lue Bloods showrunner Kevin Wade explains why the final episode didn’t kill any Reagans. The CBS procedural explores the dynamics of New York Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and his family, who work for the NYPD and DA Office. Along with Selleck, the cast of Blue Bloods includes Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Vanessa Ray, and Donnie Wahlberg. Surprisingly, when the series concluded on December 13, Frank and his family were spared, despite uncertainty regarding any future projects. However, the season 14 finale did see Luis Badillo (Ian Quinlan) die from a gunshot wound.

During a recent interview, Wade explained why the Reagan family survived Blue Bloods. An emotional death was part of the plan for season 14, but as he revealed, killing Frank, Danny (Wahlberg) or any other Reagan would not have benefited the series. When it came to choosing Luis, Wade added that he informed Quinlan in advance, as well as Ray, who portrayed his NYPD partner through various seasons. Read the showrunner’s comments below:

Let’s work backward. We didn’t see any value for the audience or the legacy of the show in killing off one of the Reagans. It wasn’t that kind of show. I don’t think people were going to go, “Thank God, Henry had a heart attack.” Or “Good, Danny would get shot and killed.” But we did have to sacrifice somebody, It affected Eddie very strongly, so that was important.

So when it was decided, I got with Ian and Vanessa, and said, “Look guys, Badillo is going to die, but there will be great scenes for both Eddie and Badillo.” I wanted to get ahead of it, and then in sharing it with him, I said, “It’s good news: Your character dies and you’ll get all this attention