East New York Season 1 Episode 11 Review: By the

Nobody ever said reforming the 7-4 would be easy.

Suarez has often toed the line, making political decisions and convincing Regina to back off when necessary so that she could continue working on her new vision for the precinct.

But did he go too far on East New York Season 1 Episode 11? Suarez gave in to a union trustee’s demand that Regina leaves a misbehaving officer alone, and Regina isn’t likely to take that sitting down.

Jankowicz represented the worst of police politics. Protecting officers’ rights is one thing, but a union trustee actively interfering with an investigation into an officer who has abused his power on multiple occasions is another.

The trustee sees Regina as a problem instead of police misconduct, and he’s trying to manipulate Suarez into taking his side. Is it working?

I’d hope not! Suarez believes in Regina’s vision for the police department and didn’t appreciate how Jankowicz tried to offer him a quid pro quo.

Still, in the end, Suarez ordered Regina to leave Finley alone. He knows she’s not going to, especially when she knows who was behind that decision.

Jankowicz threatened to get all of the police unions allied against Suarez if Suarez didn’t do things his way, making it appear that Suarez wanted to put his career over doing what was right.

But it’s not that simple.

If Suarez chooses this hill to die on, he might not be able to remain in his position, which he needs to do so that he can protect Regina and help her reform the police department.

And if Regina pushes too hard, she could lose her job. Then there will be no reform, and the police will return to ignoring residents’ needs in East New York.

Regina is in a difficult spot. If she ignores Finley’s behavior, she goes against her morals — and if it gets out, residents will think she’s like all the other cops who protect their own above all else.

Woman: You have some real psychopaths working here, you know that?
Kee: I’m sorry you feel that way.
Woman: You’ll be sorry when I sue this department because it’s full of bullies.

There’s already one woman ready to get loud about how Finley’s treated her, so it WILL get out if Finley isn’t disciplined appropriately.

But if Regina keeps this fight up, she might be out of work, and then what?

She’s in a precarious position, and the union thinks it’s neutralized her, but I wouldn’t count her out.

What would happen if someone leaked to the press that Regina was being pressured not to discipline a cop who was abusing citizens and that another police department had covered up his bad behavior?

That won’t look good for the brass and will look great for Regina, even if everyone suspects she’s behind the leak.

Regina will find another way to overcome this obstacle and ensure Finley stops his bad behavior. You can count on that!

The union might not like it, but she doesn’t care. She’s about reform, not pleasing idiots who don’t care who gets hurt as long as it’s not the police officers they represent. (Too bad East New York doesn’t appear, so far, to be in the same universe as Blue Bloods. It would be fascinating if Regina asked for a meeting with Frank Reagan over this!)

Ms. Russell: So it was a stranger. Someone who didn’t know who she was, who didn’t know she trudged through the city for six months looking for a space she could afford, that she loaned what little money she had to her students who had nothing.
Regina: When a young woman like your daughter is taken from us, we look for a reason. And sometimes there is no reason.
Ms. Russell: Some say it’s this city. But I don’t think so. My daughter was also this city.

Regina had something in common with the subway-shoving victim: they both wanted to do whatever it took to create a better community.

This case represented the most senseless murder on TV since that time on Homicide: Life on the Streets when one man killed another over a pen.

Kia Russell was an idealistic dancer who ran a studio for neighborhood kids and was willing to give her students her last dollar and as much time as she could. She died because a mentally unbalanced man shoved her when she tried to help him pick up his things after his bag spilled.

Talk about a senseless tragedy! If only Kia hadn’t asked the wrong man if she could borrow his phone for a second, she would still be alive.

Now the world has lost Kia’s contributions for no reason whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Goody and Bentley’s mother competed to see who could be the most annoying minor character.

Goody felt a need to bother Sandeford endlessly about Sandeford being on desk duty while Bentley’s mother tried to use her son’s injuries to control him.

Quinlan’s reaction to visiting Bentley at his home didn’t make much sense. I guess she wanted him to stand up more for their relationship, but he was sending out a ton of signals that he wanted to be with her that she missed.

Bentley offered her food and suggested they go for a walk, even though his mother disapproved. But Quinlan acted like he rejected her because he said he didn’t need anything. What was that about?

It was all forgotten by the end, but was I the only one who found that scene confusing?

There was also some unnecessary drama around the opening. I knew Killian stealing that bat would someday come back to haunt him, but I didn’t expect it to be like this!

Goody threatened to sue, Corrine freaked out, and Goody refused to become a partner in the restaurant, but it all fizzled out. The restaurant opened anyway, and Goody showed up with guests and a new proposition for how to work together to make the place a success.

So what exactly was the point of this story?

What did you think, East New York fanatics? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know! And don’t forget you can watch East New York online while waiting for the next episode to air.

East New York airs on CBS on Sunday evenings. Times may vary according to the football schedule; check local listings for airtimes.

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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.

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