This is how the ‘Blue Bloods’ series finale ends

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

blue blood has reached the end of the line.

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

The episode begins with Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) investigating the murder of a judge who had previously rejected 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 escalates into a shootout with two bikers. The duo hits one of the shooters as the other flees – and Badillo ends the encounter with critical wounds, while Janko is grazed on the arm.

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

At the hospital, Frank explains that there has been a coordinated attack that left four officers shot and an NYPD precinct firebombed. The mayor leaves the management of the city to Frank (under the table, of course): “I’ll hand you the keys. You drive. Get us out of this.”

Janko wakes up 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 on: “Not here in this hospital? Or not here anymore?” Jamie shakes his head. “There’s nothing you could have done,” he tells his wife, confirming that Badillo succumbed to his wounds.

In perhaps the episode’s dumbest decision, another officer 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, jumps out of bed. “I have every right to see him!” she shouts as the hospital staff sedates her.

Then Joe (Will Hochman) and Jamie decide to find Emilio Mars, another of the shooters, by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Danny analyzes a video of 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.

Ramirez’s mother later enters the area and Danny tells her that Ramirez’s daughter Amelia did not show up for school. Amelia, who bonded with Janko in the midseason premiere, calls the injured detective and tells her that Ramirez has taken her to an unknown location.

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

Next, Frank visits Lorenzo Batista (Edward James Olmos), the father of another of the shooters, in an attempt to pressure him into revealing information about his son. After a long round of harsh banter, Frank gets personal and invokes 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 in 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 shooting the bull. And I’d be thrilled to be there . And forever grateful for the chance, because I know the cold darkness that the second choice brings.”

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

“That I have none not to bring it home to?” Danny asks.

“Promise me that when this case is over, you will find that person,” Henry replies.

Danny then joins Baez in a raid on Ramirez’s house. Seeing Amelia, he tries to appeal to the mobster’s paternal sensibilities. “My father used to tell me that children learn from their fathers’ example, not from their words. It could go wrong,” says Danny. Ramirez tells his daughter to go upstairs, then pulls a gun on his own head. Danny pleads with him not to take his own life: “You can still be her father. You can still give her advice. Come on, she’s already lost her mother, don’t let her lose her father too.” Ramirez drops the gun and surrenders.

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 perpetrator to the wall, and in a moment of poetic closure, Janko arrives and handcuffs him with Badillo’s handcuffs. We also see Frank drive past a building as Batista’s son is taken into custody, suggesting that Olmos’ character gave him up to spare his life.

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In Danny’s final scene in the area, Amelia thanks him for saving her. Then, in accordance with his grandfather’s wishes, Danny asks Baez out for pizza and the duo walk out of the office arm in arm.

After Badillo’s almost wordless funeral, the finale ends fittingly with a final family dinner. Erin proclaims that she has an announcement to make, but is interrupted by Janko, who brings a wooden high chair to the table. “This is my high chair from when I was a baby,” she says.

“We will use it when the baby is born,” adds Jamie. There are many congratulations.

“I’m just glad you all know now because we’re going to need all the parenting advice we can get,” Janko says.

“Oh, just trust your gut,” Frank replies.

“Can’t think of anyone who would make better parents than you two,” Danny adds.

After a light-hearted fight about the gender of the baby, Joe says, “Well, whether it’s a boy or a girl, if I may, they’ll be really lucky to be a part of this family.”

Erin ultimately backs off on her announcement and makes the conversation work. “I think we’re getting a murder charge for Badillo’s killer,” she says, smiling knowingly at Jack, suggesting they save their big news for another time.

Frank ends the episode – and thus the season and the series – with an appreciation. “You know, we have a lot to be thankful for,” he says. “And looking around this table, I have to say I couldn’t be more proud or grateful.”

All 14 seasons of blue blood now streaming on Paramount+.