Len Cariou Talks Show Ending, Last Family Dinner, Henry and Erin

(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Blue blood Season 14 Episode 13 “From Bad to Worse”.)

Henry (Len Cariou) surprises Erin (Bridget Moynahan) twice the last one Blue blood episode.

First, she’s shocked to learn that he’s going to testify for the defense about the evolution of the NYPD’s chokehold policy during her case against a former cop who used it against a neighbor over a fence dispute. When she confronts him, he simply says that the case is important, needs expert testimony, and he knows how to judge people. But later in the court, during the speech, he says that the defendant is one of those policemen, because of whom the suffocation techniques were banned. He didn’t mention Erin because he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Below, Cariou talks about the fun of it, his last days on set and the end of the show.

Looking at the scene in the courtroom, Henry seemed to be having fun on the stand, having the opportunity to surprise Erin.

Len Cariou: Yes, he was. Being able, in a sense, to deceive her was a great amusement for Henry.

I also loved the last scene with you and Bridget in Erin’s office and Henry’s like, okay, where’s the duct tape? You packed quite a lot into this episode.

I think the writers (wanted) to spend some screen time with the two of them because they had such a great story throughout the series and they were such big favorites, she was the only woman in the group and he always said to her, my favorite granddaughter , and she always said, “You mean your only grandchild, smartass.” (laughs)

What was your last day on set like?

I was thinking about this just a few minutes ago. It was quite bitter. The last scene was of course at a funeral, so we weren’t even home the day we wrapped it. That day I finished myself and several others, Tom (Sellek)The group of guys, Bridget and Steve (Shirripa), and others, they also finished that day before the rest of the episode ended. So it was a little weird in that sense, just like any other day, any other week. And we somehow got used to the fact that we said goodbye, if you like, not so much emotionally spent together. So we said, OK, that’s over, and we’ll keep in touch if we can. And so, a couple of weeks ago, we all got together to recap, present the last eight shows, and it was bittersweet. I just got used to the fact that we said goodbye and then all went back into the room together, and that made it a little difficult for me.

How was it on the set of the last family dinner?

Emotional. Yes, it was quite emotional. It wasn’t the last thing we did, but in a way it was nice to be in the room together, but it was a tough day for us. And not everyone is on the show when we shoot it, of course. Here is this fragment. But the most interesting thing about it was that the first scene we shot in the pilot was the dinner scene. The first thing we filmed was that scene in episode 101. So that was pretty interesting. We talked about it a little bit because there were a few changes in the cast when the show finally started. So it was quite emotional.

It was so wonderful to have these family dinners every week because even though they fight, you still feel the love.

Yeah, it was Leonard Goldberg’s idea to have that in every episode because he wanted to show the world that aspect of the family, the police family, how they function away from the job. So that was kind of the crux of the whole thing. Mr. Goldberg thought it would be a gamble for him. He wanted it to be in every episode if it worked. And so when we all got together that first day, we said, “Why are we doing this as the first thing we shoot? We hardly know each other. We should be a family — and yet many generations.” But he said: “I have to make sure it works. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to rethink everything.” But when he saw it, he said, “It works well. I can’t imagine it without a family dinner. I don’t think it would be the same show at all.”

How did you say goodbye to the show and Henry now? You talked about this a little bit earlier.

Hard. It was difficult because it happened at the party to celebrate the presentation of the last eight. It was around my birthday so I made a birthday cake at the party so it was extra special.

I can’t wait to see how the show ends, but I wish it would continue.

Yes, very bad. There is no point. I think we still watch the best shows on Friday nights even though we got cancelled.

Blue blood consistently works well on friday nights. This is impressive.

Yes, it always was. And I think when they launched us there on a Friday night, think about 14, 15 years ago, we weren’t excited about Friday night at 10. Friday wasn’t – at least at that point it wasn’t at a very popular time, the first show on the weekend, and we thought, well, that’s not a very good time slot. But because of Tom, and I think he has such a big following at CBS that when they saw the show, they said, “No, it doesn’t matter. It’s really good. So they’ll make it work on Fridays.” Then they thought about moving us to another night route and we said, I think Mr. Goldberg said, “No, we’re going to own Friday nights.” And of course we did.

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