‘Blue Bloods’ Finale: How Donnie Wahlberg Fought for Danny & Baez’s Big Ending

[Warning: The following contains major spoilers for the Blue Bloods series finale, “End of Tour.”]

Blue Bloods ended its 14-season run with joy and sorrow Friday night with the CBS procedural’s series finale. And for many fans, one of the joys was watching Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) ask out partner Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez).

The romantic twist came after Danny got grandfatherly advice from Henry Reagan (Len Cariou). “I always told you not to bring the job home,” Henry told him. “But the problem now is, you have no one not to bring it home to.”

Danny took Grandpa’s words to heart, later asking Baez if she wanted to get a pizza. And in a Variety post-finale debrief, Wahlberg said he was “pushing” for that moment.

“It was important to [showrunner] Kevin Wade to not have every partnership turn into a relationship. And I respected that, and I agreed with it,” the actor said. “I think it was just probably important for me personally that Danny grows. As the audience started sort of clamoring for a relationship with Danny and Baez, I thought, it’s more important for them to grow and for her to start making an impact on him, and him to really respect her in a way that he hasn’t always respected certain people in the show.”

Barbara Nitke / CBS

Wahlberg wanted viewers to know how much love there was between Danny and Baez — “not even as a couple, just as human beings,” he said.

“I think that was a lot of me really pushing,” he revealed. “I pushed a lot for some closure with that. I went to [writer] Siobhan O’Connor, and I was like, ‘Listen, you’ve got to do something. They don’t need to go get married, but something would be nice, just to show that there may be a future for them, or that their relationship has really evolved.’”

And so O’Connor scripted the grandfather-grandson conversation that put the pizza date in motion. “I did the scene with Len, and it was just gold,” Wahlberg said. “You understand he’s taking Grandpa’s advice. And I thought it was done magically. I thought it was done with respect to the show. It wasn’t ‘Let’s tie this up with a nice bow.’ It’s just a little nod to what could happen in the future for them.”

On X, many viewers celebrated the Danny-Baez development:

.Danny and Baez is endgame! @DonnieWahlberg

#BlueBloodsFinale pic.twitter.com/hO7E3yzulJ

— Sonia Thompson (@purrfectlady76) December 14, 2024

When Baez and Danny walked off for pizza. #BlueBloodsFinale

— Lockett (@ItsMeLockett) December 14, 2024

But not everyone is a shipper:

And I like Danny and Baez as partners, but they are an odd couple. They only hinted at them getting together, but still. I would have loved for Jackie to come back and they hint at that. I liked those two. Overall though, a good 14 years. #BlueBloodsFinale