Regarding Jamie, I thought he was actually a lot less straight arrow than usual. Convincing Eddie she was ‘injured’, getting her to waste a doctor’s and emt’s time based on a lie so they could coerce witnesses to change their statement (another lie, this one on official documents) to cover another break of regulations, all offenses that could lead to suspension, being fired and even jail time… no wonder he got cold feet when pressured by his boss. He should have called her before sending the report, I agree, but I guess he either didn’t have time or was just too nervous.

I enjoyed Erin’s story, for once. I could understand Crawford… she has no clue about the guy, just that one of her subordinates is mixing with a criminal under investigation, which can lead to all kinds of legal drama, plus drama with the co-worker investigating/prosecuting the guy. He is a criminal robbing people, not a decent guy. And she is a politician aiming for higher offices, so every win counts on her next run for election. But she should have trusted Erin when she wanted to take a closer look, as she knows how fair she is as a prosecutor. Still, Erin disobeys her every other episode, sometimes saying to her face she won’t do it and how stupid that decision is, and no boss, especially one so proud, would accept it. In real life, the gossip of the office would be how Crawford is in charge but Erin does what she wants, and that is humiliating, especially for someone like her.. which made the resolution to the story even better in my eyes, of course.

Joe’s problem is that he is in Narcotics, I think. In his realm, even the victims are hardly innocent, if not sometimes worse than the criminals being prosecuted and sought after. He needs more experience to see everyone as people first. And being a Reagan, being stubborn and territorial is a given. Experiences like this will hopefully help him learn.

I am not too sure about the rule regarding living in the city, though. Sure, small towns, higher positions like Frank’s, Sid, or the captains, it is obviously impossible to hide, but almost every cop I know (besides the TikCoppers, of course) does their best to hide his or her profession from everyone. Being targeted is more and more often a real problem, and almost every detective or patrolman that worked against a gang in bigger cities had threats dropped in their mail, their houses shot at, not to mention the unfortunate fact that, with lower wages, they have to live in rougher places… many times among the very people they arrest. You bring a guy in the morning to jail, you are back home and his brother lives in the same block, if not the same building. Then all the neighbors hate you, your car is smashed… that is why there are places with rules that prosecutors cannot have their addresses exposed.

Of course, the opposite is also true… if you live in a nice place with decent people around, your kids go to the same school, you have lunch in the neighbor’s restaurant, everyone will definitely trust you more. So, I think it depends on the city and place, in the end. As you said, not the fault of the rule itself, but the circunstances of each spot, each individual job (a narcotics guy like Joe is a lot more in danger than Jamie, for example) and city.

Last, I agree. I am not too sure Frank would bow down to Sid’s situation without Badillo and Eddie’s encouragement, or at least not so easily, but they would save a lot of drama if they could just talk properly. Sid is of a generation that you avoid it, unfortunately.

And I’ll definitely miss this show. Funny how some things go… we should be happy it got 14 seasons when the majority barely finishes one, but still feels way too son.