'Blue Bloods': Frank Reagan Faces Pressure From New Mayor on New York's Homeless Issue

Blue Bloods returned on Friday night after taking the holiday season off with a tense new episode featuring Tom Selleck's Commissioner Frank Reagan clashing with another new mayor. Nip/Tuck star Dylan Walsh's Peter Chase was finally inaugurated as New York City Mayor and gave Frank some controversial ideas for policing during his administration. As usual, Frank stood his ground.

In "Careful What You Wish For," Frank's story began with a meeting with Chase at the Mayor's office. Chase made it clear he wants to see the NYPD do a better job of keeping the homeless off the streets and pointed out how tourism was down in the city. Major crime rates were down, but Chase pointed out that petty crime was up. Frank said the police were doing their best to protect 8 million citizens.

This did not seem to be enough for Chase, so he changed a vagrancy law. He now wants police to forcibly remove vagrants if the temperature reaches before 49 degrees. It used to be 32 degrees for their safety. Frank was not happy with this idea, but Chase put the law in place almost immediately.

"There's a new sheriff in town," Chase said.

"Actually, there's a new mayor in town," Frank corrected him. "The sheriff's been here awhile."

However, as he left the office, Chase reminded Frank that he's the one now in charge of the city.

Frank later took the idea to his team, who debated it. However, Frank said no matter what the blowback will be, they have to pull off this sweep. The mayor wants to give the people who elected him what they want, and the police can't really stand in their way.

After the first night of the sweep, a homeless man died while in custody. This presented Frank with another issue to respond to. He told Garrett (Gregory Jbara) to figure out some way to prove there were police officers hurt in some way during the sweep too. They did not want to pass all blame for the sweep's issues to the mayor.

The civilians complaints board later called an emergency meeting on the issue. Frank really needed Sid (Robert Clohessy) for this, but he was in a meeting with commanders on the sweeps. The commanders said their officers want overtime and haz-mats suits for the next sweep.

At the end of the episode, Frank met with Chase again to tell him he "misread" the homeless problem. He asked his police to "round up" innocent civilians. Frank pointed out that the only thing the sweep accomplished was overcrowding shelters and forcing homeless to go to other streets. He also told Chase that the sweeps go against new officers' training to not round up citizens without charging them.

Frank told Chase he should let the police present him with a plan to fix the homeless issue. Chase wondered why one had not been made before, and Frank admitted that other mayors have pushed back. Chase agreed to let him come up with a plan as soon as possible.

"Don't do a little jig in the elevator," Chase said as Frank left. "I know what a massage feels like."

"Copy that boss," Frank said.

Elsewhere in the episode, Eddie (Vanessa Ray) tried to help Jamie (Will Estes) pay off his student loans. Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Baez (Marisa Ramirez) investigated the shootings of EMT after one Jamie was working with was shot at the beginning of the hour. Erin (Bridget Moynahan) also clashed with a judge after she sentenced a violent criminal to rehabilitation.

The dinner scene was held back until the last minutes. The main topic was Jamie and Eddie's decision to have a joint bank account.

Blue Bloods airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

Photo credit: John Paul Filo/CBS