Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
4.8
Blue Bloods ended its fourteen-year run tonight, and it’s hard to believe that it’s not coming 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 had to end, this was how to do it, and the final scene came close to my dream ending. But it also made the point that there COULD have been many more stories to tell if only CBS had found a way to keep it on the air.
Losing Badillo Was Expected, Yet Sad
Rumors swirled for months about Badillo’s death in Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18, and by last week, it was clear it had to be Badillo.
No one else made any sense once the photos of the funeral sequence were released. All the Reagans were in attendance and so was Mayor Chase.
If we had to lose someone, I’d rather it be a secondary character like Badillo. It would have been a horrible ending if any of the Reagans had died or been severely injured.
This story also gave Eddie one last chance to shine. She was fierce both in trying to save Badillo and her reaction after learning he was gone.
Eddie: Can you do something for me?
Danny: Anything.
Eddie: Then you don’t baby me and you don’t sideline me and you don’t tell me it’s too hard or that it’s too personal and you let me help.
Danny: Why would I baby one of the toughest cops I’ve ever known?
The opening scene started like any other episode, but as soon as Eddie and Badillo got that call, my heart jumped into my throat, and I KNEW, without a shadow of a doubt, that Badillo’s fate was sealed.
That almost made these scenes worse because I was waiting for the exact moment of his death, and when Eddie called for him, and he didn’t answer, it broke my heart even more than if it had been a surprise.
Despite The Danger, The Reagans Were Mostly Unafraid On Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18
Erin was afraid she would lose another brother, and Frank mentioned Joe’s death, but for the most part, it was business as usual for the Reagans.
I wasn’t sure whether to admire their bravery or whether it cheapened the threat to all cops that Danny, Jamie, and Joe didn’t seem to have much concern about their own safety, even after visiting Eddie in the hospital.
In some ways, though, it added to the suspense of this final hour.
Although I knew it wasn’t going to end with a terrible tragedy for the Reagans, I kept expecting someone to come around a corner with a gun, especially when Jamie and Joe were walking out to their cars after interrogating Emilio’s girlfriend.
I didn’t like how Emilio looked at Frank as he was being led away near the end of the episode.
That was one of the things that made this feel more like a season finale than a series finale. That scene seemed like a set-up for a future episode that will never come.
Frank’s Confrontation Of An Elderly Gangster Was The Most Chilling Part Of The Hour
After Mayor Chase gave Frank the keys to the city, Frank used his newfound power to try to convince a lifer to give up the location of his son, who was the gangster guilty of shooting the mayor, leading to some scenes that made a shiver go up my spine.
These scenes included just Frank and the prisoner (special guest Edward James Olmo) in a room. They were reminiscent of Frank’s confrontation with Sonny Malevsky after learning he was responsible for Joe Reagan’s death on Blue Bloods Season 1 Episode 22.
This confrontation was quieter but no less intense.
At first, it seemed like a waste of Frank’s time. The prisoner wasn’t going to budge and was convinced that he was the true hero, protecting his son from the evil cops who wanted him to ruin the relationship by ratting him out.
But boy, did Frank have an ace up his sleeve. The way he used his feelings about his own son’s death to get Lorenzo to budge was nothing short of masterful.
Frank: I had a son who was killed, by the police actually. And if before it happened, someone said to me, here’s your choice: we kill him now or he spends the rest of his life in prison. You know what? I wouldn’t blink. I would be at that prison every chance I got with hamburgers for us and a deck of cards so we could spend some time together. And I’d be thrilled to be there. Cause I know the cold dark of the other choice. I live with it every single day.
What a beautiful tribute to the 14 years of missing Joe that we’ve all lived through with Frank and the rest of the Reagan family.
That was the perfect way to wrap up that tragic storyline.
Throughout the entire series, the family has never lost their sense of grief that Joe cannot join them at any more Reagan family dinners, and meeting Joe Hill made it worse in some ways.
They will never fully recover from that death. As Frank’s beautiful speech on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 points out, he will always miss his son.
But Joe would probably be proud that in some way, he helped save the city from the gang’s violent rampage.
That doesn’t make it any better that he’s gone, but Frank certainly honored his memory during this story.
The Amelia Story Was The Weakest Part Of Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18
I’m loathe to criticize any part of the finale. I’m so grateful we had this final episode and that CBS gave Blue Bloods this final half-season to wrap things up that I don’t want to admit it was less than perfect.
However, the Amelia story confused me.
Amelia was terrified when she called Eddie, but by the time Danny finally tracked her down, she didn’t seem scared of anybody but the cops.
I guess she could have had a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, but it came off as weird.
This was a kid who was so traumatized after witnessing her father kill her mother that she didn’t speak for three days, and this was the second time her dad had attempted to kidnap her.
Yet after that initial phone call, she took it all in stride.
Additionally, it felt like Carlos Ramirez gave up too quickly.
A few words from Danny about how fathers should lead by example did it. Ramirez sent Amelia upstairs with Baez, made a half-hearted attempt at suicide, and then surrendered peacefully.
Considering he blamed Danny for his not being in Amelia’s life and had kidnapped her while his gang was shooting public servants all over the city, that solution seemed all too easy.
This is why Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 should have been two hours.
There was too much to fit into the final hour, so this story was shortchanged so that they could get to the final wrap-up.
Blue Bloods’ Happy Ending Was Perfect, Yet It Didn’t Feel Different Than Any Other Episode
After all the cases were resolved, Badillo’s funeral and the final family dinner were the only remaining events.
These scenes could just as easily have been part of a season finale as a series finale.
I’m thrilled that Eddie and Jamie are having a baby, but I wish we could have the chance to get to know them. And I LOVE the tacit acknowledgment that Joe Hill is a full-fledged family member now.
But if Blue Bloods were returning, Season 15 could begin after Eddie’s baby was born so that she has to adjust to a new partner and to being a mother who is working as a cop, and nothing else would fundamentally change.
The final family dinner wasn’t much different from any other family dinner, either. Danny is always in a hurry to get to the food while everyone catches up with each other and expresses gratitude for the time they spend together.
Although that doesn’t sound exciting or final, the family all together — including a returning Jack Reagan and Nicky — was the absolute perfect way to end this series.
The family dinners were the heart of this series, so a huge one was the right note to end on.
I had hoped the final lines would be a toast to the entire Reagan family, and while that didn’t happen, Frank’s expression of gratitude and pride in his family came pretty damn close.
After the credits rolled, I didn’t cry because of the episode’s events (even though Badillo’s death was sad). I cried because that was the last family dinner I’d get to share with the Reagans, not counting reruns streaming on Paramount+.
And now, I turn it over to you so that I can hear your thoughts on a new episode of Blue Bloods for the very last time, fellow Blue Bloods fanatics.
I’d love your takes on Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18, especially your thoughts on how the series wrapped up (or didn’t).
Maybe someday we will all get to discuss a reunion movie or spinoff, but for now, vote in our poll to rate the episode and then post your thoughts in the comments.
Every episode of Blue Bloods is currently available to stream on Paramount+
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