What if Joe Reagan's investigation with the FBI into the Blue Templars led to him going into witness protection? It might not be too far-fetched. At the end of Season 1, Sonny Malevsky (Michael T. Weiss), the crooked detective in charge of the Blue Templars, initially confessed to Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) that he was the one who killed Joe during his investigation into the criminal order. But perhaps that's just what the FBI wanted the Blue Templars to believe. Or maybe Sonny did shoot Joe but didn't finish him off, leaving a chance for the FBI to save Joe and place him in witness protection. There's certainly some wiggle room for the show's writers to explain how Joe survived. And overall, the prospect of him still being alive and in witness protection is enough to excite some.
Fans like u/kayk97 and u/xman1971 believe it's a secret best revealed during the show's end. On the other hand, Joe being alive could potentially make for at least a season's worth of story to explore. He'll have to answer many questions about him going into witness protection and keeping the secret from his family. And as a result, we can already imagine those Sunday dinners getting even more dramatically tense. In addition, as one fan noted, bringing Joe back would significantly change the Reagan family dynamic, similar to how his son entered the series. u/Se7en_senses wrote, "I love this idea!! Would shake things up, like when they introduced Joe Hill." The elder Joe mysteriously waltzing into the Reagans' lives certainly would take a neat page from his son.
