Blue Bloods gave us several very different looks at "Parenthood" this week, as one man gave up his future for his son while another father couldn't be bothered to reschedule lunch for his daughter.

How could anyone not feel for the Ortiz family? They worked hard but were struggling to get by when a couple of idiots decided the immigrant family were easy marks. 

Their home was invaded, they were robbed at gun point and beaten. I could understand the desire to find a gun and hunt down the people who did that to my family. Unfortunately for Mr. Ortiz, the law saw it differently. 

That the real culprit was the son and not the father was a twist that surprised me, although I suppose it shouldn't have. The son was furious and most parents would be willing to do almost anything to protect their child. 

Most parents, but not all. 

Nicky was torturing her mother with her surly teen phase leaving Erin feeling like she couldn't get anything right in her daughter's eyes. What Erin didn't know was that Nicky was actually lashing out because her Dad had rejected her once again.

When Dad couldn't make the time to see Nicky for take your daughter to work day or any thing else for that matter, the teen took it out on her mom. Why? Because mom was there.

I liked that Frank stepped up here. He could see how difficult being a single parent was for Erin and he tried to help where he could. Frank didn't chastise Nicky for her outburst but let the teen talk and then tried to show her things from Erin's side. And he had the good sense to tell Erin what was really going on with Nicky even though he had promised he wouldn't. There are simply some things a parent needs to know.

Finally there was the story of the Mayor's daughter. Ariel was arrested for assaulting a police officer during a college protest over tuition hikes.  I could see both sides of this debate.  The protest got out of hand and the teen had reacted without thinking it through. 

Should she pay for her actions? Absolutely, but I agreed with reducing the charges to a misdemeanor.  A felony conviction would follow the 18-year old around for the rest of her life. From what we were told, no one was seriously injured but if someone had gotten hurt by her actions then I think she would have had to face those consequences.  In this case,  kids got lucky.

I understood Ariel's mother doing everything she could to help her daughter. The Mayor was another matter. He'd stepped out of Ariel's life long ago. She was his daughter by blood but another man was her father.

I found it curious that the Mayor never told Frank about his connection to Ariel. He seemed to care about what happened to her but was he keeping the secret to protect her or himself?

In the end, the spirit of the law won out even if the spirit of every parent did not. Nicky's learned young that life isn't fair. Luckily she's gotten the gift of a very special grandfather to help ease the way.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.