‘Blue Bloods’: Danny and Baez Get Help from Returning Mobster Guest Star

In this week’s episode of Blue Bloods, Detectives Danny Reagan and Maria Baez needed some help from someone they would prefer not to deal with. They enlisted retired mobster Vincent Rella, played once again by guest star Dan Hedaya, to help them out on an investigation. This was Hedaya’s first appearance on the show since 2015.

The last time fans saw Vincent was back in the Season 5 episodes “Power Players” and “With Friends Like These.” Now, Vincent is no longer working, but Danny and Baez hoped his connections could still help them out.

The episode kicked off with Danny and Baez finding the murder victim, Lorenzo, in a restaurant. They discover that Lorenzo’s daughter Angelica did not show up that morning to unlock the restaurant, which is why she wasn’t the one to discover the body.

Next, they discovered Angelica had a gun registered in her name. The gun was in the same caliber as the weapon used to kill her father.

Danny and Baez visited Vincent for some information on Lorenzo’s murder. Vincent tried to convince them he is retired and out of the loop. During their conversations, Vincent keeps getting phone calls because he is working as a bookie. Vincent agreed to talk if they don’t arrest him for that.

Vincent revealed that Lorenzo paid for protection from a mob family, but could not pay when the price went up. He also suggested Angelica did the right thing by running away because she would be the family’s next target.

Danny thought he found the killer by bringing in Paulie DeMarco (Ariel Shafir), who was near the crime scene. His lawyer noted that they had no evidence to connect him to the crime, but Danny suggested Angelica is that witness. “I sure hope she’s ok,” Paulie muttered. Danny offered Paulie a deal, but he still would not talk.

The next day, Danny and Baez got to Vincent, who they find watching horse races. They want him to tell them where Angelica is. Of course, he refused, but Danny found a way to Vincent’s heart, mentioning his granddaughter who is the same age as Angelica. Vincent agreed to tell Danny that Paulie was only supposed to warn Lorenzo, not kill him. Paulie has to kill Angelica before he gets killed himself. Vincent did not know where Angelica was, but he told Danny they have to find Angelica.

Paulie later showed up at Carmen’s (Lydia Jordan) apartment where Angelica (Elizabeth Paige) was hiding out. Danny jumped in out of nowhere to tackle Paulie before he killed Angelica and Carmen. At the precinct, Angelica would not confirm Paulie was the killer though, out of fear. So Danny brought in Vincent to convince Angelica that the cops can keep her safe. Unfortunately, Vincent surprisingly told Angelica to leave the city and forget what she saw!

Danny later had another meeting with Vincent before the end of the episode. He told Vincent they could use witness protection to keep Angelica alive, which Vincent found unconvincing.

The conversation was interrupted by Gino Grazioso (Jeff Panzarella), who teased Vincent that he is talking to some strange people these days. Vincent told Gino his name might come up in connection with Lorenzo’s death. Danny let Gino know about a deal: if Gino lets Angelica name Paulie as the killer, Danny will tell the D.A. he had nothing to do with this. Vincent insisted Danny could be trusted and Gino took the deal.

Gino and Danny both told Vincent he did good, but he’s “getting too old for these shenanigans.” Danny and Vincent then headed off to the racetrack.

Danny and Baez’s cases have been playing second fiddle to some of the other stories on Blue Bloods, especially now that Jamie (Will Estes) and Eddie (Vanessa Ray) are married and building a life as newlyweds. In the season premiere, Danny and Baez were enlisted by the medium Maggie Gibson (Callie Thorne) to help a father learn who killed his daughter.

Elsewhere in this week’s episode “Naughty or Nice,” Frank (Tom Selleck) and Erin (Bridget Moynahan) are once again at odds because Frank found out the district attorney’s office has a list of NYPD officers they think are “unreliable.” Frank later revealed that he had his own list of “unreliable” people in the D.A.’s office. Erin told Frank she hated the list too, but it’s her loyalty is to her office at work, not family.

Jamie and Eddie have furnished their new apartment, while Jamie is also working on an undercover operation to stop a predator working as a ride-share driver. During the case, Eddie jumped in to save Jamie once again.

New episodes of Blue Bloods air Fridays on CBS at 10 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: John Paul Filo/CBS