eddie disagreed with.
Crawford and Frank’s meeting started badly and went downhill as Crawford refused to drop her policy of not prosecuting non-violent offenders. She was also convinced this was all Frank pushing her out to get Erin as D.A.
Frank pointed out that having his daughter in a position he would often clash with was a bad thing. He said the point of these meetings was “to bang our heads against a wall and hope something besides a headache happens.”
Joe and Jamie talked about how Joe’s dad would have married had he known he had a son. Jamie wondered if his brother might still be alive if he’d fought for his child.
They were interrupted by spotting Carlos Sanchez (Julio Cesar Ruiz), the coyote who took Soli driving off. They followed him only to have Danny and Baez cut Carlos off as he’d stolen the car. They also found the body of a woman in the trunk.
The brothers soon argued about jurisdiction as Baez related the victim was another young teen immigrant. That got them to stop fighting and work together to find Soli.
Anthony let Erin rant about Frank’s actions before using his bad experience to make her realize how lucky she was to have a loving father and family to help her out.
Carlos was jarred to realize his boss set him up by sending him to dump a body and then report the car stolen. He shared how some girls were used to “help” when a drug shipment came in.
Frank and his staff watched as Crawford told reporters Frank was behind the times and they needed “alternatives to the old order.” Frank was happy if folks chose sides, convinced more would go with him.
Henry interrupted to chat with Frank, chastising him for putting Erin in such an awkward spot. Frank agreed Erin would be great as D.A. but didn’t want to push her. Henry brought up he’d never had such a talk with Frank about becoming Commissioner but still wanted him to have it.
A pair of huge decisions are made
Erin found Crawford in her office, the pair tense as Crawford clearly didn’t believe Erin never let her connections to cops influence her work. When Erin suggested some of Crawford’s policies were wrong, the woman coldly said, “I rest my case.”
Eddie and Badillo found that very same knife-wielding man attacking a woman in a store. He stabbed her, and Badillo shot him.
The cops staked out the docks where the drug lab was and saw Soli (Kyndra Sanchez) step out of a warehouse. While the others thought it was a setup, Danny approached to see Soli was wired up with a bomb.
Danny assured Soli she would be okay as Jamie helped her hold down the trigger so it wouldn’t go off. Joe managed to contact bomb tech Giorgio (Tony Crane) to talk them through this. Baez and Joe both refused to leave, with Joe declaring, “you’ve got three Reagans.”
After some tense moments, the trio was able to defuse the bomb and rescue Soli.
Erin found Frank at home to talk about how it felt hearing a family of cops unload on her job and that Crawford would always see her as the Commissioner’s daughter. She added that she didn’t want to run as she couldn’t take losing, “and that’s your fault for raising me with three brothers.”
Eddie found Badillo a bit shaken by the shooting and admitted Eddie was right about wanting to arrest the guy before. She gave him encouragement as he faced the review board.
Jamie brought an overjoyed Margo to Soli, the pair having a tearful reunion. Danny found Baez with Elena’s child, telling her Munoz was never getting out of jail. They talked of the bombing bringing back a bad memory of Danny losing a female soldier in Iraq.
No one from Elena’s family wanted her child, but someone did: Baez. She admitted she never thought she wanted kids but couldn’t leave the child alone to adopt her. Danny offered any support to aid his partner on her new journey.
Both Joe and Anthony attended the family dinner and were brought up on the rules to eat. Erin then announced she was going to run for D.A. after all. They were happy as Frank led the family in grace.
Thus, Season 12 ends with Baez and Erin about to undertake some huge challenges as Blue Bloods closed out a strong season.
Blue Bloods Season 13 premieres this fall on CBS.