BOSTON BLUE: Episode 1.8: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son. . .”

Name: BOSTON BLUE: Episode 1.8: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son. . .”
Item: BOSTON BLUE: Episode 1.8: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son. . .”
Author: Review

"God Forgives"

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

BOSTON BLUE is a police drama on CBS. Episode 8, Season One, covers three storylines exploring the consequences of sin and the healing power of redemption and forgiveness. Detectives Danny Reagan and Lena Silver investigate the murder of a man shot in front of his wife and child. Concurrently, Danny’s son, Seth, and Seth’s partner, Jonah, pull over a respected Boston fire chief driving drunk. This ignites an internal battle when they’re pressured to cover it up. Meanwhile, Jonah’s sister, Sarah, the chief of detectives, and her husband confront her teenage stepdaughter after she wakes up hungover from a night of underage drinking.

Episode 8 of BOSTON BLUE: Season One is well-made, with excellent performances. It has a strong Christian, moral worldview. Characters attend church, pray and quote Scripture. People get advice from Jonah and Sarah’s grandfather, a Baptist pastor. Episode 8 of BOSTON BLUE: Season One also features scenes focusing on family, helping those struggling with addiction and telling the truth. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and young teenagers for some action violence, light foul language, and strong miscellaneous immorality.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, PPP, PC, Ho, L, VV, S, AA, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Very strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview where people attend church and pray and quote scripture, Baptist pastor discusses praying directly to God and quotes Psalm 32:5, lead male character mentions Ephesians 1:13 and 14, woman says she closed her eyes to pray and wears a cross necklace, characters discuss the seven deadly sins, a Bible is shown in a scene where two characters hold hands in prayer, Baptist pastor talks about repentance and God’s forgiveness, episode focuses on family bonds and helping those suffering with addiction and telling the truth in the face of challenges, people own up to their sins and stand up for what’s right and heal tense family relationships, plus there are very strong patriotic elements extolling those who serve and protect the community, marred by a politically correct rainbow sign appears in the background of the police headquarters saying it’s a “safe space” for LBGTQ+ citizens.

Foul Language:

Three light obscenities and one OMG profanity;

Violence:

Strong action violence includes reckless driving where drunk driver crashes car into a median, a murder scene where a dead body is seen with bullet wound to head, a pool of blood is shown, a woman talks about seeing a gun pointed at her husband’s head and shooter killing her husband in front on their child, man resists arrest, police officers and detectives tackle criminals, scenes include people punching and kicking each other, a crime board shows photo of shot victim with bullet wound to the head, one character says they would smother the other with a pillow but it’s said in a joking manner, a discussion takes place about a fire chief assaulting someone with a chair, and brief discussion about suicide;

Sex:

A joke is said to a mechanic about “car porn,” a husband kisses his wife’s hand, woman discusses the sexual and phycological hold another character has over her, and woman has been cheating on her husband;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

A teenage girl sneaks back into her parent’s house drunk on wine coolers at 2 a.m., a drunken man drinks and drives, a liquor bottle falls out of his car when he opens the door, a family drinks wine at the dinner table, a character calls another character the “firehouse drunk,” a man admits he used to have a drinking problem, and characters discuss alcohol addiction and treatment;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Characters lie and evade police and steal cars, a police chief tries to cover up a crime, pastor admits he misled his daughter to believe his wife died in a car accident instead of committing suicide, a police officer bullies other officers, a mom is harder on one child than her others but admits it’s wrong and vows to stop (all these actions are rebuked, however, and justice is ultimately served).

More Detail:

BOSTON BLUE, a spin-off from BLUE BLOODS, is a police drama streaming on CBS. Episode 8 of Season One, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son…”, weaves together three storylines exploring the consequences of sin and the healing power of redemption and forgiveness.

Danny Reagan and Lena Silver, Danny’s new partner in Boston, investigate a man who was murdered in front of his wife and child. At the same time, Danny’s son, Sean, and his partner, Jonah, pull over a respected Boston fire chief for driving drunk. This ignites a tense internal battle as the chief in their precinct pressures them to lower the charges in a potential cover-up. On a more personal front, Lena’s sister, Sarah, whose head of detectives, and her husband, Seth, confront her teenage stepdaughter after she wakes up hungover from a night of underage drinking.

The episode opens in a church, with the congregation gathered for breakfast after a Sunday sermon, setting a biblical tone. The story shifts to Sarah and Seth as they deal with their teenage daughter, who appears hungover after sneaking into the house drunk in the middle of the night. The couple argues the best way to handle her punishment with Seth taking a strict approach. As the episode continues, he’s forced to face his own past struggles with alcohol, which allows both Sarah and him work through their feelings and help their daughter make better choices.

Meanwhile, a tragic crime unfolds when a man is murdered in front of his wife and young child. What seems at first to be a random act of violence quickly takes on more profound significance as Danny and Lena investigate the events leading up to the crime. As the investigation progresses, the detectives uncover a shocking truth that leads them to the murderer.

Meanwhile, there’s a tense subplot involving a well-known Boston fire chief who’s caught driving drunk. The arresting officers are pressured to lower the charges, showing the power of politics and the dangers of blind loyalty. Sean Reagan, Danny’s son, and his partner, Jonah, who’s Lena and Sarah’s younger brother, must decide whether to back down or stand their ground.

Episode 8 of Season One of BOSTON BLUE is well-made, with smooth camerawork and excellent performances from the leads, Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green of TV’s STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, as well as the supporting cast. Ernie Hudson, of GHOSTBUSTERS fame and many other movies and TV programs, plays Sara’s, Lena’s and Jonah’s grandfather, a Baptist preacher.

Episode 1.8 has a strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview, with characters attending church, praying and quoting scripture. A Reverend discusses praying directly to God and quotes Ephesians 13:4 and Psalm 32:5. A woman says she closed her eyes to pray and wears a cross necklace.

It also features a very strong redemptive worldview focusing on family bonds, helping those struggling with addiction, and telling the truth in the face of challenges. Characters own up to their sins, stand up for what’s right, and heal tense family relationships. There are very strong Patriotic elements extolling those who serve and protect the community.

While the episode emphasizes that faith calls for courage, honesty, and the courage to confront wrongdoing, it also contains some problematic elements. As BOSTON BLUE is a crime drama, it features action violence and mild gore as well as light foul language. One of the main plot points covers the consequences of alcohol and addiction, including a character driving under the influence and resisting arrest.

There is plenty of miscellaneous immorality as some side characters lie, steal cars, rob people at gunpoint, fight, and attempt to cover up the truth. However, most of these actions are rebuked, and justice is ultimately served. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and young teenagers.

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