A Decades-Old Cold Case Solved? Here’s What Happened on This Week’s ‘Boston Blue’
There’s lots to investigate in the fifth episode of the CBS cop drama—get ready for spoilers.
Key Points
- ‘Boston Blue’s’ latest episode explores parent-child relationships through intersecting police cases.
- Cases involve a teen shooter, an art heist murder, and an elderly mugging victim.
- Secrets are revealed, leaving everyone to wonder, “How well do you really know your family?”
The Nov. 14 episode of Boston Blue seemingly poses a serious question, “How well do parents know their kids?” and, “How well do kids really know their parents?” It’s the thread that connects all of the cases explored by the characters this week in the Blue Bloods spin-off. And, actually, eagle-eyed Blue Bloods fans will notice a familiar face in this week’s episode, but it’s not who you expect.
So let’s dig into the policework, shall we? Here’s what Boston’s finest have been up to.
Sarah (Maggie Lawson) arrives at a devastating crime scene involving a mass shooting that killed three teenagers in front of a frozen yogurt shop. She finds the weapon and ultimately the shooter, a 16-year-old boy, but ends up at odds with Mae (Gloria Reuben) over whether or not to also hold his parents accountable.
What’s Lena and Danny’s case this week?
It’s nearly two cases in one. While at the station, Lena (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) are alerted to a potential tipster in a decades-old art heist, a case that’s of particular interest to Lena. But before they can talk to the man, they see him argue with someone on the phone and storm off.
Cut to a short time later when the detectives arrive at a murder scene, only to discover the victim is the very man who initially came to visit them about the infamous art heist case. While looking around the house, Lena notices a blank frame on the wall, one that has had a painting removed. This was the same way the art thieves left the scene in the museum they stole from—cutting out the paintings but leaving the frames behind.
Jonah and Sean intercept a mugging.
While on patrol, Jonah (Marcus Scribner) and Sean (Mika Amonsen) witness an elderly man (Dakin Matthews) being mugged by two perps. The rookies quickly realize that the man is not well and extremely confused, eventually mistaking Sean for his own son.
Wait, didn’t Dakin Matthews appear on Blue Bloods?
He sure did. Matthews, who you may best know as Hanlin Charleston on Gilmore Girls, appeared as an entirely different character on an episode of Blue Bloods during that series’ sixth season. In that episode, titled “Help Me Help You,” Matthews played Judge Wilson, a mentor of Erin’s (Bridget Moynahan) who recently lost his wife. On Boston Blue, however, he plays Mr. Hicks, a senior whose mind is deteriorating.
How do the cases wrap up?
Sarah is able to gather enough evidence that the teen shooter’s parents did, in fact, know that he was at risk for being violent, and they’re charged.
Lena and Danny, who started out with two suspects in their murder case, learn that it was the victim’s brother who ultimately shot him. The reason? He had learned that, unbeknownst to them, their father had been involved in the museum art heist and had millions of dollars in artwork hidden in a storage unit. The brother wanted to sell off the stolen pieces and split the cash, but the murder victim did not.
Jonah and Sean reunited Mr. Hicks with his son, who invites him to live with his family.