Blue Bloods is at its core a series about family, and nothing highlights that more than Sunday dinners with the Reagans.
“The family dinner scene is by far, I think the hardest to write and the most complicated to shoot,” Blue Bloods writer Jack Ciapciak exclusively revealed to Us Weekly on Tuesday, December 10, ahead of the series finale on Friday, December 13.
He explained: “It’s complicated to shoot because we have to do coverage on so many actors in one scene. It’s a lot of setups and just takes a long time and people get restless.”
In typical Reagan fashion the series finale will include one last family meal at Frank Reagan’s (Tom Selleck) home with dad Henry Reagan’s (Len Cariou) and his kids, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Jamie (Will Estes) plus a few unnamed guests.
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As fans wait to see who will sit around the big table for the goodbye episode, Us goes behind the curtain to see what it actually takes to make those famous scenes come together.
They’re a Lot of Work
Ciapciak told Us that the writers worked on 293 episodes during the show’s 14-season run, all of which featured the Reagan family dinner. “That’s a lot of family dinner conversations to come up with,” he said with a laugh.
The writer noted, “You never want it to feel forced. You want it to feel natural and it’s the scene that brings people back week after week.” When done correctly, those scenes ground the show no matter what stress comes to the Reagans.
“Getting those scenes right was always the trickiest,” Ciapciak confessed. “Just how do you make that scene natural and entertaining and real? That was by far the trickiest.”
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How Long Do the Dinners Last?
Moynahan, 53, exclusively told Us earlier this month that Blue Bloods was “more than a job. It was a massive part of all our lives.” That commitment included shooting the multigenerational dinner scenes, which she said at one point took six hours.
“It did lessen, time-wise, by the end, I think the fastest one came in under three hours, which was remarkable,” Ciapciak said in response to Moynahan’s remarks.
He attributed the quicker set ups to the “excellent” crew and director of production. “Most of our crew was with the show since day one and they figured out the way to shoot those scenes economically. And thankfully they did,” he continued. “The time it took did go down over the years and it became a competition amongst the visiting directors.”
Does Anyone Eat the Food?
“It depends on actor to actor,” Ciapciak teased, revealing, “They all developed their own tricks over the years.” He shared that Selleck, 79, was “known for buttering the rolls,” while Wahlberg, 55, “used to eat a lot more” but eventually “tapered off over the years.”
Ciapciak recalled the whole cast getting “really good at pushing food on their plates and getting through those meals.” When the actors didn’t munch on the meal presented to them, it didn’t go to waste. “The crew enjoyed eating all of the leftover food, and some of it I know we donated,” he added.
Every Reagan Tells a Story
Making every Reagan shine around the table is no small feat, according to Ciapciak. “You wanna make sure everyone has their moment,” he said, explaining that when he wrote an episode he would see what each character was doing in their daily lives to support the family scene.
“[I] was trying to find those through lines that could bring together a conversation. Then also thinking about, ‘OK, who hasn’t had their time to shine this episode?’” he recalled. “’Has Henry been out of the house this week?’ And giving him a moment to shine if we haven’t seen him or [Danny’s son] Sean (Andrew Terraciano). You definitely wanna make sure everyone’s voice is heard and that it’s a balanced, real conversation.”
Inside the Farewell Family Dinner
The cast has remained tight-lipped about which other Reagans pull up a chair at the final dinner — Danny’s other son, Jack (Tony Terraciano), and Erin’s daughter, Nicky (Sami Gayle), are both rumored to be back — but Ciapciak promised it will be a tear-jerker.
“It was an incredible day,” he said of shooting the last supper. “It was a very emotional day on set, and we all gathered around and Tom spoke, and then the cast kind of went around the table and everyone spoke and shared what the show has meant to them.”
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Ciapciak gushed, “It was a beautiful moment that I was lucky to be able to witness,” claiming, “Viewers will love this final family dinner scene as much as we all do.”
He concluded by saying that although the finale is “emotional” it’s an “exciting” episode to watch. “I can’t think of three perfect works to sum it up, but I will say it’s action packed,” the writer told Us. “It’s full of heart and I think it’s going to be very satisfying for the viewers.
Blue Bloods series finale airs on CBS Friday, December 13, at 10 p.m. ET.
