Blue Bloods ends a fourteen year run tonight and it’s hard to believe it won’t be back next week or next year.
Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 was an intense episode that somehow felt like every other story in this beautiful series.
If it has to end, it ends like this, the final scene is close to my dream ending. But it also shows that there might be more stories to tell if CBS finds a way to keep it on the air.
Losing Badillo was expected but sad
Rumors about Badillo’s death in Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 have been circulating for months, and by last week, it became clear that the deceased was Badillo.
Once the funeral photos are posted, no one else makes sense. All members of the Reagan family were in attendance, as was Mayor Chase.
If we had to lose someone, I’d rather it be a minor character like Badillo. It would have been a horrific ending if anyone in the Regan family had died or been seriously injured.
This story also gives Eddie one last chance to shine. She’s intense in her attempts to save Badillo, and her reaction to learning he’s missing is intense.
Eddie: Can you do something for me?
Danny: Anything.
Eddie: Then you don’t pamper me, you don’t exclude me, you don’t tell me it’s too hard, or it’s too personal, you let me help.
Danny: Why did I raise one of the toughest cops I know?
The opening scene started like any other episode, but when Eddie and Badillo got the call, my heart jumped into my throat and I knew, without a doubt, that Badillo’s fate was sealed.
It almost made these scenes worse because I was waiting for the exact moment of his death and when Eddie called him, he didn’t answer, which broke my heart more than the surprise.
Despite the dangers, the Reagan family shows no fear on ‘Blue Bloods’ Season 14 Episode 18
Erin worries she’s losing another brother, and Frank brings up Joe’s death, but for the most part, it’s business as usual for the Regan family.
I’m not sure if I want to admire their bravery or if it undermines the threat to all cops because Danny, Jamie, and Joe don’t seem to care much about their own safety, even after visiting Addie in the hospital.
But in some ways, it adds to the suspense of the final hour.
Even though I knew this wasn’t going to end in a horrific tragedy for the Reagan family, I kept expecting someone to come around the corner with a gun, especially as Jamie and Joe walked to their car after interrogating Emilio’s girlfriend.
I didn’t like the way Emilio looked at Frank near the end of the episode.
That’s one of the things that makes this feel more like a season finale than a series finale. That scene seemed like setup for a future episode that would never come.
Frank’s confrontation with an older gangster is the most chilling part of the hour
After Mayor Chase hands Frank the keys to the city, Frank uses his newfound power to try to convince a lifer to hand over the location of his son, the gangster who shot the mayor, leading to some chilling The scene went up my spine.
These scenes feature only Frank and the prisoner (played by special guest Edward James Olmo) in a room. They are reminiscent of Frank’s confrontation with Sonny Malefsky in Blue Bloods Season 1 Episode 22 after he learned that Frank was responsible for Joe Regan’s death.
Although the confrontation was quiet, the intensity was not diminished at all.
At first, this seems like a waste of Frank’s time. The prisoner is not going to give in and he firmly believes that he is the real hero protecting his son from the evil police who want him to betray him to destroy our relationship.
But boy, does Frank have an ace up his sleeve. The way he uses his feelings about his son’s death to get Lorenzo to back down is nothing short of masterful.
Frank: I had a son who was actually killed by the police. If before this happened, someone said to me, this is your choice: let’s kill him now, or he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Did you know? I won’t blink. Any chance I got, I would go to that prison and bring hamburgers and a deck of cards so we could spend some time together. I’m excited to go there. Because I know the cold darkness of the alternative. I live with it every day.
It’s a beautiful tribute to the 14 years of Joe’s disappearance that we lived through with Frank and the rest of the Regan family.
It was the perfect way to end this tragic storyline.
Throughout the series, Joe’s family never loses its sadness that Joe can no longer join them for Reagan family dinners, and meeting Joe Hill in some ways makes it worse.
They never fully recover from death. As Frank pointed out in his great speech in Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18, he will always miss his son.
But Joe might be proud that he somehow helped save the city from the violence of gangs.
He doesn’t get better by his absence, but Frank does honor him in this story.
Amelia’s story is the weakest part of Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18
I’m not willing to criticize any part of the ending. I’m grateful that we got the final episode and that CBS gave Blue Bloods the final half-season to wrap things up, and I hate to admit that it wasn’t perfect.
However, Amelia’s story confuses me.
Amelia was scared when she called Eddie, but when Danny finally found her, she didn’t seem scared of anyone but the police.
I figured she might have a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, but the results were weird.
This was a child who was so traumatized after witnessing her father murder her mother that she didn’t speak for three days, and this was the second time her father had tried to kidnap her.
After the initial call, however, she took it all in stride.
Additionally, Carlos Ramirez feels like he gave up too quickly.
Danny’s few words about how fathers should lead by example do just that. Ramirez sends Amelia and Baez upstairs, makes a half-hearted attempt to commit suicide, and then turns himself in peacefully.
This solution seems too simple, considering he blames Danny for not being in Amelia’s life and kidnapping her while his gang was gunning down civil servants across the city.
This is why Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 should be two hours long.
There was too much to fit into the final hour, so the story was shortened so they could get a final wrap-up.
Blue Bloods’ happy ending is perfect, but it feels no different than any other show
With all the cases resolved, all that remains is Badillo’s funeral and a final family dinner.
These scenes could easily be part of a season finale, or a series finale.
I’m glad Eddie and Jamie have a baby, but I wish we had the chance to get to know them. I like the tacit understanding that Joe Hill is now a full-fledged family member.
But if Blue Bloods returns, Season 15 will likely begin after Addie’s baby is born so she has to adjust to a new partner and being a mother to a police officer, and nothing else will fundamentally change.
The last family dinner isn’t much different from other family dinners either. Danny would always be in a hurry to get something to eat, and everyone would catch up with each other and express gratitude for the time they spent together.
While it doesn’t sound exciting or final, having the family together – including the returning Jack Regan and Nikki – is definitely the perfect way to end the series.
Family meals are at the heart of this series, so a big dinner party is the right ending.
I would have liked the last few lines to be a toast to the entire Regan family, and while that didn’t happen, Frank’s expression of gratitude and pride for his family came pretty close.
After the end credits rolled, I didn’t cry over the events of this episode (although Badillo’s death was sad). I cried because that was the last family dinner I shared with the Reagans, not counting reruns on Paramount+.
Now, I turn it over to you so that I can hear your thoughts on the new episode of Blue Bloods one last time, fellow Blue Bloods fanatics.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18, especially your thoughts on how the series ended (or didn’t end).
Maybe one day we’ll all be talking about a reunion movie or spin-off, but for now, vote in our poll to rate the episode and sound off with your thoughts in the comments.
Every episode of Blue Bloods is currently available to watch on Paramount+
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