Blue Bloods Series Finale Conclusion

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Blue Bloods series finale, “End of Tour.”

Blue Bloods has reached the end of the line.

The long-running police procedural aired its series finale, titled “End of Tour,” on Friday night, concluding 14 seasons on CBS. The episode offered each member of the Reagan law enforcement dynasty a fitting (if bittersweet) sendoff that provides a strong sense of hope as the show draws to a close.

The Final Episodes: A Recap

The episode begins with Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) investigating the murder of a judge who’d previously dismissed threats from the Ace Double Treys gang. The next episode shows Eddie Janko (Vanessa Ray) and Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan) responding to a carjacking that quickly evolves into a shootout with two motorcyclists. The duo hits one of the shooters as the other escapes — and Badillo ends the encounter with critical wounds, while Janko gets grazed on the arm.

Meanwhile, Mayor Peter Chase (Dylan Walsh) also takes a bullet in a drive-by shooting as he oversees a ceremony at a new historic landmark. Frank (Tom Selleck) visits him in the hospital, and Erin (Bridget Moynahan) watches a video from a gang leader demanding amnesty for incarcerated gang members.

In the hospital, Frank explains that there’s been a coordinated attack that left four cops shot and one NYPD precinct firebombed. The mayor entrusts the city’s leadership to Frank (under the table, of course): “I’m handing you the keys. You’re driving. Get us out of this.”

The Emotional Journey

Janko awakens in the hospital and asks where her partner is. Jamie (Will Estes) remains awkwardly silent as another officer says, “He’s not here.” Janko pushes further: “Not here in this hospital? Or not here anymore?” Jamie shakes his head. “There’s nothing you could’ve done,” he tells his wife, confirming that Badillo succumbed to his wounds.

In perhaps the stupidest decision of the episode, another cop approaches the room and announces, within earshot of Janko, that Badillo’s shooter is on the same floor of the hospital. Janko freaks out and demands to see the shooter face to face, jumping out of bed. “I have every right to see him!” she yells as the hospital staff sedates her. 

After that, Joe (Will Hochman) and Jamie resolve to find Emilio Mars, another one of the shooters, by whatever means necessary. Meanwhile, Danny analyzes a video from the executed judge and identifies the killer as Carlos Ramirez (Manny Perez) — the Ace Double Treys member who caused a stir before escaping in a helicopter in the midseason premiere. 

Personal Relationships and Resolutions

Ramirez’s mother later enters the precinct, and Danny tells her that Ramirez’s daughter Amelia didn’t show up to school. Amelia, who bonded with Janko in the midseason premiere, calls the wounded detective and tells her that Ramirez has taken her to an unfamiliar location.

Erin and her ex-husband Jack Boyle (Peter Herrman) interrupt the action with a tender scene (re)defining their blossoming relationship. “You know, when push comes to shove, we really do work well together,” she says. “Maybe we should do something about that… despite our best efforts, we’re still right here. One foot in and one foot out. Maybe we try both feet.” Erin surprises Jack with a low-key marriage proposal (sans ring), and he agrees on her conditions: “Party of two, city hall. Tell everybody about it after the fact.”

The Power of Family and Closure

Next, Frank visits Lorenzo Batista (Edward James Olmos), the father of another one of the shooters, in an attempt to pressure him into revealing information about his son. After a long bout of gruff banter, Frank gets personal, invoking his dead son, Joseph. “If someone were to say to me before it happened, ‘Here’s your choice. We can kill him now or he can spend the rest of his life in prison,’ I’d tell you what: I wouldn’t blink,” he says. “I’d be up there at that prison every chance I got with a bag of hamburgers for us and a deck of cards so we could spend time together just playing gin and shootin’ the bull. And I’d be thrilled to be there. And eternally grateful for the chance, because I know the cold dark the other choice brings.”

The Final Moments

Later, Danny receives a pep talk from his grandfather Henry (Len Cariou), who implores him to settle down. “I always told you not to bring the job home,” Henry says. “As far as I can see, you’ve done a good job with that. But the problem now is, you have no one not to bring it home to. I have no doubt that you’ll get these guys and go onto another case and another case. The problem is…”

“That I don’t have anyone not to bring it home to?” Danny asks. 

“Promise me that when this case is over, you’ll find that someone,” Henry responds.

Danny then joins Baez in a raid on Ramirez’s house. Upon seeing Amelia, he tries to appeal to the gangster’s paternal sensibilities. “My dad used to tell me that kids learn from their fathers’ example, not from their words. This could go bad,” Danny says. Ramirez tells his daughter to go upstairs, then pulls a gun on his own head. Danny implores him not to take his own life: “You could still be her father. You could still give her advice. C’mon, she already lost her mother, don’t let her lose her father too.” Ramirez drops the gun and surrenders.

A Heartfelt Conclusion

Jamie and Joe also close in on their suspect by tracking him to the hospital where his partner has just given birth. Jamie pins the perp against the wall and, in a moment of poetic closure, Janko arrives and cuffs him using Badillo’s handcuffs. We also see Frank drive past a building as Batista’s son is being taken into custody, suggesting that Olmos’ character gave him up to spare his life.

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In Danny’s last scene in the precinct, Amelia thanks him for saving her. Then, heeding his grandfather’s wishes, Danny asks Baez out for pizza, and the duo walk out of the office, arms interlocked.

A Touching Finale

After Badillo’s nearly wordless funeral, the finale fittingly ends with one last family dinner. Erin proclaims that she has an announcement to make, but she’s interrupted by Janko bringing a wooden high chair to the table. “This is


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