“Blue Bloods Showrunner Reveals What He’s ‘Avoided’ in the Series Finale, Drawing Inspiration from Classic TV Endings”
Showrunner Kevin Wade has revealed how he crafted the final episode of Blue Bloods, drawing inspiration from some of television’s most iconic series finales.
Since 2010, the Reagan family, led by Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), has been a staple of CBS, solving crimes and navigating personal dramas in New York City. With the announcement last November that the 14th season would be the series’ swan song, fans were initially upset. Despite this, the first ten episodes of the final season aired earlier this year, with the remaining eight set to air this October.
As the end of the series approaches, Kevin Wade has shared insights into how he and his team approached the show’s conclusion. He noted that he and fellow executive producer Siobhan Byrne O’Connor spent a lot of time contemplating the finale over the years, always preparing for the possibility of it being the final season.
In preparing for the finale, Kevin revisited the endings of legendary shows like MASH*, Cheers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Sopranos. He observed that the most memorable finales typically featured a strong episode with a subtle shift towards acknowledging the end.
“Great finales have a common thread,” Kevin told TVLine. “They deliver a great episode and then, in the final moments, acknowledge that this is the last show.”
In crafting the final episode of Blue Bloods, Kevin avoided a self-congratulatory approach. Instead of indulging in a retrospective, the team focused on delivering a high-quality episode that remained true to the series’ core.
“We wanted to avoid turning the finale into a ‘look how great we’ve been’ moment,” Kevin explained. “We aimed to give fans what they love—a great episode of the show.”
The finale will see the Reagan family tackling a unifying case, mirroring the most successful season finales of the show. The episode will feature four distinct storylines all converging on solving or preventing a major crime, bringing the series to a fitting close.
