‘Blue Bloods’ Fans Celebrate Return of Two Missing Reagans in Final 2020 Family Dinner

Blue Bloods sent off 2020 with a heartwarming Reagan family dinner scene at the end of a tense episode. While Jamie (Will Estes) and Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) clashed over the handling of a murder case in “Atonement,” Frank (Tom Selleck) searched tried to understand how the public revelation of Joe Hill’s (Will Hochman) true lineage would impact his grandson. After these stories played out, the Reagans gathered for a family dinner that included two younger members of the family who have not been seen in months. It was a bittersweet dinner though, as Joe could not make it.

Sami Gayle returned as Erin’s (Bridget Moynahan) daughter, Nicky Reagan-Boyle. Nicky left New York early last season to pursue a career outside law enforcement in San Francisco. Although Gayle has still been credited as a main cast member, “Atonement” was the first time she appeared in an episode since “The First 100 Days” in March. In that episode, Nicky’s cameo was short, as she called her mam through FaceTime.

Tony Terraciano had not been seen on Blue Bloods since “Naughty or Nice,” which aired back in October 2019. Terraciano plays Danny’s son Jack, who decided to leave home for college. Tarraciano’s real-life brother Andrew Terraciano has stayed on the show as Danny’s other son, Sean.

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Before the dinner, the Reagan family brought Joe closer into the fold, with him even joining Pops (Len Cariou), Frank, Danny, and Jamie for a game of poker. They gave him some much-needed advice for handling life as a member of the Reagan family in the NYPD. Joe also brought some food for the family dinner.

However, he actually went to Frank’s home on Saturday to deliver the food and said he did not plan on attending. He even put in for leave to take a break from police work. Joe told Frank he was really disappointed he could not meet Nicky and Jack. The whole family was crushed by Joe’s decision, but they all came to terms with the idea that Joe needed some space. 

Meanwhile, Erin and Anthony (Steven Schirripa) tried to get a longtime mobster behind bars after a member of his competition gifted them a piece of evidence to help.

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Jamie and Danny also had a major story together. Liz Diaz’s grandfather was pushed down a staircase. She showed Danny a video of the crime, and he believes it was clearly a murder. However, when the woman reported the crime to Jamie before obtaining the video, he dismissed it as an accident. Jamie said Diaz told him “God told her” her grandfather died. Jamie began beating himself up for not taking it seriously, and Danny promised they could find the murderer. Jamie felt so terrible about it that he reported himself to his commanding officer, therefore an investigation was opened and Danny was taken off the case because of a conflict of interest.

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Danny became frustrated with Jamie for always being the “boy scout,” especially since some substandard detectives replaced him. So Danny told Jamie they need to investigate the Diaz case themselves. Danny also brought Baez (Marisa Ramirez) into the investigation to interview the Diaz family. Jamie eventually warmed up to the idea of investigating the case so he agreed to help Danny. They discovered Liz’s brother accidentally pushed his grandfather to death, and he wanted to kill himself. Jamie helped talk her brother down from a ledge and he arrested him. Fans can find out what happens next to the Reagan family on Friday, Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. ET when the show returns.

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The episode also ended with a brief card reading, “In memory of Nick Cordero.” The Broadway actor, who appeared on a handful of Blue Bloods episodes, died from the coronavirus in July after three months in the hospital. He was 41.