I was giving the episode "Unbearable Loss" (Season 7 episode 10) another view when it occurred to me there was so much more this episode could have done to develop both a dialogue between Potter and Frank, not to mention the further exploration of Joe and who he was as a son, brother, uncle, cop, and all around human being.
I also noted that the writers lack continuity for instance, Potter asks Frank and Danny to attend the funeral. Frank replies by saying that they would be honored and would see Potter "in the morning". The next scene is the weekly Sunday dinner where Frank and Danny are dressed in black suits. This is not how Frank and Danny usually dress for Sunday church and everyone else is more or less dressed casually. During dinner Frank states that Potter asked him to speak at the service, and he tells them what he plans to say so we know that the funeral has not yet occurred. By their formal dress, the visual cue is that Frank and Danny are going to the service later that day, or, have just come from it.
Many of the episodes have the same problem, such as how old each of the kids are, and when Erin should have really turned 40 as opposed to when she did. As Joe's gravestone declares his date of birth to be June 5, 1977, the ages of the other siblings have to in some way relate to that date, and Joe's birth order in the line of siblings in relation to theirs.
Anyway, on to my story:
9:25 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, 2017
New York County Superior Court
Criminal Courts Building
100 Centre Street
New York City, New York.
"Please rise" the bailiff hailed. "The Honorable Michael Callahan presiding" he concluded as the judge took his seat on the bench, after which he bade the courtroom to be seated.
His clerk handed the judge the first two files of the day. "People of the State of New York versus Omar Davis and People versus Dante Micklewhite" she crisply stated.
The judge accepted the cases and spent a minute reviewing the particulars, though he was more than familiar with them.
"On the first matter before the Court, People v. Dante Micklewhite" the judge announced.
"Erin Reagan appearing on behalf of the People of the State of New York" Erin replied.
"Joseph Delici of the New York County Public Defender's Office appearing on behalf of the Defendant, Dante Micklewhite" Erin's opponent stated.
The judge looked at Erin and then at Mr. Delici affording them both a courteous nod before commencing.
"Today is the sentencing date in this matter for Defendant Dante Micklewhite" the judge declared. "Are the People ready?" He inquired of Erin.
"Yes your Honor." She replied.
And the Defendant?" The judge inquired of Delici.
"The Defendant is also ready." He responded.
"I see that a plea agreement has been entered into by the Defendant?" The judge inquired.
"That is correct your honor." Erin affirmed. "The District Attorney's Office charged Mr. Micklewhite, a 15-year-old minor at the time, as an adult. In return for his plea and allocution of the crime, the State has stipulated to waive all charges except for the counts of Capital Murder and Felony use of a firearm. In return for his plea, the Defendant will be sentenced as an adult to a term of 25 years to life with eligibility for parole after the minimum, plus a two year term to run consecutively for the firearm. He will serve his term in a juvenile facility until he attains the age of 19 years at which time he will be transferred to an adult facility for the remainder thereof."
"Mr. Delici?" the Judge inquired.
"The Defendant so stipulates to the agreement as written, and to the terms stated on the record by the prosecutor." He responded.
"Will the Defendant please rise and allocate." The judge ordered.
Dante Micklewhite then stood and informed the Court of his crime, how he wanted to join Omar Davis's crew and as his initiation, was required to shoot someone. It was pretty much as Danny Reagan summed it up in his final investigative report, which he then turned over to the New York County District Attorney's Office.
Following the allocution, the judge imposed the agreed upon sentence and Dante Micklewhite was removed from the courtroom.
Danny sat behind Erin along with Jamie, who attended for moral support, knowing how difficult the murder of Michael Potter had been both on his brother, and father. With Frank unable to attend due to prior commitments, Jamie had offered to accompany Danny.
The clerk next called the case of the People v. Omar Davis, and the same routine was reenacted as Davis allocated to his part in the young Potter's murder. As an adult, he would be immediately transferred to an adult facility to begin spending no less than the next 30 years of his life but he would face the possibility of parole which is the only reason he had pled out. A jury conviction all but assured he would one day die in a cage.
Once the judge has passed sentence on Davis, the Court took a short recess.
Danny and Jamie arose from their seat and walked over to their sister to offer their congratulations. What they failed to notice was the broken man who had sat near the rear of the courtroom, and to which these proceedings had brought no consolation.
He left the courthouse and climbed into the back of a waiting car to be ferried back to his church office, but even his work, be it of the religious or the community activist variety, failed to bring him solace, comfort, or an inner peace.
Darnell Potter was truly a broken man having been cruelly stripped of the one thing he loved most in life, his son, who had been wantonly and deliberately stolen from him for something as senseless as a gang initiation, and for what, for Michael having been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Why would God do this to him?
As a man of God, Potter had consoled many of his parishioners on the loss of their loved ones but now that it was his turn, he could find no satisfactory answer or explanation that would make sense to him.
Nearly five months had elapsed since that evening when Potter had been summoned to the location where Michael's inert form lay, his arch enemy's son, standing over the body, however since then the actions of the Reagans, both father and eldest son, had caused Darnell Potter to take new stock in himself, and of the actions and kindness of others, be they NYPD or white.
He thought back to the conversation held between himself and Frank Reagan the day the latter knocked on his front door.
"We got him." Frank announced.
After being informed that the instigator behind the crime had been an attendee at Potter's camp for at risk youths, he had informed Reagan: "If I never have to swallow another piece of irony in this lifetime it will be just fine."
He had known that the Commissioner had lost one of his three sons, but not the circumstances surrounding it, so when Frank informed him that he did understand the irony surrounding Michael's death, that a crooked cop had killed his son, Potter was at a total loss for words.
Something about that confession never quite left Darnell Potter's mind and over the past five months it began to fester as he dealt with his own grief over his loss of Michael. Try as he might, he couldn't help an inner part of himself from wanting to know more about Frank Reagan's loss which had to be far greater than his own, considering the circumstances of each of their sons' deaths, and so it was a week later when Baker walked into a meeting between Frank, Garrett, and Sid with an announcement that knocked them all for a loop.
11:18 a.m. Thursday, March 23, 2017
Office of the Commissioner of Police
New York City Police Department
14th Floor, One Police Plaza
New York City, New York.
Abigail Baker knocked on frosty glass door to the office of the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, and gently made her way in.
All conversation immediately ceased as three sets of eyes turned in her direction.
"Reverend Potter is on line 3. He would like to speak to you if you are available." She informed the Commissioner.
"What did we do now?" Sid Gormley reflexively inquired in reference to the NYPD.
Garrett began scrolling through his emails and text messages to see if he missed a notification as to a new storm that he and Frank needed to get ahead of, but nothing appeared.
"How about I take the call and we find out?" Frank answered as he lifted the receiver and pressed the button for line 3.
"Hello Reverend." Frank noncommittedly greeted.
"Commissioner, I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time." Potter responded.
"Not at all, how are you and Lois doing?" Frank inquired.
"As I am sure you know, some days are better than others, however none are as good as they once were or would have been." Potter answered.
Frank inwardly winced at the response as he knew too well what Potter was going through.
"Frank, I was wondering if perhaps you had a free evening for dinner. I'd really like to talk to you, as another father who can understand what I'm going through."
To say that Frank Reagan was shocked would have been mild. That such astonishment did not register on his face for Garrett or Sidney to see was a testament to his self-control.
He looked down to his calendar and flipped through the pages for the remainder of the current week. "How about next Wednesday, the 29th, 7 p.m. at Delmonico's?" Frank inquired.
"Thank you, I look forward to it. See you then." Potter stated before both men disconnected.
Garrett began scrolling through his calendar to note the date and time Frank had just mentioned.
"What's on Potter's mind that he wants to meet with you?" He inquired.
"Nothing official." Frank replied.
"Boss?" Sidney asked.
"He wants to just talk, as a father who has lost a son to another father who can understand the pain he is going through." Frank responded.
"Potter wants your help in getting through his grief?" Garrett astonishingly asked.
"Yes." Frank nodded.
Sid rose from his chair and began looking out the window while Garrett's fingers began hammering away at his I-Pad.
Frank noticed the two and inquired: "What are you two doing?"
"Looking for flying pigs." Sid answered.
"Checking the weather report from Hell to see if it's dipped below 32 degrees." Garrett stated.
"Knock it off, the man lost his son and he's reaching out. This could be a positive thing moving forward." Frank admonished.
"No doubt Frank, but you have to admit that after all the fire and brimstone that man has heaped upon you and this department, and all the hell he has put Danny and Jamie through, it's sort of ironic that he wants to use Joe's murder as a subject to bond over." Garrett replied.
"Speaking of which, how do you think Detective Reagan and Officer Reagan are going to react to this?" Sid inquired.
"First of all, I would hope I have raised my sons well enough to be empathetic to another person's suffering and secondly, Joe was the family peacemaker and if his loss can be the starting point to a conversation that brings Potter some type of closure and comfort, and maybe helps to take a load off of this department, I'd like to think that he'd be all for it." Frank clearly stated.
"Baker, clear my schedule for next Wednesday evening." He yelled out before turning to face Garrett and Sidney. "And don't plan on being two flies on the wall."
"The thought never occurred to me." Garrett replied.
"What he said." Sidney nodded.
2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 26, 2017
Home of Francis Reagan
8070 Harbor View Terrace
Brooklyn, New York.
"Amen" the family chorused in conclusion of grace.
"So how was everyone's week?" Henry inquired.
"Productive." Jamie answered.
Danny looked over at his younger brother. "In what way?" He inquired.
"Three collars, helped out an EDP and, I took the Sergeant's exam." He announced to everyone's surprise.
"You don't want to be a detective?" Danny astonishingly asked.
"You've been wanting that gold shield for years." Erin followed.
"Not going to happen as long as Dad's P.C. but if I pass the Sergeant's exam, then I have to be promoted." He replied while looking his father dead in the eyes.
This was not a conversation Frank wanted to have because in truth, he was the reason nobody would recommend Jamie for promotion to detective for fear of being accused of currying favor with the Commissioner. He had become the obstacle in his son's rise up the ranks and it inwardly hurt him to be however in the current political climate, he knew that if Jamie were promoted to detective, no matter how well deserved such a promotion may be, and in the opinion of many it was long overdue, cries of nepotism and favoritism would haunt Jamie for the remainder of his career in the NYPD.
"Besides, as a patrol Sergeant, I get to stay on the streets, continue being a T.O. and participate in setting precinct patrol policy." Jamie concluded.
"Plus you would outrank Uncle Danny." Nicky noted.
"Yeah, how about that Danny?" Erin smiled.
Danny smiled back at his sister. "Remember the time you were considering being a judge, and the Kid said that no matter how you got there he wouldn't be calling you 'your honor'? Likewise, should he make Sergeant he shouldn't expect my salute anytime soon."
"I'd be more surprised if you did." Jamie chuckled.
Linda, Nicky, Jack, and Sean each contributed a few anecdotes from their prior week before Erin closed with a summary of the proceedings of Michael Potter's killers.
"I know that he has caused you all a lot of grief, especially you Frank, but I can't help but feel sorry for him. Even someone who behaved as he did doesn't deserve to lose a child." Linda stated to everyone's nods and ascents.
"Speaking of the good Reverend, I received a phone call from him." Frank noted.
"When?" Eric inquired.
"This past Thursday." Frank answered.
"Did he call to thank you?" Henry asked.
"No, he already thanked both Danny and me at the funeral. He called to invite me to dinner." Frank explained, whereupon the room went deathly still and silent as all eyes focused on him.
"Did I hear you right?" Danny asked.
"You did." Frank replied. "He wants to sit down, one father to another and discuss what it's like moving forward after suffering such a loss. He seems unable to come to grips with it." Frank answered.
"So after having Jamie thrown down a flight of stairs, and trying to have Danny tossed off the force, he's now going to use Joe as a means of coping with his own son's death." Henry facetiously stated.
"And if Joe were here or able to communicate with us, I think he would not only be fine with it, he would encourage it." Jamie replied.
"My feelings exactly." Frank added.
"If Joe had been alive when Potter went after Danny and Jamie, I think he would have asked for a sit down and tried to broker a peace between the NYPD and Potter." Erin commented.
"If Joe were alive, Potter would have gone after him too, just because he's your son." Jamie opined.
"Joe always saw the best in everyone and in all situations. Too bad he didn't realize his own partner was such a scumbag." Danny huffed.
"So are you going to have dinner with him?" Jack asked.
"Yes Jack, I am." Frank answered.
"Think it will help?" Sean probed.
"I hope so Sean. Losing a child is the most intense pain a parent can ever endure and it's a limited club I certainly never wanted to join. Losing one's son to a senseless murder is common ground Reverend Potter and I share and maybe it's the foundation for a common understanding of how we can work together moving forward in a way that best serves our city." Frank concluded.
"Can you at least do Danny and I one favor, I mean after all Potter has put us through?" Jamie inquired.
"What's that?" Frank asked.
"Stick him with the check." Danny stated mirroring his brother's thought.
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