Blue
Bloods Review: 8x01 “Cutting Losses”
WARNING: Major Spoilers for the Blue Bloods season
premiere below. Do not read if you haven’t watched it.
The
promos for “Cutting Losses” made it clear that Blue Bloods was in for some big
changes, just not the ones it seemed like. The promotion focused on the new
mayor possibly firing Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) as police commissioner. This
did not come to pass in these exact terms. The big change was the death of
significant character. Danny Reagan’s (Donnie Walhberg) wife Linda (Amy
Carlson) is dead.
Before
I get into the meat of the review, I will discuss this decision. This event has
caused a bit of controversy from the fanbase and parallels made to fellow CBS
series Kevin Can Wait, who also killed off the wife of the main character. I
believe that this was done tastefully, it was the pragmatic thing to do and is
an unfair insult to compare it to Kevin Can Wait in anyway. Once Amy Carlson decided
to leave the show after 7 seasons, this was the only good decision. Her
character was too important to have disappear without explanation. Danny and
Linda’s marriage was too strong for them to get a divorce. Yes, Danny and Linda
didn’t have the perfect relationship. They fought. However, the fought after
realistic things husbands and wives fight about and what would happen when they
had high stress positions such as a nurse and homicide detective. A divorce or separation
would have been out of character for both, especially if it involved infidelity
from either party. After Amy Carlson made the voluntary decision to leave the
show, a tasteful off-screen death was the only good option to be respectful to
the actress and character.
In “Cutting
Losses”, Frank and Danny are feeling tired and exhausted by the weight of years
at their jobs, and are not sure if they want to keep going on. This is
significant because neither Danny nor Frank have ever shown much second
guessing of their careers. Being a cop is something they are 100% committed to.
We
last saw Danny in the breathtaking season finale in May watching his house be
burned down by arson. This included an image of Danny clutching his wife and
children. The house was destroyed, but the family was safe. The family had been
through a lot. Nicky had been kidnapped by a serial killer because she was
Danny’s niece and in the season 5 finale had featured his wife Linda being
non-fatally shot and wounded.
Danny’s
story this episode starts out with Erin Reagan (Bridget Moynahan) asking her
brother to come with her to investigate while her ex-husband Jack has not been responding
to her. When they discover Jack unconscious and have to rush him to the
hospital, after it seems like he has been attacked, Danny is asked by his
sister to investigate the case. Danny is apprehensive to take the case. This is
the first foreshadowing of things to come. Danny is shown to be in therapy. The
first session makes it seem like it had to do with the events of the season 7
finale, which would be traumatic in itself. Danny takes on the case for his
sister. When investigating a suspect, he is triggered when the suspect asks him
about May 28th. The audience is again led to believe that the 28th
is the events of the previous finale.
We
see Danny in therapy again. He says he could do this if he had Linda. The
therapist reminds him that Linda is dead. This is a big reveal to the audience
and it comes up in conversation organically, which is good. Linda has killed in
a freak helicopter crash transporting a patient at the hospital on May 28th.
She was working a shift she was not supposed to. Danny blames himself. He
regrets working so much time. The therapist reminds him that Linda switched
shifts all the time that it is not his fault.
I
like Danny’s struggle here. The death is not his fault, it is not anyone’s
fault. It is a freak accident. However, Danny has understandable grief from
losing his wife. He also has understandable guilt from being a workaholic that
wasn’t home with his wife and kids enough. Danny is now considering retiring from
being a homicide detective. He feels detached and no longer passionate about
his work. He says “The job doesn’t need me anymore”.
Danny
helps solve the case regarding the attack on Erin’s ex-husband and Jack survives
mostly unscathed. But this storyline and wrap up feels inconsequential compared
to the Linda death reveal and Danny’s emotional struggle. It does work as a
nice contrast to Linda’s death. Jack and Erin did not have a good relationship,
they were divorced, and he rarely saw his daughter. He survives his brush with
death. Linda loved her husband and was a good both, but she died. Life is
unfair.
The
rest of the Reagan family surprise Danny and his sons Jack and Sean by buying
them an new home to live in. After a fire burned down their house and Linda was
killed, there were too many memories where they used to live. They got a fresh
start. I liked this part.
Blue Bloods has always
been a show about faith, and Danny has been shown to have the shakiest faith of
the Reagans. What he has been through could easily test his faith. However, in
a sign of character growth, at family dinner in the end, Danny is the one who
says Grace. “Bless us, O Lord, and
these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through
Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
Frank’s story has to deal with the new mayor (Lorraine Bracco). After long
time Mayor Poole resigned in the previous season finale, it was clear we would
get a new Mayor. There was been some sort of police involved shooting of a civilian.
We don’t get much detail about it. Frank has a news conference to address the
situation. The new mayor crashes the conference, and when she speaks to the
press, she essentially throws the officer under the bus. Back in his office,
Frank clashes with her over the interruption, and Mayor Dutton fires Frank as
police commissioner.
Frank has had plenty of crashes with Mayors and other politicians before.
This is not knew. But he always had fight in him and never had been fired
before. Garrett (Gregory Jbara) informs Frank that since Dutton is only acting
Mayor, she cannot actually fire Frank until she is elected. Frank seems to
already know this, but has no intention to fight. He says he does not want to
stay if the Mayor doesn’t want him. This prompts a response from his assistant
Baker (Abigail Hawk) who yells at him for not fighting back and has about as
many lines as she has had in seven seasons in one scene.
Frank is tired. A “tired you can’t sleep off”. His feelings mirror Danny’s.
So does his situation. Frank is a widower, his wife Mary having died shortly
before the series began. His father Henry also is a widower. He tells his
father “When Mary died, my kids became my purpose”.
Frank’s firing arc comes around. The officer involved in the incident comes
and tells him that he is going to resign following the public pressure of the
incident. Frank does not want him too. New evidence comes to light that shows
the officer was not in the wrong and the Mayor rushed to judgment. It is not
very well explained.
Frank meets with the Mayor and she apologizes for trying to fire him, but
defends many of her actions. Frank attempts to explain why officers might seem
so paranoid and quick to act around civilians. “Police officers have seen the
worst humanity has to offer, and they too often assume the worst of humanity as
well”. He agrees to not resign.
Jamie (Will Estes) and his partner Janko (Vanessa Ray) have a small subplot
about some young adults collapsing at a night club. They do a sting operation
that works. It adds nothing to the episode. It looks like the felt the need to
give everyone something of a plot for the premiere.
I apologize this is so long. This is my first review. Sorry, also, for the
delay.
I really enjoyed the season 8 premiere of Blue Bloods. The Danny storyline
was handeled well and was compelling. If they had taken out the Erin and
especially Jamie subplots and spent some time focusing on the officer involved
shooting in Frank’s storyline, it would have been better. Blue Bloods is still
putting out quality stuff 8 seasons in.
Grade: B+