Len Cariou has been one of the most beloved characters in the Blue Bloods franchise since the very beginning as the witty and comforting Henry Reagan. The actor was sad to learn that the show would not be continuing after season 14, but he wrote an alternate ending for his character ahead of the finale that might make you smile.
“Frank had promised me that I will get to the Vatican and meet the Pope,” he told Entertainment Weekly in a story published on Thursday, December 12. “My ending would be to fulfill that promise.”
Len, 85, previously spoke out about why he was confused by the show’s cancellation by CBS after favorable ratings.
“It’s too bad. Doesn’t make any sense. We’re still, I think, the best-watched show on Friday nights, even though we’re canceled,” he told TV Insider in an interview published on November 1.
Despite his frustration with the network, there’s a lot of great memories he will take away from being a cast member on the drama series.
“It’s almost impossible to pick one, but some of my most treasured moments were the one-on-one scenes that we would have outside of the dinner table in the house with the kids and with Frank,” he told Entertainment Weekly of his favorite scenes on Friday, December 13. “Those one-on-ones where they would come to me and ask for advice or the ones where I would pontificate a bit with Frank about the job.”
The Canada-born star also reflected on the thing he will miss the most about working on Blue Bloods.
“Well, of course I’ll miss the moments with Tom, Donnie, Will, Andrew, Bridget, and Vanessa,” Len said. “But I think the other thing that I’ll miss will be the writers and Kevin Wade and Santiago Quinones — those people that I saw every week for the last 14 years and I don’t see them anymore. That’s a vacancy in my mind and in my day-to-day.”
Other actors from the series shared alternate endings they pictured for their characters, including Marisa Ramirez, who plays Maria Baez.
“Maybe Baez decides she really wants to be a guidance counselor at a school in California, but it ends up being a school of misfits and she needs Danny’s help,” she said. “Or Danny, Baez, Jamie, and Eddie decide to go on an island vacation, but they run into trouble there and decide to stay on the island for a bit. So many ways to spin this series off into the sunset but still keep it around.”
Robert Clohessy, who plays Sid Gormley, also shared a unique alternate ending, which involves breaking the fourth wall.
“A psycho shoots at the commissioner, I jump in front of him and take five bullets! I save my boss! Erin comes running over and cries out ‘SID!,’ kneels down beside me and tells me she always loved me, I faint and I wake up and I’m at family dinner!” he remarked. “Serving up real Irish stew! And it suddenly dawns on them all that I’m the only Irish-Catholic person born and raised in NYC on the show, and they break the fourth wall and thank me for my service.”