Reviews

One of the storylines in this episode is Frank trying to discourage Gromley from fighting a boxing match with another member of the NYPD with mutual dislike, and potentially risking his life. When Frank and Henry discuss this over scotch, Henry suggests Frank "not to be that guy no one asked in the first place".

I think Henry is completely right on this one. Taking Henry's car keys away maybe right, because Henry driving may endanger others on the road. But Gromley fighting in a boxing match only harms himself and his opponent. Frank is Gromley's boss (and perhaps a friend), but he's not his father. Let Gromley make his own free will, even if it may hurt him.

And who's to say that someone in his 60s can't beat someone in his 40s in a boxing match?

The main arc of this episode revolves around what do with an officer, who didn't disclose that he changed his name because his father murdered Joe Hill's father (ie: a Reagan). Although not at the same level, this episode's dilemma reminds me the question of whether descendants of Nazi war criminals (or an American example, Confederate leaders) can live normal lives, and the wisdom of judging these people by the actions of their ancestors.

Throughout the entire dilemma, I find Erin's take somewhat breathtaking. She wants to punch her brother's murder's son in the face when she sees him, and that his family background automatically disqualifies him from being a cop. This is a judgement made on someone she has never met, and didn't murder her brother. She can be sad and angry about losing her brother. But I expect her, a trained lawyer, to have more logical thinking than that. Perhaps if Frank gives her more context, she may have think differently.

This episode is advertised as a tribute to the late Treat Williams, who played the recurring character Lenny Ross. As such, I think that tribute would be much better by having the story surrounding Lenny Ross (ie: Frank and Tess) to be the main arc of the episode. Having this tribute as a side story feels like that it may not have been the proper tribute for Treat Williams. More importantly, I think a bigger story could be told between Frank and Tess, vis-a-vis how they grieve Lenny Ross's death.

Furthermore, the story of Lenny's death becomes a distraction to the storyline with Jamie going undercover intersecting with Joe Hill's case, which has already spanned multiple episodes this season.

It may be poor taste to take joy in other people's suffering, but I wish that I can share that bottle of champagne with Mr Fong (alongside members of his deceased family, in spirit), while watching the "Crab family" committing suicide after their bet in the indices futures market fails spectacularly. As each member of the Crab Family jumps off the building, the audience are reminded of how all members of Mr Fong's family are killed. In the subsequent years since this drama first aired, I've never questioned my schadenfreude.

What also makes the final showdown so special is the buildup to that, especially for Mr Fong.

Erin (the ADA) may have the right assertions in the case. However, even with Anthony's discovery, I doubt the accused would have been indicted "in the current climate" (a popular line in the show and society in general).

Worse, this case would do nothing but harm for Erin (the undeclared candidate for DA). This will be perfect opposition research material for anyone running against Erin. It'll be framed as Erin, a woman herself, being unsympathetic to women suffering from #metoo.

I'm not suggesting that this is the right thing to do, but Erin needs to understand that the DA, as an elected office, is a political position. Anything associated with it will inevitably be politicized.

Mickey (Danny's childhood friend), freaks out when his "refugee" girlfriend went missing. He supposedly loves her but is in line to receive $20000 from this relationship. When I see a dollar figure (or a passport) involved, I no longer see love, as this relationship is simply transactional.

Moreover, on comments page of a previous episode this season, I opined that Erin doesn't know why she's running for DA. While someone there found it unhelpful, I feel vindicated when Anthony asks the same question, and she still doesn't have an answer for. If she still can't answer that question after announcing her candidacy, it'd be concerned about her electability.

Two things that stand out in this episode...

First, taking Jamie into shop after discovering he's a cop demonstrates that those criminals are incredibly stupid.

Two, Erin's behaviour in this episode shows that she doesn't know if she wants to get elected. Most importantly, she doesn't even know why she's running for DA. Most candidates for elected offices don't care who votes for them, or why people are voting for them. Most politicians also don't care if the people only like the façade they put up. It's good that she has people like Anthony, a straight talker who will talk some sense into her.

This is one of the few episode of the season where it doesn't involve Erica travelling back in time to fix a regret. Instead, it was Dr. Tom. In this episode, we get to see more about his personal life. It's great to see that Dr. Tom is just as imperfect as the rest of us, and not just someone with perfect insights of his patients and smart quotations.

And this was exactly the reason why this episode was so good. Dr. Tom is a character that grew on me in this series since Season 1. To be honest, I like Dr. Tom way more than Erica. It's the only character that I hold a positive opinion at this point of the series.

As much as I respect Dr. Tom, I think he uses a false equivalence in comparing Erica and Josh. There's a big difference between Josh trying to kiss Erica in Florida, and Erica preventing Josh from confessing his love for her. Is Dr. Tom actually suggesting that these two things are actually equivalent? Does Dr. Tom actually think that Erica shouldn't have "hurt" Josh by letting him open up to her?

That being said, I thought what Dr. Tom is trying teach her quite thoughtful. It's one of the most thoughtful things said in that series in while. It's just that equating the two "hurtful" things to make his case I find a bit disturbing.

The main focus of this episode is clearly Frank's decision on whether to attend the funeral of his predecessor, who had left office under dishonourable circumstances.

I was very glad that Frank comes to the right decision, after realizing that while the man may be very imperfect, the office he once occupied is clearly bigger than the man.

This storyline did play out in real-life. When Richard Nixon (the only President in history to resign) died in 1994, the sitting President (Clinton) and all living former Presidents (Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr) attended his funeral.

On another note, what does the young guy Janko and her partner arrested have to do with the entire story?

After watching that episode many years ago, I find it strange that terrorists conduct business on landline phone. If terrorists are carrying satellite phones, why wouldn't the techie have something more high tech?

I found the ongoing storyline on Erin deciding to run (or not) for New York County (ie: Manhattan) DA to be particularly uninteresting. Her entire consideration time and process is something I would expect for a potential candidate for New York State Governor or a US Senator. I'm very happy she's getting over her fear of losing and get this storyline over with one way or another.

I'm also happy to see Detective Baez finds another purpose in her job. It's not the first time she displays job fatigue in the season. With an adopted child to rear, I can see how she may not want to be a Detective anymore (and exit the show). If that's the case, it'd be a shame because she's a great character that compliments Danny very well.

Although it's a fictional show, the stories in it do reflect today's society (to an extent)..

I really wish that people who attended that school board forum get their wish, and have no police presence in that school. Let's see what will result from that.

In Erin/Anthony's story, I find it unfortunate that government resources are spent on investigating how law enforcement treats criminals, instead of what criminals are doing to victims.

Jamie's action in the episode is something I admire. As a visible minority, I wished I had known someone like him growing up. Although I must say that, unlike Filipinos, West Virginians aren't an ethnic group. So making fun of West Virginians wouldn't qualify as "ethnic shaming".

Voltaire's famous statement defending free speech is often repeated, but Commissioner Reagan demonstrated what that statement means in practice. He was defending an off-duty Officer expressing a view he disagrees with (defunding the police).

Furthermore, in this episode, the Reagans demonstrated that what's popular may not be right, and what's right may not be popular.

I still remember when Mayor Peter Chase enters the show, he proudly calls himself a "victims' rights activist". Whatever happened to that? Wouldn't what the PC did in this episode be something he celebrates? Or did he just flip-flops, like every other career politicians (something that he's not)?

In short, an angel descends from heaven to help a boy get his dream girl. But this angel falls in love this boy. If I present this plot without any further context, one would think that this is a romantic comedy targeted towards female audience. This sounds nothing like the sexplotation films common in Hong Kong during the 1990s.

However, as the promotional poster suggests, this movie is marketed as a softcore nudity film. On that note, the two main female characters are underused on that front. There weren't enough nude scenes to start, and the sex scenes (Wei in the kitchen, Peach on the boat) aren't steamy enough, and definitely lack passion. My favourite scenes in the film would probably be the way Peach descends on earth (completely naked in the back alley), and the final scene where she expresses her love by appearing totally naked on the boat, and make love with him in the middle of Victoria Harbour.