Blue Bloods explainer: What happened to Frank’s son Joe Reagan?

Blue Bloods’ latest episode left Frank Reagan in emotional turmoil but what happened to his son Joseph “Joe” Reagan?

Blue Bloods season 14 featured a blast from the past regarding his son Joe Reagan which has troubled him throughout the cop drama. In last week’s episode which aired on Friday, March 15, Past is Present, Frank Reagan (played by Tom Selleck) was ready to give a commendation to NYPD officer Mike McFadden (George Papadimatos).

However, it is soon discovered that he lied about who he was to get into the force, having legally changed his name from Malevsky.

This is because Mike is the son of the former NYPD detective Sonny Malevsky (Michael T Weiss), much to Frank’s horror.

The rest of the CBS episode saw Frank stuck in a moral dilemma but in the end, Frank decided that Mike would be disciplined but not terminated.

What happened to Frank’s son Joseph Reagan in Blue Bloods?

Joe Reagan was an NYPD detective who was the third child of Frank and Mary Reagan who worked as part of the Warrant Squad and was assigned to the 12th Precinct.

Not long after he was promoted, Joe began working undercover with the FBI to investigate the fraternal organisation known as the Blue Templar.

The group was made up of corrupt police officers and Joe was on the brink of getting enough evidence to expose those involved and provide names to the FBI.

However, the Blue Templar discovered the covert investigation and its leader Sonny Malevsky (Michael T Weiss), Mike’s dad, killed Joe as a result.

Malevsky also tried to kill Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) by sabotaging the brakes of his car but thankfully, his plan backfired.

Frank had arrested Malevsky for the murder of Joe but he died by suicide so justice wasn’t served.

Joe died 15 months prior to Blue Bloods starting and one month before his 32nd birthday.

Following his death, Joe was posthumously promoted from Detective 3rd Grade to Detective 1st Grade.

And while Joe had never married, he did have a son that no one knew about, including him.

Following Joe’s death, it was discovered that he briefly dated his former Police Academy classmate Paula Hill.

Paul fell pregnant with his child but never told Joe about it as she wasn’t interested in a relationship at the time and knew he would insist on them getting married to raise their son together.

Paula chose to name their child Joseph Hill (Will Hochman), after his late father.