Several things cannot happen during Blue Bloods’ upcoming series finale. The popular cop and family drama is set to go out on top, having continued to achieve high ratings in its fourteenth and final season, which makes the Blue Bloods cancelation news even more disappointing. The series has been careful to keep each Blue Bloods character’s fate under wraps as it approaches the finale, and recent episodes have not dropped many hints as to how the series will end.
With only one episode left before the finale airs on December 13, 2024, speculation about what will happen has ramped up, with some theories being more plausible than others. While there are many popular items on the Blue Bloods finale wishlist, the lack of knowledge about how the iconic series will end also brings a fair amount of fear, as there are some ending theories that would be deeply disappointing if they turned out to be true.
Joe Hill Not Fully Coming To Terms With The Reagans
It Would Be Terrible If His Character Didn’t Get The Ending He Deserves
Joe Hill has struggled with his identity as a Reagan since his introduction at the end of season 10, but some recent Blue Bloods events have suggested that his wrap-up will involve resolving that conflict. While Joe and the Reagans have often been awkward or antagonistic when around each other, he has taken strides toward mending his relationships with Jamie and Danny during the second part of Blue Bloods season 14.
Given all the setup for a happy ending for Joe, it would be doubly disappointing if no such ending occurs and Joe is left with his awkward and conflicted feelings about the Reagans while everyone else’s story is wrapped up properly. Furthermore, it would contradict Blue Bloods’ legacy of promoting family values (one of the reasons behind the iconic Blue Bloods family dinners) if Joe was not fully accepted by the Reagans and vice versa by his final appearance.
Henry (Or Another Reagan) Dies Suddenly At The End
This Would Be A Depressing Ending When The Cancelation Is Heartbreaking Enough
So far, the rumors about a Reagan dying do not appear to be true, as CBS has released preview photos showing all the main cast members attending a cop’s funeral. This update makes it unlikely that a Reagan will also die during the finale; it also means that it would be extremely depressing if that were to happen. A Reagan’s death would require two funerals in the same episode, which would forever taint the finale by associating it with far too much death and sadness.
Furthermore, given that there are only two episodes of Blue Bloods left, there wouldn’t be enough time to set up a death for one of our beloved characters and make it believable. While a sudden death worked for Young Sheldon’s series finale, audiences had known it could happen since before the series began. Conversely, if it were to happen during Blue Bloods’ finale, it would seemingly come out of nowhere, which is not the high-quality storytelling this series is known for.
Jamie and Eddie Give Up The Idea Of Having Children
It’s Already Been Confirmed That They Want To Start A Family, So It Shouldn’t End On A Depressing Note
Blue Bloods’ Jamie and Eddie took a long time getting together and have been child-free ever since, but in season 14, episode 11, they discussed having children after fostering a young girl whose mother had been murdered until a blood relative could be found to take her in. Since the couple agreed they wanted to start trying for a baby “right now,” it would be as ridiculous as it would be depressing if the series were to end with them second-guessing that decision and concluding they don’t want children after all.
[I]f Blue Bloods were not ending, this decision could be an interesting part of a season finale and be undone later.
There would be solid reasons for the two to worry about having children, given they’re both in dangerous careers, and the death near the end of the series could make them question whether it’s in a child’s best interest to be brought into a world where the parents could die on the job on any given day. Thus, if Blue Bloods were not ending, this decision could be an interesting part of a season finale and be undone later. However, it would be unacceptable for this to be the couple’s final decision as the series wraps up.
A Time Jump Into The Distant Future
This Type Of Ending Doesn’t Fit Blue Bloods’ Brand
While it has become popular for television shows to jump into the future during series finales to tell the audience what happens to each character decades from now, that type of ending would not fit Blue Bloods’ brand. The series rarely utilizes non-linear storytelling devices such as flashbacks or time jumps, so it would seem incongruous at best if it were to do so in the last few minutes of the finale.
It would be far more satisfying for the wrap-up to end in the present, with some hints of big things to come.
Additionally, jumping into the future would close the door on some potential storylines for spinoffs or reunion movies down the line, as it would lock the characters into a specific future that might not fit with ideas that have not yet been pitched. It would be far more satisfying for the wrap-up to end in the present, with some hints of big things to come. This would allow the series to return in some form in the future should CBS find a way to do so that keeps its legacy of family values intact.
Frank Has To Fire One Of His Sons From The Police Force
This Kind Of Ending Is Contrary To Everything Blue Bloods Stands For
Blue Bloods has always been partially about Frank’s attempt to run the police department fairly despite the fact that two of his sons are officers, and a third died in the line of duty. He has not hesitated to discipline his sons at times when they broke police protocol, even though those decisions hurt his family relationships. That said, it would go too far if Blue Bloods were to end with Frank firing one of his sons for police misconduct.
Frank takes police misconduct with the seriousness it deserves, but it would be unrealistic to expect him to be objective if one of his sons’ jobs was on the line, especially if it was due to a serious charge of wrongdoing. It would also be hard to believe that Jamie or Danny would engage in bad behavior serious enough to warrant such a charge, and it would ruin all the characters involved and their relationships with each other if Frank were to be put in this position at the end of the series.
Danny & Baez Fast-Tracking Their Potential Relationship
There Isn’t Enough Time For The Relationship To Get Past The Early Stages
A potential romance for Danny and Baez in Blue Bloods has been a source of controversy for several years. The two claim to be nothing more than partners and friends, yet they express deeper feelings on occasion and have good chemistry. While the fanbase is divided about whether this relationship is a good idea, it would be a satisfying ending for the two to agree to explore their feelings to see where it goes, as this would resolve the tension between them over this issue and help Danny move past his loneliness since Linda’s death.
With only two episodes left in the series, there is little to no time to develop anything.
That said, Blue Bloods needs to be careful with how far they take the relationship. With only two episodes left in the series, there is little to no time to develop anything. If their relationship was to get extremely serious or to move past exploration and dating to engagement or marriage in the little time remaining, it would make Blue Bloods’ ending more fitting for a soap opera than the serious drama this series has been for 14 years.
The Entire Show Turning Out To Be Someone’s Dream
This Type Of Shock Ending Would Not Fit The Series At All
It’s important that Blue Bloods not follow in the footsteps of another iconic series with a variation on an ending that revealed the entire show had been someone’s fantasy. Although St. Elsewhere’s ending reveal that the series had all taken place in an autistic child’s imagination is considered classic, it was also controversial. It would be even more so if Blue Bloods were to do something like that, considering that for fourteen years, the Reagans have felt like family to its large audience, which is one of the things that made the show so popular.
It would be insulting to the show’s legacy and to all the time the audience has invested in it if it turned out that the Reagans only existed in the Blue Bloods universe in some other character’s imagination, especially if the reveal included the last fourteen seasons’ worth of stories being hallucinations of a dying character. Fortunately, these kinds of tricks are not generally in keeping with Blue Bloods’ brand, so it’s unlikely anything this ridiculous will happen at the end of the series.
Danny Giving Up Police Work So He And Joe Can Open A Private Detective Agency Together
The Two Can Improve Their Relationship Without Doing Anything That Drastic
There have been some hints in recent Blue Bloods episodes that Danny might retire at the end of the series. He seems worn out by what he sees on the job, tired, and less passionate about police work than he used to be. Danny may very well decide to retire, change jobs, or take a leave of absence to get his spark back. However, that would make it more difficult to create a Blue Bloods spinoff centered around him.
For this reason, there has been some speculation that Danny could become a private detective instead and invite Joe to work with him. While this sounds like a decent spinoff idea on paper, it would represent a radical change for both men. Given that they’ve only recently begun building a positive relationship, it would be unrealistic and silly for Blue Bloods to end the series on this note, especially if the intention is to open the door for a spinoff that may never be given the green light.