Blue Bloods Introduced This Fan-Favorite Character Before It Knew What To Do With Them

You probably wouldn't have guessed it by the time the open-ended series finale of "Blue Bloods" rolled around, but the writers of the hit show didn't actually have a long term plan in place for Joe Hill (Will Hochman) when he was brought into the story. Luckily, his standout debut in the final episode of Season 10 paved the way for what would become a memorable arc on the CBS cop drama. Joe was introduced to viewers in "Family Secrets" as the previously estranged grandson of Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and son of the late Joseph Reagan. The young New York Police Department detective ultimately appeared in 21 "Blue Bloods" episodes between 2020 and 2024, taking part in the show until the fourteenth and final season.

Following the completion of Season 11 — Joe's first spell as a recurring character — "Blue Bloods" showrunner Kevin Wade admitted that there were still no definite plans to bring him back. "I have no idea," Wade said when Deadline asked about Joe's chances of becoming a regular attendee at those famous Reagan family dinners. "We were supposed to run that out last season and then we only aired 19 [episodes] because we shut down, obviously because of COVID. So we regrouped, brought him back in the beginning of this season. It was funny to start a season with this new character and then to sort of let it go away, so I thought pretty quickly well, we've got to bring him back at the end of the season and then I don't know where we go from here."

Most "Blue Bloods" fans seem to agree that Joe Hill was a valuable addition to the story in the long run despite his scattered appearances confined to the latter seasons of the series. Joe's acceptance into the Reagan family may not have been on the cards when he first showed up, but, thanks to the writers, he was an important piece of the story by the time the "Blue Bloods" series finale aired. And while he didn't exactly become a fixture at Reagan dinners, he was present at the very last one in Season 14.

"The final family dinner had an extraordinary feel to it, maybe even a kind of sacred feeling," Will Hochman told TV Insider ahead of the finale. "After 14 years, this was the last one. This was it. I did my best to be as present as possible and to take it all in, to look people right in the eye and to be there together." Hochman later reprised his "Blue Bloods" role in the Season 1 finale of the spin-off series "Boston Blue" with a Shabbat dinner cameo that sadly squandered the chance to do more with the character.

It turns out that Joe's "Boston Blue" cameo only happened because Donnie Wahlberg (Danny Reagan) found out that Hochman was in town to work on another project. Co-showrunner Brandon Margolis called it "fate" during an interview with Us Weekly. "It made sense — honestly — for the story we were telling about discovering new family members and what it meant for Joe Hill and how he learned about the Reagans later in his life," he said. Margolis also left the door open for Hochman to return in the future, so maybe Joe's journey isn't over just yet.