With Blue Bloods Skipping A Normal New Episode This Week, Here's How To Plan Ahead For The Upcoming Series Finale

With Blue Bloods Skipping A Normal New Episode This Week, Here's How To Plan Ahead For The Upcoming Series Finale

The weeks are counting down until the final credits roll in the 2024 TV schedule on Blue Bloods after fourteen seasons and nearly 300 episodes of police procedural action and Reagan family dinners. CBS has content about the long-running drama planned for the next three weeks, but fans hoping for a new normal episode on November 29 will be out of luck. There are details available for how the show is set to end, however, and you can always focus on those to prepare for how the story will close for Frank and Co.

Why CBS Is Skipping A New Episode Tonight

Instead of the penultimate episode of the final season (despite cast members clamoring for a renewal) airing on November 29 to pick up where the November 22 episode left off, the new installment will be a retroactive special. Called Blue Bloods: Celebrating A Family Legacy, the special will look back at the long run of the series as well as feature new interviews with longtime stars and recurring guests. In a true tribute, the special will also dig into the famous family dinner scenes.

While this special – airing on November 29 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS – is a lovely celebration of a show that sadly won't be continuing into the 2025 TV schedule (although presumably remain streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), it's not quite a new episode. It will be a full night of Blue Bloods, though, as a repeat of Season 14's "Life Sentence" will air at 8 p.m. ET and "Without Fear or Favor" at 10 p.m. ET.

If all of this leaves you wanting more, though, here's what we know for the penultimate episode and series finale.

How To Plan Ahead For The End Of Blue Bloods

Luckily, November 29 will be the last Friday that CBS skips without a new episode until the series finale in mid-December. The second-to-last airs first before the final credits roll, with an episode called "Entitlement" airing on Friday, December 6 in the usual 10 p.m. ET time slot. Per the network's official description, here's what to expect (including a guest appearance from The Talk host and Fit For Christmas star Amanda Kloots):

Eddie and Badillo try to help a man whose apartment has been taken over by a squatter who also happens to be Jamie’s confidential informant. Also, Danny and Baez investigate when a star student is found dead in her dormitory; Frank suspects the governor has an agenda when he comes to him with a proposal; and Erin oversteps when she tries to play matchmaker for Anthony.

And that will lead into the series finale, airing one week later on December 13 at 10 p.m. ET and guest-starring Edward James Olmos himself. I'm still bummed that Blue Bloods is ending at 293 episodes instead of reaching the 300-episode mark, but it sounds like the last installment ever – called "End of Tour" – is going to be a very big one. CBS' episode description reads:

It’s all hands on deck for the Reagan family, as they race to stop deadly mayhem in the city when the gangs of New York unite together to demand amnesty for the release of their imprisoned members and those awaiting trial.

Showrunner Kevin Wade is credited with co-writing the finale alongside longtime Blue Bloods writer and executive producer Siobhan Byrne O'Connor, so hopefully the episode will be a treat for longtime fans. Personally, I'm very curious about how much closure will be included in the last episode, since Tom Selleck and other cast members have been vocal about the cancellation, with folks behind the scenes reportedly not happy about the top-billed star's comments.

For better or worse, you can prepare for the final two episodes of Blue Bloods even though CBS is airing a special and two reruns tonight, November 29. You can also rewatch any of your favorites from the fourteen seasons so far streaming via Paramount now.