Donnie Wahlberg says he hopes 'Blue Bloods' will survive
The beloved Reagan family from Blue Bloods tackled their final case and shared a poignant Friday dinner before retiring their badges for good this past Friday (December 13).
In the midst of a terrifying spate of gang shootings, Frank Reagan (played by Tom Selleck) is appointed to take control by Mayor Chase (Dylan Walsh), while Jamie (Will Estes) and Joe (Will Hochman) join forces to track down the murderer of Eddie Janko's (Vanessa Ray) partner.
Later on, Frank confronts gang leader Lorenzo Batista (Edward James Olmos) in prison, and we bid farewell to the much-loved officer Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan).
The concluding episode saw the Reagans end on a heartening note as Jack Boyle (Peter Hermann) consents to remarry Erin (Bridget Moynahan), and even Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) takes a chance at romance by inviting his partner Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) out.
In a final twist, Jamie and Eddie announce they're expecting a baby, and as the credits roll on the cherished CBS drama, Frank begins a moving prayer before dinner, reports the Mirror US.
Despite most loose ends being neatly tied up, there will undoubtedly be many Blue Bloods fans yearning for more. Regrettably, showrunner Kevin Wade appears to have ruled out any potential continuation or spin-off.
"It's a fine question," he conceded. "Look, Blue Bloods exists not as a lead character.
"It exists as long as it did and if people liked it because of that family, that's a lot of actors."
Although Wade considered potential options, there are no solid plans to develop a spin-off series at the moment.
Speaking with Deadline, he noted that several characters could serve as a foundation for a spin-off: "Then going out from there, there's Steve Schirripa and Marisa Ramirez and Greg Jbara, Bob Clohessy, Abigail Hawk, there were satellites that made the whole," Nevertheless, Wade clarified that a direct continuation or spin-off within the same setting was not feasible: "You couldn't just take one of them, place them in New Orleans and say, Blue Bloods New Orleans. So that was never an option."
It becomes clear that this wasn't on the radar when filming the finale as Wade stressed, "Simply believe me, that just was not on the horizon when we were doing it."
While a spin-off may not be in the pipeline, the news of the series ending has received an outpouring of disappointment from fans worldwide.
Meanwhile, cast member Abigail Hawk, who has played Frank's assistant for the entire 14-season run, expressed her views about the potential for a spin-off during an exclusive conversation with Screen Time.
"There are definitely some specific characters we could easily see more of," she noted. "I think it's also possible to take the idea of perhaps following another family somewhere else."
However, she pointed out: "I do not think, if you do that, it could happen in New York. I think that's impossible because the potential overlaps with the Reagans would be very obvious."
For now, fans will have to keep their fingers crossed for a future announcement, but as it stands, the tale of the Reagans has officially drawn to a close.
Blue Bloods airs on CBS in the US and is available on Sky Go and NOW in the UK.
