Tom Selleck Details Filming The Final Blue Bloods Scene With Cast: “Donnie Was Really Broken Up”

After 14 seasons of crime-solving and family dinners, Blue Bloods is set to conclude its 15-year-old run, and Tom Selleck promises it will go out on an emotional note. Since the show’s premiere in 2010, the long-running CBS police drama has become a staple on the network, famous for its storylines with emphasis on both crime and family drama. The show quickly rose to prominence and was listed as one of the top 100 shows of the 2023-2024 season, though fans of the show and its cast were surprised when it was announced Blue Bloods season 14 would be its last.

Now that the final season is here, Blue Bloods star Tom Selleck, who leads the show as NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan, reflected on what it was like to close out the successful, decade-and-a-half-long chapter. In a recent interview with TV Insider, Selleck opened up about the emotional journey of the cast, and how it felt to film his final scene. Selleck began by confirming the show’s final scene will be a family dinner, humorously noting the full-circle nature of that being his final scene to shoot:

My last scene was, ironically, a family dinner; that was also the first scene I shot on the show 15 years ago! I’m not going to tell you everything about the last episode…but the family dinner kind of reunites the Reagan family. Erin’s daughter Nicky (Sami Gayle) was there and so was Jack (Tony Terraciano), Danny’s older son. Everybody agreed with me that we should close the set for the family dinner and not exploit that. Most of them had four more days to shoot, but not me.

Selleck would go on to reflect on when filming wrapped on the scene, in which he read Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem, “Love Is Not All”, and how he and his co-stars became really emotional afterward. The executive producer/star pointed out Donnie Wahlberg in particular as being one of the more emotional, recalling how the Emmy nominee “was really broken up.” See what Selleck shared below:

We were shooting for hours and all of a sudden, they said “Well, that was the last shot.” I always wanted to say this poem, “Love Is Not All” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. There was crying and there was an enormous amount of hugs. Donnie was really broken up; he didn’t say much. Bridget spoke. Just about everybody said something. Vanessa [Ray] was pretty beat up by the experience.

What This Means For The Blue Bloods Finale
One Last Family Dinner

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As the series finale approaches in December, viewers have plenty to look forward to between the mid-season premiere and the last episode. Also reported by TV Insider, the lead up to Blue Bloods‘ final episode will see Commissioner Frank Reagan maintain his steady leadership of the police department while also overseeing the famous family Sunday dinners at the Brooklyn home he shares with his father Henry, a retired police commissioner. Senior ADA Erin Reagan will also play an important role in navigating high-profile legal cases in Manhattan’s trial bureau.

However, the finale does not necessarily indicate that Blue Bloods is completely over. A spinoff of the police procedural has been teased for months, leaving fans hoping for more Reagan-led crime dramas. Although there has not been any confirmation as of now, David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, has previously said that “there’s still time to figure a spinoff out“. This leaves plenty of room for speculation about how Reagan’s legacy will continue.

Our Take On The Finale
It Will Hopefully Not Mark A Definite Ending

As Blue Bloods prepares to end its iconic run, fans of the show are likely feeling bittersweet about saying goodbye to the Reagan family and, while the show is coming to an end, the show’s impact — and that of the Reagan family — will undoubtedly be felt for many years to come. Blue Bloods‘ legacy will surely live on, whether through reruns, streaming, or the confirmation of a spinoff where the Reagans may return to our screens. Until then, fans can look forward to an unforgettable final chapter, filled with the same crime-solving drama and heartfelt moments that made the show so popular.