Frank (Tom Selleck) faces a moral dilemma on tonight’s “Past Is Present” episode of Blue Bloods when he discovers that an NYPD officer named Mike McFadden, to whom he’s about to give a commendation, actually lied his way onto the force.
And it’s worse than that. McFadden is actually the son of former NYPD detective Sonny Malevsky (Michael T. Weiss), the man who murdered Frank’s son Joe. To use a few clichés here, Frank has to consider if he believes that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree or if maybe Mike shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of his father.
When Mike doesn’t come to Frank, Frank goes to see Mike, who tells him that he knew if he used his birth name—which has been legally changed, by the way—he didn’t have a chance to get on the NYPD.
“I knew who my dad was,” Mike tells Frank. “That’s why I lied.”
Sonny Malevsky, in addition to being an NYPD detective, was the leader of a criminal fraternal organization known as the Blue Templar. Joe Reagan was investigating the Blue Templar’s criminal activities when Malevsky murdered him. When Frank had Malevsky arrested, he committed suicide.
It turns out that Mike wasn’t the only Malevsky who changed his name to McFadden. Several of his family members had made the switch to seem more American and were members of the NYPD in good standing.
“I wanted to be one of the good people who have worn the uniform,” Mike explains.
Mike asks if he’s terminated, and Frank tells him, “You’ll know when I know.”
While Frank’s staff—Abigail (Abigail Hawk), Garrett (Gregory Jbara), and Sid (Robert Clohessy)—is adamant that Mike should be fired, Frank takes the matter to Sunday family dinner to see how his children react. He makes sure to tell them that Mike is a good cop.
Erin (Bridget Moynahan, who directed the episode) is adamant that Mike should be fired, but Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), surprisingly, has a more lenient take on the situation, pointing out that he knows what it’s like to be blamed for what your father has done.
Next, Frank meets with Joe’s son, Joe Hill (Will Hochman), telling him, “We’re in this together.”
Will decides he wants to meet Mike, and asks him, “How old were you [when this all went down]?”
Mike says he was 14.
Joe shares that he was younger, but he also tells Mike, “I never met him. I was raised by my mom.”
Mike says it was the same for him. He was raised by his mother and the McFaddens.
Joe continues, “I just met the rest of my family a few years ago. It must have been hard growing up.”
“The job lets me payback for what he did,” Mike tells him.
Then he turns to Frank, looking for an answer. Does he get to keep his job?
“You’ll be disciplined,” Frank says, “but you won’t be terminated.” Moral dilemma resolved.