The new CBS police drama series Blue Bloods did very well with audiences on its premiere night two weeks ago, finishing as the second-highest rated new show, after Hawaii Five-0, garnering 13.0 million viewers. As I noted in my review last week, the show takes an intelligent and nuanced attitude toward the police, recognizing their necessity but also the temptations their power creates.

Episode 2, “Samaritan,” which premiered last week, considers those matters and adds an interesting, broader look at how the justice system puts citizens in an awful dilemma by claiming a monopoly on the use of force, denying people the right to protect themselves from violence.

The episode deals with the search for and prosecution of a man who shot one of a gang of robbers and rapists on a subway train. The shooter and thugs are both of the same ethnic group, which removes that element from the story and puts the focus where it is most important:  on the vigilante aspect of the story and the way the system punishes people who protect themselves and others.

The latter is obviously a perversion of justice, but the producers wisely refrain from pushing the viewer to a particular conclusion about it. Instead, they let the viewer draw their own conclusion after another of the post-supper debates among the Reagan family that seem likely to become a regular occurrence in the series. One thing, however, is made very clear: the laws of the state and city put the “vigilante” in an impossible position. The city’s “no tolerance” gun laws made this honest citizen a criminal by making it illegal for him to do what any sensible person would strive to do: make sure that he can protect himself and others from violence.

The viewer is led to understand this truth but is allowed to draw their own conclusions about whether the tradeoff is worth making. As Benjamin Franklin said, those willing to trade liberty for security will have neither, but “Samaritan” refrains from forcing that conclusion on the audience. Bringing it to people’s attention, however, is a laudable thing.