Summary
Boston Blue seems to have learned some lessons in “Code of Ethics”, which continues to avoid making things overly easy for its characters.
It definitely feels like Boston Blue is learning. Like the previous episode, which for the first time attempted to meaningfully challenge almost all of its characters, Episode 6, “Code of Ethics”, throws in a few new wrinkles, especially for Danny and Baez. Back in the premiere, this spin-off made good on a long-time desire of Blue Bloods fans for the two to get together, but by all accounts, it seems like their relationship might not be especially viable given the distance between New York and Boston. And I’d argue that’s a good thing.
It’s for the usual reasons. Stories thrive on conflict; this show rarely has enough of it, and the more it creates, the more engaging it becomes. The other issue is that Boston Blue is sometimes painfully idealistic, and it riles me when situations get evened out with no difficulty. There’s a bit of that here, granted, and the whole thing’s a bit too amicable for my tastes, but I’m glad that Danny’s suggestion that she just up and move to Boston was met with the right amount of scepticism. These things aren’t supposed to be easy.
To this end, the entire episode is about complex relationships, both existing ones that older characters are trying to navigate safely and newer ones that younger characters are trying to explore. Sean even gets in on this action. He meets a felon named Penelope on a routine bust and immediately strikes up a connection with her, but wonders whether her criminal past will make her a no-go for his father. Eventually, the Silvers push him to pursue it, and Danny comes around, which is a bit weird overall for me since it isn’t like Penelope got caught shoplifting – she was the lookout in a robbery. That should probably be a tiny bit more difficult to look past, even for Sean.
“Code of Ethics” – that title’s making more sense now, right? – tries to pull the same sneaky trick with Danny and Baez, with the former answering the latter’s question about whether they’re going to make it in the affirmative, but I’m not so sure, and I think that’s intentional. Baez’s latest visit featured precisely zero quality time. Danny was repeatedly pulled away by the case of the week, and Baez was eventually summoned back to New York. It’s a non-starter; the show’s just too reluctant to make that official.
The wisdom Danny imparts on Sean in Boston Blue Episode 6 should apply to his own relationship, but it doesn’t, really, which I suspect is a bit of a clue that the whole thing with Baez isn’t meant to be. If he practised what he preached, he’d be running back to New York and leaving Sean to it – maybe that’s what this season is building towards, with Sean coming into his own? – so that he could fall into Baez’s arms. But he’s not doing that, at least not yet.
There’s a bit of Lena’s relationship with Brian here too, but that’s sidelined – smartly, since too much romance is liable to make one sick – so that she can focus on an ethically tricky case involving an old friend whose little brother has been arrested for gang affiliation. Thankfully, this doesn’t end well, since the kid was more involved than his sister realised, and the D.A. can’t be seen to be pulling personal strings just because. Justice is justice, even when it’s happening to people you love.
And Mae has enough to worry about. There’s a leak in her office, and throughout “Code of Ethics”, she, Sarah, and Charlie get to the bottom of who it is – Assistant District Attorney Philip Beakman. You’d think this wouldn’t pose too much of a problem, given the whole justice thing I just discussed, but not quite, since opening an investigation into the ADA could result in all of his previous cases being thrown out. Again, ordinarily that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but as Sarah reveals, when Mae recused herself from handling the trial of her husband’s killer, Beakman stepped in to indict him. If he’s proved to be dirty, that could mean her husband’s killer walks free.
