Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 13 was an emotional roller coaster, with heartbreaking and infuriating stories that showcased the very best this series had to offer the audience.
I don't know what I loved more: Frank urging the mayor and fire commissioner to act like public servants rather than spoiled children or the human toll Danny's case took on him.
But I know one thing: I am grateful that we have these last few episodes, even though I still wish we could have more.
Radley is a younger, brasher version of Frank: a thorn in the Mayor's side who stands up for her people even if it's not politically expedient.
However, she wasn't any less stubborn or childish than Mayor Chase was.
Egging his car is no more a valid form of protest if you're a firefighter than if you're a teenager, and getting into a flame war on Twitter (side note: I LOVE that Blue Bloods refuses to call it X) should be beneath public servants regardless of their politics.
Frank got involved because he thought he could mentor Radley, having dealt with Chase's nonsense for years. However, that made things worse because neither Radley nor Chase would give an inch.
Chase: I had a scheduling issue. I had to make a choice.
Frank: Make one other than poking the FDNY in the eye with a sharp stick.
Chase: She started it.
Frank: No, you started it by skipping that funeral to go to a rally. I'm calling on both of you to stop it. Serve this city, not your egos.
Frank's imploring both of them to serve the city rather than their egos is one of his best lines ever, and I wish that many of our real so-called public servants would get that message.
In this divided country, too many people who are supposed to be leading are putting their egos first. We need more public servants like Frank who understand the public part of their job title.
Frank treating these two colleagues of his like misbehaving children was both deserved and brilliant.
They didn't like it, which gave him the chance to subtly remind them that they're supposed to be highly intelligent and accomplished adults, not kindergarteners squabbling over their hurt feelings.
The credits rolled on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 13 before the two came to any conclusions.
However, Radley is scheduled for at least two more episodes, so Chase isn't firing her, no matter what stupid plan he had when he walked into the room.
That plan didn't make much sense. If Radley's approval ratings were rising and Chase's were in the toilet because of their public spat, how would firing her help anything, especially given that Chase is the one who has to please voters to keep his job?
Still, Frank's attempt to mediate this conflict was far better than the usual trope about police and firefighters hating each other for some reason that laypeople don't understand.
If only Frank had been able to mediate the argument between Erin and Henry as effectively, they wouldn't have spent the episode at each other's throats for no reason.
There's only one thing guaranteed to press Henry's buttons hard enough for him not to want to give a family member a kidney, and that's treating him like a feeble old man.
He's tried to impress this point upon Jamie several times, most recently on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 4 when Jamie was convinced that Henry couldn't handle himself with an anti-cop podcaster.
This story was similar, except the person who thought Henry didn't know what he was getting into was Erin.
Henry: Proceed with caution. I wouldn't want to have to accuse an esteemed bureau chief of witness tampering.
Erin: When I cross this threshold, I am just your granddaughter.
Henry: In that case, have at it.
Erin: Have you lost your damn mind?
Henry: I didn't think you'd come at me with both barrels.
Erin handled her conflict with Henry the same way she often does her conflicts with Frank. She came at him with both barrels blazing, leaving both of them feeling frustrated with each other.
Henry's hurt feelings and Erin's refusal to apologize led to one of the most unpleasant Reagan family dinners in Blue Bloods history. Erin and Henry declared they wouldn't want each other's kidney but refused to talk about it.
I wish there'd been more time in Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 13 for the family dinner scene. Frank doesn't usually allow these types of conflicts at his table and I'd loved to have had more of him trying to get things back on track.
If either Henry or Erin had stopped to think for a minute, they might have understood the other's perspective and avoided an unnecessary argument.
Although Henry blowing up the cop's case on the stand was a surprising twist, in retrospect, it was likely his plan all along.
The defense attorney was an idiot for calling him to testify without knowing what he was going to say. However, his incompetence allowed Henry to wipe that obnoxious smirk off that ex-cop's face before reconciling with Erin, making this story worth it.
Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 13 made me feel better about Henry's fate, too, as he was his usual self rather than making references to his mortality.
I'm not sure what the heck was going on with Danny.
He seemed worn down throughout most of the episode. He didn't like climbing stairs, but more importantly, the case took an emotional toll on him.
It was hard to blame him for being upset.
Grady's traumatic brain injury from a childhood accident left him unable to care for himself and with severe short-term memory loss, yet Danny was expected to hold him accountable for helping dump dead bodies in storage lockers.
Grady didn't understand what was going on, was freaking out after his mother's arrest, and needed to be treated as a vulnerable adult and taken to a facility where he could get the care he needed, but until that could be arranged, Danny was stuck telling him over and over what the situation was.
Anyone would be worn out after dealing with this case, but it seemed like something more was going on.
That whole debacle over who would give who a kidney that went on during the dinner scene started with Danny reassuring everyone that his organs were fine even though he's getting older, making me wonder if he's going to have some kind of midlife crisis as Blue Bloods wraps up.
Jamie had no story, which was a shame. I wish he'd dealt with Grady, as he was always good at helping de-escalate issues with people who had mental health issues.
Eddie, on the other hand, had a strange story that put her at odds with Badillo.
I felt for Ray and his daughter, and agreed with Eddie that arresting Ray for police impersonation was pointless and cruel. However, Nico chose to put civil disobedience ahead of his agreement to donate his kidney.
If he didn't want to risk being behind bars when he was supposed to be in surgery, he should have avoided walking along ledges while making noise about how the cops weren't going to shut down his protest.
Badillo didn't aggravate me because he was taking a harder stance than Eddie. That's par for the course, no matter who Eddie works with.
However, he was a little too pleased with his status as a quasi-celebrity after he saved Nico's life on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 13.
I didn't like how proud he was of his appearance in someone's TikTok video or his constant jokes about performing for the camera.
I got the sense he wasn't completely joking about that, and I don't want cops on the street who are doing their jobs in a way that'll get them the most views on social media.
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