Tonight on CBS Blue Bloods continues with an all new Friday November 21 season 5 episode 8 called, “Power of the Press” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode a cop’s body camera malfunctions during an altercation with a civilian, and Frank must deal with the negative public reaction. Elsewhere, Danny and Baez try to safeguard an informant; and Erin looks into a rape claim made by her friend’s daughter.
On the last episode, Frank was blindsided during an on-air interview when he and the interim District Attorney disagreed over an issue. Meanwhile, Danny’s new boss rode along with him, but their methods and personalities clashed as they investigated a drive-by shooting. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the CBS synopsis, “Frank faces public backlash after an officer’s body camera malfunctions during an altercation with a civilian. Meanwhile, Danny and Baez struggle to protect an informant after the U.S. Marshall’s Service decides not to put him in Witness Protection, and Erin investigates an old friend’s daughter’s claim of rape at a prestigious university.”
Blue Bloods “Power of the Press” airs tonight at 10:00 pm ET and we will be live blogging all the details. So don’t forget to come back and refresh your screen often for live updates. While you wait for the recap, check out a sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
At the courthouse, Javier Rojas is on the stand giving testimony. He is asked to point out the killer. He’s very nervous but indicates Rolando Vega gave the kill order. Vega threatens Javier. Later, Danny and Maria tell Javier he did well and will get his new identity and a fresh start. They hand him off to the Marshal. Javier is scared because there are only two guys guarding him. Andre runs up and says he needs a minute. He says he wants to talk about taking down Vega but Danny says – no interviews. They send him off.
Frank meets with Garrett and Gormley and watch a video of a confrontation between a cop and a minority guy that left James Prince in the hospital with a fractured skull. Officer Taylor says the kid hit his head on accident but witness accounts conflict. Gormley says even though Taylor is black, the witnesses are neighborhood guys who see blue. He says the officer cameras are a bad idea. Frank says he signed off on the cameras so they have to stick with it and refuses to hold a press release. He says they need to find out if the camera malfunctioned or the cop turned it off. Frank says he won’t speak on it until they know for sure.
Hannah comes to see Erin. Hannah says school is going well and Erin asks about her mom. Hannah says her mom doesn’t know she’s there. Eric asks what’s up and Hannah starts to cry. She holds the girl and tells her to calm down. Hannah says she didn’t know who else to call and tells Erin that there as a party in her dorm and she was drinking with some soccer players and one of them Darren Bentley was really cute and funny. She says they made out and then he threw her down on the bed and Erin asks if he raped her. Hannah nods and then starts crying again.
Erin asks when it happened and she says it was three months ago. Erin asks if she had a rape kit performed and Hannah says no, but she talked to the Dean of Students and that she should use the school’s disciplinary system to protect her. Hannah says they didn’t care about her and just wanted it to go away. She says Darren wasn’t even punished and she has to see him on campus every day. Erin asks if her mom knows and Hannah says her mom would freak out and she can’t handle it. Erin promises not to tell her and hugs Hannah close while the girl cries.
Danny comes out of the precinct and heads for his car. Javier calls out to him – he’s hiding down under some stairs. He asks what the hell he’s doing there. He says Morgan screwed him over and they told him that his protection deal was no good and kicked him out. He says he put his ass on the line for Danny and that Vega is going to kill him – he says he’ll cut him up nice and slow if they find him. Danny says he can help and cuffs him. He shoves him in the car.
Garrett tells Frank a protest is planned for Prince. Frank says to make it easy to for them to get a permit. Gormley comes in and says the union dealer is unhappy at Frank’s silence and says it makes it look like he’s not supporting the cop. Frank says he won’t make a knee jerk reaction without evidence. Gormley gets angry and says there is no evidence that Taylor did anything wrong. Frank says the problem is there is no evidence of any type yet. Frank tells him to tell the union leader to send the other cops out to get evidence to support him supporting Taylor. Gormley leaves.
Erin goes to see Dean Walter and Matt, the college’s lawyer, is there as well. The Dean says the welfare of students is their top priority. Erin says she doesn’t like that they counseled a rape victim not to call the police. Erin says it looks like it was more in the interests of the school. Matt says there was no obligation to report her alleged assault. Matt says these were drunk kids and misunderstandings occur. Eric says rape is not a misunderstanding and says she’s investigating the matter. She hands them a subpoena for all evidence they gathered.
Danny asks Morgan why he cut Javier loose and Morgan says it’s on the Federal Prosecutor, not him. He says they can’t put every scumbag rat into WitSec. Morgan doesn’t care what happens to Javier and says the guy shouldn’t have hired a crappy lawyer. Danny goes to talk to Dee Ann who says the federal prosecutor cut the deal. Maria says without Javier, the case against Vega will fall apart. Danny says he has Javier in an apartment but Dee Ann says there is nothing they can do. She says she’s sorry but her hands are tied. She tells him to put Javier back on the street.
Danny goes to give Javier the bad news and he calls him a liar. Danny blames it on the feds and says they can’t make them honor the deal. Danny reminds him they had him for crimes solid and Javier says he did what he said he would and they didn’t. Danny tells him to stay put and says they’ll find a way. Maria asks what he’s doing and says Carver told them to cut him loose. He says he won’t break his word and says they can disappear him
Frank goes to talk to Taylor about what happened. He says anything Taylor tells him is fair game in court. Taylor tells him Prince was going after a guy that was locked in a car. He says the guy wouldn’t calm down then punched him. He says he tried to subdue him and he hit his head. Frank says it sounds like a legit arrest that went bad. Taylor says he wore the camera for three weeks with no problem. Frank asks if he turned it off but Taylor says he didn’t tamper with it and was just doing his job.
Erin tells Hannah that Darren got a lawyer and is sticking by his story. Hannah is upset and says she knows she’s doing what she can but feels helpless. Erin says she sent an investigator to campus and will call her when she has news. She says her mom called and she’s glad she told her. Hannah says her mom was good about it. She hugs Hannah and tells her to stay in touch. At the college, Erin talks to campus security about Hannah. He says Hannah didn’t report it but the Dean did. He says the Dean asked her to collect evidence. He says he took a skirt from Hannah’s dorm room that was torn and had blood on it. He says he turned it over to the Dean.
Danny and Marie comes to the apartment with food for Javier and find two guys assaulting him. They pull guns and arrest the guys. Javier tells them he knew this would happen. Danny tells Javier to shut up and he cuffs the guys. Maria says she can call for a guy to pick up the thugs and Danny takes Javier out. They leave the two guys cuffed in the apartment and head out with Javier.
Danny takes Javier to the cop locker room and Javier rants. Danny says he’s trying to help him out and it’s Javier’s fault he’s in this spot. Maria leans in and shushes their argument. Dee Ann comes in and says that can’t be Javier because she told them to cut him loose. She tells Danny and Maria they are on thin ice and to come see her first thing on Monday.
The Reagans are all at dinner and Henry talks about how they would have handled cameras back in his day. Frank says just because they have the technology doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. He admits he had to say it was a good idea for the press. Jack says everyone has cameras and Danny says it makes it seem like they can’t trust cops. Henry says let them try to live without cops for a week. Frank says he’s seen the assumption that a cop will turn the camera off if he wants to hide what he’s doing.
Jamie asks if he thinks Taylor turned the camera off and Frank says he doesn’t know but doesn’t like the idea that a man’s word isn’t good enough unless there’s a digital recording to back it up. He tells the others that doesn’t leave the room. Erin and Nicky talk about what happened to Hannah. Nicky says everyone drinks and Erin tells her she’s the only one that can keep herself safe.
Garrett says the manufacturer found a problem with the camera and Gormley says the people in the neighborhood won’t ever believe that. Frank says they have to figure out how to show the department in the best light. He says they need more and he points at a video being shot by a neighbor on a balcony above them. Gormley says they interviewed the woman who says she was talking on the phone not recording.
Frank says they’re testing the cameras in that neighborhood because there are a lot of complaints there. They try to figure out how to get the woman to turn over the footage without losing her trust. They think about a reward to get her to hand it over.
Erin comes to see her boss who tells her he doesn’t have a date for the Mayor’s reception for the AG. He asks if she’ll go and she asks who he asked. He asks about her case and she says the Dean didn’t turn over the skirt right away and says it was misplaced. Erin says the skirt was ruled irrelevant at the hearing and it clearly shows the sex wasn’t consensual.
He tells Erin the skirt is helpful but it’s been a long time and there is no medical evidence. He tells her to step back for a minute and look at just the facts and the reality of trying for a sexual assault conviction. She admits she wouldn’t take it to trial and he says he’s sorry. She says she wants justice for Hannah and then says maybe someone could be held responsible.
Danny tells Maria he’s got Javier on a bus to Scranton that morning. They’re worried what Dee Ann will do to them and he says he’s going to take the blame for it. Maria says she was in on it and won’t let him catch hell alone. Andre, the reporter, is there and Danny asks what part of no he doesn’t understand. Andre says the public has a right to know what happened in the Vega case. Danny says it would be interesting if the details came out. Danny says they’re going to pick up Javier then go see the Marshals instead of seeing their Lt.
Frank comes to see Ms Jones, the woman with the camera. She says she told the police she didn’t see anything. He follows her to the back of her beauty shop to talk. He says he looked at the video on the body cam and it appears to show her recording the arrest. She says she was on speaker phone then tells him what she saw wasn’t clear. He says the NYPD isn’t popular in the neighborhood. She says she has four boys and none of them have been arrested.
He tells her she should be proud of that. She says her oldest has been stopped over 20 times by cops and humiliated but never arrested. He says he’s sorry for that. She says it’s harder to teach self-respect when they are being falsely accused. He tells her he heard that from another mother whose son grew up 20 blocks from her. He says it’s Taylor’s mom he was talking to. Frank says his mom told him that her son shouldn’t be accused of something he didn’t do.
Frank says he’s sure she’s told her boys that same thing. He says he’s sorry she didn’t record it, because it might things better there for all of them. Ms Jones hands him her phone and says it’s her only phone and asks him to tell her where to send the video so she doesn’t have to give up her phone since they don’t have a house phone. He thanks her.
Danny tells Morgan he’s going to put Javier back in WitSec or he’s going to tell the reporter they shirked on their deal with Javier. Morgan laughs and says the government gets bad press every day and says no one will care. Morgan tells them no one gives a damn but them. He takes a call from his boss and tries to protest what’s being said to him. He ends the call and tells Danny that the chief of detectives called the boss and threatened to pull all the detectives off the task force unless Javier gets his deal.
Morgan congratulates them on saving a dirt bag and Danny says takes one to know one. They show up to talk to their Lt and admit they screwed up. Danny says the call she made was a stand up thing to do. She says if the deals her detectives make aren’t held up, it will mess up all their work. She chews them out for violating trust and says they disrespected her and the whole squad. She says they choose last on tours and vacation days for the next six months and gas and wash all vehicles. She then says if they disobey a direct order again, they’re both fired. They leave.
Frank watches the video from Ms Jones’ phone. They see Prince clearly struck the officer first. Gormley shows this at a press conference and says you can clearly see Prince attacked unprovoked and will be charged and that Taylor will not be subject to any charges. Frank then takes the podium and says the footage came from a local citizen and will be used as supporting evidence and that the witness will also testify.
They call for questions. A reporter asks Gormley if he’s in favor of body cameras for officers. Gormley comes back to the podium and hesitates then asks for the question again. He says in this incident, it was the camera that started the whole brouhaha and another camera solved it when the first camera conked out. The Dean is in a meeting when Erin comes in with an arrest warrant. The lawyer says they can find Darren in his dorm.
Erin says their reckless disregard of Hannah’s case prevented that. They arrest the Dean for hindering prosecution. She says she withheld crucial evidence. The attorney says she won’t get a conviction and Erin says maybe not, but everyone will know what passes for justice on this campus. Students all gawk as their Dean is put into a police car and taken away. Hannah is there and seems satisfied. She mouths – thank you – to Erin.
THE END!
