Blue Bloods: Why Marisa Ramirez's Baez Wasn't In The Finale's Family Dinner
Danny Reagan's (Donnie Wahlberg) evolving relationship with partner Detective Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) drew major fan interest as "Blue Bloods" came to an end after 14 seasons, but showrunner Kevin Wade revealed why Baez didn't accompany Danny to the Reagan family dinner in the series finale.
"Honestly, it didn't really come to the forefront. Because at the end of their last scene together, there was a hint of a whiff of a promise that they were going to leave that squad and go off to dinner and end up at one or the other's house, yes," Wade explained to Deadline. "But it felt like a big leap, with only two minutes left, after 14 years, to introduce them like that at the dinner."
Danny does invite Baez to get pizza together in a scene that heavily implies that they've begun a relationship, but the pair don't debut their romance for the Reagan family before the show's end (it's made official in the first episode of the spin-off, "Boston Blue"). Other Reagans have revealed their relationships during family dinners over the course of the series, but Wade viewed the circumstances here a bit differently.
"We've done it in Season 8 with Jamie and Eddie, and it felt like we had plenty of tarmac to get there. This would have been a little too quick, I think. To me, it was just too fast," the showrunner noted.
Donnie Wahlberg wanted Danny and Baez to have a good ending
It wasn't always a given that Baez and Danny would have a strong ending moment that solidified their growing bond — Wahlberg took it upon himself to champion that idea to the writers. "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,'" he explained to Variety.
Had she been invited, it wouldn't have actually been the first time Baez was welcomed into the sacred Reagan family tradition. In Season 11, she attended a family dinner as her working relationship with Danny strengthened, though that remains her only appearance at the weekly gathering.
Despite how much the fans have wanted the pair to get together over the years, the couple's apparent split during Season 1, Episode 15 of "Boston Blue" suggests that Danny and Baez's future together may still be uncertain.