BLUE BLOODS: Episode 14:10: “The Heart of a Saturday Night”

“The Heart of a Saturday Night,” Episode 10 of BLUE BLOODS: Season 14 on CBS, finds Detective Danny Reagan and police liaison Lt. Sid Gormley ordered to stop a veteran detective, Gus Vandelrip, from crossing the line in a case involving a serial rapist. Meanwhile, Jamie Reagan and his wife, Eddie, go undercover on their anniversary to get evidence of insurance fraud at a government-funded halfway house for recovering alcohol and drug addicts. Finally, Commissioner Frank Reagan tries to reconcile with his father, who’s mad that Frank couldn’t get some 9/11 money for the family of a cop who died of cancer.

The BLUE BLOODS episode “The Heart of a Saturday Night” is a standout episode in Season 14, which is scheduled to be the program’s last season. It has great suspense, great tension, superb performances, heartfelt moments, and Christian content that’s strongly inspiring.

The director, Ralph Hemecker, makes brilliant use of several popular songs in multiple scenes, such as Chuck Berry’s classic masterpiece, “You Never Can Tell.” Also, he punctuates a heartwarming church scene with the congregation singing the first few bars and verses of “Amazing Grace.”

Aidan Quinn delivers a vivid, powerful performance as the troubled detective. Gus is rightly upset that the legal aid attorney and the judge got a cruel serial rapist off on a technicality. However, he lets his anger get the best of him. The episode reveals a traumatic personal reason behind his anger. For all the talk about female rape victims in this crazy society of ours, it’s really weird that so many people and powerful leaders in the United States don’t really care about these victims, judging by how softly they treat so many convicted rapists and other violent criminals in our “justice system.” The detective’s rampage ends in a dramatic showdown between him and Danny, with Lt. Gormley arriving to decide the conflict. Aidan Quinn, Donnie Wahlberg and Robert Clohessy shine in this scene. (Donnie Wahlberg truly does deserve some special recognition for his work on BLUE BLOODS, as does the rest of the cast. It’s hard to find a better ensemble group of players on Network TV, Cable TV or Streaming TV than the BLUE BOODS cast.)

“The Heart of a Saturday Night” also has a nice scene between Commissioner Reagan and his father, Henry, inside a church. Played by Tom Selleck and Len Cariou, Frank apologizes to Henry that he didn’t consider how much helping the family of the dead cop meant to Henry. The two men then briefly discuss the idea of punishing the wicked and rewarding the good. Henry complains that it seems that good people usually don’t get the recognition or the reward they deserve. However, Frank says there are “other rewards.” That’s when the priest calls the congregation to order and the flock starts singing “Amazing Grace,” which is, of course, the best and most God-centered reward that any person made in the image of God can ever get.

Abigail Hawk, who plays Commissioner Reagan’s administrative assistant, has another nice scene when she emotionally describes to Frank all the things that the dead cop did for policemen who got cancer from working to clear the rubble on the site of the fallen Twin Towers and their families. Though he didn’t work on the site, he spent thousands of extra hours in peer-to-peer counseling with the policemen, and didn’t charge any overtime for it.

There are also some nice scenes in “The Heart of a Saturday Night” between Jamie Reagan and his wife, played by Will Estes and Vanessa Ray. Their undercover work at the halfway house is taking place on their fifth anniversary, but it’s a special order from their boss, Capt. McNichols, played by Stephanie Kurtzuba. The couple gets to dance at the halfway house to a jukebox recording of the aforementioned “You Never Can Tell, which is a celebratory song about an unexpected marriage and an anniversary. However, the scene ends with a dramatic twist. Later, the Reagan family dinner opens with the grandfather, Henry, encouraging them to recite their wedding vows. Thus, the subplot ends with a wonderful validation of marriage.

Besides honoring marriage, “The Heart of a Saturday Night” promotes family, honesty, prayer, attending church, the Grace of God, salvation, and the deity of Jesus Christ. It also extols justice, service, duty, and the men and women who risk their lives and well-being to serve and protect, capture the evildoers among use, and guard our streets, boroughs, communities, and neighborhoods. However, there’s an antinomian or lawless outcome to the story of the conflict between the wayward judge and the angry detective. Also, there’s a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the opening words to the Catholic rosary. It should be noticed regarding the Catholic rosary, however, that, if you read the whole rosary prayer, it doesn’t mention only Mary. It also includes strong references and prayers to the Holy Trinity, including pleas for salvation and a recitation of the Apostles Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. The most controversial part of the rosary, of course, is the plea to Mary

“The Heart of a Saturday Night” also contains brief intense violence, two off-color moments and references to drug abuse, including a traumatic drug overdose (see our CONTENT section for details). So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children regarding, Episode 10, Season 14, of BLUE BLOODS.