There’s one Blue Bloods story that may by no means be resolved.
Joe Reagan’s dying has forged a shadow over the Reagan household for so long as we’ve recognized them, and with good motive.
Frank’s beloved son was murdered by one among his fellow cops. There’s no strategy to actually recover from that, but Blue Bloods should discover some form of decision to the household’s grief because the sequence ends.
How Joe Reagan’s Loss of life Occurred on Blue Bloods
Joe’s dying occurred shortly earlier than the occasions of Blue Bloods Season 1, and the household spent a lot of the primary season looking for out the main points of how he died, solely to find that realizing the info didn’t make them really feel any higher.
After a season-long investigation, issues got here to a head when the identical group that killed Joe threatened Jamie. The reality got here out when Frank confronted the evil Sonny Malevsky, the corrupt cop who had ordered the hit on Joe.
(Sarcastically, Malevsky was performed by Michael T. Weiss, finest generally known as the primary actor to play final good man Mike Horton on Days of Our Lives.)
By the top of the finale, Malevsky was useless at his personal hand, and the household knew the reality: Joe had been killed as a result of he was about to reveal a gaggle of corrupt cops known as The Blue Templar, and so they wished to close him up.
Realizing that didn’t change the truth that he was useless. Malevsky’s suicide was chilly consolation.
The Reagans ended the primary season by paying their respects at Joe’s grave, absolutely conscious they’d by no means be capable to fully heal from the mindless lack of his life. So how can the sequence wrap up this storyline now?
It’s All About Closure For The Reagan Household Now
Studying the reality about Joe Reagan’s dying was a sort of closure, however the household wants one thing greater than that.
That’s all that Blue Bloods can provide now. Loss of life is everlasting, and Joe’s isn’t the one one which has damaged individuals’s hearts.
Linda handed away between Blue Bloods Season 7 and Blue Bloods Season 8, leaving one other unfillable gap in Danny’s coronary heart.
Moreover, Blue Bloods needed to write within the dying of Frank’s longtime good friend, Lenny Ross, after Deal with Williams died in 2023.
Blue Blood Season 14 Episode 3 was devoted to Williams’ reminiscence and featured Frank toasting Lenny’s reminiscence on the Reagan household dinner.
These losses harm, however none forged the shadow that Joe Reagan’s dying did. Each member of the Reagan household is motivated by their grief, ache, and guilt, in order that they NEED closure earlier than the sequence finale.
Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 11 factors towards the start of the ultimate decision of this tragic storyline.
The episode focuses on Jamie’s grief when somebody steals the basic automotive he drives, which initially was Joe’s.
For Jamie, dropping the automotive is like dropping Joe another time.
It’s the automotive he realized to drive in and had his first kiss in.
It’s additionally the place he and his brother had many essential conversations about life, together with about whether or not Jamie ought to grow to be a lawyer to please the household or comply with in Frank and Danny’s footsteps and grow to be a cop.
However regardless of how carefully the automotive was related to Joe, Jamie needed to study to let it go.
The thieves may not be caught earlier than they may promote the automotive for components, so Jamie needed to settle for that it could be gone endlessly, identical to his brother.
Jamie’s resolution to this downside was to offer the automotive to Joe Hill when it was lastly recovered.
This sequence was the start of the top of coping with Joe Reagan’s dying, offering sturdy hints as to how the sequence can provide the household closure within the sequence finale.
Joe Hill Is The Key To The Reagans Discovering The Closure They Search
Joe Reagan’s dying got here into sharper focus once more when the Reagans realized about his son, Joe Hill, on the finish of Blue Bloods Season 10.
Joe Hill by no means knew his father, and the Reagans by no means knew he existed. His mom wished it that approach and noticed no motive to undo her determination after Joe Reagan’s dying.
This has led to awkwardness and harm emotions on each side because the household tried to acclimate to having a brand new member.
It’s exhausting for the Reagans as a result of Joe Hill is a continuing reminder that his father is useless, but he additionally is part of him that lives on on the earth.
In previous seasons, Joe Hill’s tales have centered on his conflicted emotions about being associated to the Reagans and their problem accepting him into the fold.
That’s why Joe Hill is the important thing to gaining closure.
His existence speaks to the tragedy of his father’s premature dying, which was compounded by Paula Hill’s determination to maintain it secret that his father was Joe Reagan.
The Reagans can’t make up for misplaced time any greater than they’ll undo Joe Reagan’s dying, however by lastly bonding absolutely with Joe, they’ll make the most effective of the scenario.
Joe has been round much more and has come to a number of Reagan household dinners, which is a step in the suitable route.
Jamie giving him that automotive can also be a robust, constructive transfer. It acknowledges that Joe Hill is his father’s son and deserves to inherit his issues. It’s particularly essential coming from Jamie, who has been the Reagan who had the toughest time accepting Joe.
Nothing Will Carry Joe Reagan Again, However The Reagans Can Shift From Grief To Memorializing
The Reagans made one other essential stride towards resolving their emotions about Joe Reagan’s dying on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 14.
This episode handled Grace Edwards not wanting to offer Danny an award, however the essential factor was that Joe had been slated to get the award proper earlier than his dying.
This episode spoke to how absolutely anything can set off grief.
Henry insisted the award was cursed due to Joe’s dying, and Frank admitted that he hoped Danny getting it could make up for not with the ability to attend the ceremony for Joe.
However it additionally confirmed the best way ahead.
By the top of the episode, Danny had determined to show down the award as a result of it was imagined to be Joe’s.
The household met in a restaurant that Joe had cherished, one they hadn’t been again to since his dying, and toasted to his reminiscence.
That was a good looking instance of the shift they should make.
They should cease avoiding issues that remind them of Joe and rejoice his life.
I’ve lengthy dreamed that the Blue Bloods sequence finale would finish with a toast to the Reagan household, however that toast also needs to embrace one to Joe Reagan in order that the Reagans can full their shift from grief to acceptance and remembrance.
Over to you, Blue Bloods fanatics.
Do you assume there’s a strategy to resolve the household’s emotions about Joe Reagan’s dying? Ought to this be a part of the finale?
Hit the feedback along with your ideas.
Blue Bloods’ closing few episodes air on CBS on Fridays at 10/9c and on Paramount+ on Saturdays. The sequence finale will air on December 13, 2024.