‘Blue Bloods’: Reagans Clash Over Police Tactics When Guest Star Returns

Blue Bloods saw the return of Joe Hill finally in this week’s episode, “The Reagan Way.” Sadly, Joe’s reunion with Sgt. Jamie Reagan was not as family-friendly as one might expect because the two clashed over police tactics. The episode also saw things get heated between A.D.A. Erin Reagan and Officer Eddie Janko.

At the start of his story, Jamie (Will Estes) pulled over a driver for speeding. Jamie and a fellow officer discovered that the man had an outstanding felony warrant and a big duffle bag filled with cash in the backseat. Instead of talking, the man demanded to speak to a lawyer.

Back at the precinct, Joe (Will Hochman) and his boss Jeff Green (Blake Morris) jumped in to stop Jamie from booking the man, who turned out to be Manuel Ruiz (Bobby Roman). Joe is now working on an FBI task force and Ruiz was one of their targets. It was drug money in the back of his car, which they believe Ruiz was going to use for a buy. Green and Joe wanted to take over the arrest so they could use Ruiz to get to their real target. Jamie was a little puzzled by this. How could they get Ruiz to cooperate if he already asked for a lawyer? Joe and Green wanted to threaten Ruiz to get him to help. “We’re giving him incentive,” Joe said. Jamie disagreed with this tactic and refused to let Joe have Ruiz. Joe was very upset that his uncle was making him look bad in front of his new boss, while Jamie was shocked that Joe would put someone’s life in danger.

After the main title, Jamie went with a different tactic. He told Ruiz that if he cooperated, he wouldn’t miss seeing his daughter grow up. This idea actually worked. Ruiz told Joe and Green what the money was really meant for and who the drugs were supposed to be dropped off at. Joe and Green offered a reduced sentence if Ruiz pulled off the drug buy and the FBI could arrest the bigger fish. Ruiz agreed, but only if Jamie was there as the point man.

Joe still wasn’t happy about Jamie’s “boy scout” tactics though. “Hey, before you said you’re not one of us, right?” Jamie told Joe as he turned to leave in a huff. “Well, I think you’re absolutely right. You’re not. You’re nothing like your father!” That comment is going to leave a mark.

Like the last time Joe was on the show, he did not attend the Reagan family dinner. Jamie confirmed that Joe is still trying to keep his true family connections a secret. “Don’t count him out,” Frank (Tom Selleck) said. “Well if all else fails, we’ll just bring out the big guns… Irish Catholic guilt. Dad wrote the book on it,” Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) said.

During the drug buy, things went wrong quickly when the guy Ruiz was trying to buy the drugs from had his family held hostage and threatened to kill them. Joe, Jamie, and Green jumped into action, but Ruiz was shot in the shoulder during the chaos. Although Ruiz will survive his wounds, Jamie was angry that they waited to act. If they jumped out of their van sooner, they could have saved Ruiz’s family, but Joe needed to confirm that the criminal had the drugs he was selling.

“You know what your problem is?” Jamie asked Joe. “You haven’t learned yet that only thinking about collars and not thinking things through is going to get you or someone else killed!” Joe shrugged. “Great, I’m going to be just like my dad.” Jamie couldn’t respond yet because the GPS tracker discovered where the criminal took Ruiz’s family. They rushed to the house in Brooklyn. Jamie and Joe put their differences aside to save the hostages.

That night, Danny, Frank, Jamie, and Pops (Len Cariou) had Joe over for “Chicago Texas Hold ‘Em – Reagan Style,” which was Joe Reagan Sr.’s favorite game. Joe and Jamie squared off in the end, but Joe eventually folded. It was all good though, and the episode faded to black as everyone laughed.

The other big Reagan family clash was between Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Eddie (Vanessa Ray), after Eddie insisted Erin’s office go after a lawyer accused of raping a woman. In the end, Eddie was right because it was discovered the lawyer was fired from another law office because he raped a co-worker. Frank and Archbishop Kearns (Stacy Keach) clash when Kearns says the wrong man was arrested for a murder. Since Kearns can’t reveal who the real killer is, it was up to Danny and Det. Maria Baez (Marissa Ramirez) to solve the case, which they did. New episodes of Blue Bloods air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and past episodes are available to stream on Paramount+.