SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “End of Tour,” the December 13 series finale of “Blue Bloods.”
After 14 seasons and 293 episodes, CBS’ “Blue Bloods” officially ended Friday night and aired its final episode.
The last hour didn’t exactly go smoothly; in fact, it felt a bit like the regular episodes fans have grown to love over the past fifteen years – with a few big moments. The Reagan family faced an attack on the city and on the police in particular. Both Eddie (Vanessa Ray) and Mayor Chase (Dylan Walsh) were shot but survived; However, Eddie’s partner, Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan), did notas she was shot during a phone call with her, leaving the Reagan family devastated.
Luckily, the finale ended with some big, happy moments for the members of the Reagan family. Erin (Bridget Moynahan) quietly decided to remarry her ex-husband (Peter Hermann). Moments before she planned to share the news with the family, Eddie and Jamie (Will Estes) announced they were expecting their first child.
Meanwhile, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) dipped his toe back into the dating world for the first time, following advice from Grandpa (Len Cariou), and asked his partner Baez (Marisa Ramirez) out for pizza. Naturally, some longtime viewers — myself included — were curious to see if the show would bring back its former partner Jackie (Jennifer Esposito) for a romance between them.
Marisa Ramirez as Maria Baez and Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan
CBS
Wahlberg says Variety that that possibility “could have been considered,” but he was not part of that conversation.
“It was important to [producer] Kevin Wade doesn’t want every partnership to turn into a relationship. And I respected that, and I agreed with it. I think it was probably important for me personally that Danny grows,” Wahlberg said. “When the crowd started clamoring for a relationship with Danny and Baez, I thought, it’s more important that they grow and that she starts to make an impact on him, and that he really respects her in a way that he has ‘ I haven’t always respected certain people on the show.
He felt it was very important that the audience knew how much love – “not even as a couple, just as human beings” – there was between the two characters.
“I think that was a big effort on my part. I’ve been pushing a lot for some closure with that. I went to [writer] Siobhan O’Connor, and I thought, ‘Listen, you’ve got to do something. They don’t have to get married, but something would be nice, just to show that maybe there is a future for them, or that their relationship has really evolved,” he explained.
O’Connor came up with the scene between Danny and his grandfather and wanted to surprise the actor with it. “I did the scene with Len, and it was just gold. You understand that he follows Grandpa’s advice. And I thought it just magically happened,” he recalls. “I thought it was over with regards to the show. It wasn’t, “Let’s end this with a nice bow.” It’s just a little nod to what could happen for them in the future.”
Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan
CBS
Tom Selleck, who plays Commissioner Frank Reagan and is an executive producer of the series, “wasn’t part of the discussions about the finale” storylines and was surprised by everything that unfolded.
“Somewhere along the line I came to welcome [the surprises] because Frank doesn’t know what’s happening to him,” he said Variety.
Over the course of the final season, many wondered whether Frank would step down from his role as commissioner. When asked if Selleck was happy he didn’t, the actor was stunned.
“I don’t know. I was never confronted with it. I think there’s a story behind that. I know he hated the job. He hated the responsibility, the weight on his shoulders. He didn’t want it. He didn’t audition for it when it originally came out. So it would have been interesting,” Selleck said. “I think he would have had to get himself fired that he tried to convince everyone at that dinner table to bring.
Wahlberg says Frank’s feelings about his job over the years have contributed to the family dynamic.
“It’s so important that the patriarch of the family hates the job, but has the integrity and sense of responsibility to do it to the best of his or her ability at all times,” he says. “And all his children have different feelings about it.”