Blue Bloods will come to an end this year after 14 seasons, with the final episodes airing across the next few months on CBS – but star Abigail Hawk isn't ready to put away her police uniform just yet.
When asked what we can expect from her character Detective Abigail Baker in these last episodes, she admitted that she is "content" with where the show leaves her.
"I think we've seen quite a bit of anger from her [this season.] We've seen her kind of writhing around, a worm on a hook: should I stay here? Am I being fulfilled? You're not going to get much more drama from her specifically and I actually am very content with that," Abigail tells HELLO!
"I think that there's a lovely simplicity to her just being where she is – and it leaves it wide open for a potential spin-off down the road. That's how I'm viewing it."
A spin-off is what many fans are hoping for after CBS broke the news that they had canceled the long-running police procedural which follows the Reagan family, headed by patriarch Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) and his children, who all work in law enforcement.
For Abigail, however, any announcement other than a renewal feels unnecessary at this point.
"I don't want to spin off right now, this is very fresh for me and I'm still grieving because we all wanted to continue, this is not something any of us wanted," she shares.
"We felt that there was so much more we could continue telling and sharing and creating, but I do think there are certain characters that could continue to have quite an amazing and interesting life beyond the world with the Reagans, and I think Abigail Baker is one of them.
"She's this woman of mystery and there's so much that we could just uncover and pull out of her. She has this simmering energy that I just love about her. It's magnetic and you can't help but be invested in what she's got going on, whether it's at her desk, or sitting saying nothing because her nonverbal communication is [chef's kiss] and I leaned into that once I realized that was a great way to get camera time!
"But she also doesn't need to say anything unless it's necessary and when she does say something, it has meaning so I think there's a lot of potential for her. I think she's a fun one."
Part one of season 14 has slowly been suggesting the potential for Frank's retirement, which could be a clever way to close out the series. But Abigail suggests otherwise, teasing: "I don't think you're ever going to see a world where Frank retires. At least not willingly so that's probably all I can safely say."
But when the time comes for Frank to retire, who would be best placed to take over? There is only one answer for Abigail: "Down the road when Frank Reagan is 185-years-old and finally decides it's time, obviously it's Abigail [who takes over].
"The obvious answer for most people is going to be Jamie Reagan but no, it's not. It's going to be her because I think Commissioner Baker would kick ass. She would take the wonderful wisdom of the venerable Francis Xavier Reagan and would modernize it, feminize, soften it but not weaken it, which I think is one of my favorite things about her.
"She can't help being a woman but she puts down that hammer in front of those boys. She got super sassy at the beginning of season 14 – I was like, 'This is borderline insubordination!' Garrett can't talk to Frank that way. Sid certainly can't talk to Frank that way and honestly even his kids can't get away with it, so I think that they have something very special and I think that Frank would give his blessing if she ended up being police commissioner.
"But I don't think she's ready yet, I think she needs a couple more stars and some years of service, because she's very young, she's 47, but it's very possible and would be very entertaining and must see TV."
For 14 years, or what Abigail calls "her entire professional life," she has played the role of Detective Baker, a once one-note supporting character that was meant to only appear for one episode in which no-one called her by her name.
But through the guidance and support of Tom, Abigail became a character with not only a name but a family, connections and arcs.
"I'm most proud of the fact that I took what was meant to be a one episode character, and a decade and a half later, I'm here being interviewed by you across the country," she quips.
"She really had no identity whatsoever. She just was this blank canvas and didn't have a last name."
Most of her stories kept her in the precinct, and Abigail says if there was scope to spend time on screen with other characters it would "hands down" be Vanessa Ray (Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko-Reagan) and Marissa Ramirez (Maria Baez).
"Every time the three of us get together – which honestly doesn't happen very often – but I feel like they're old friends, we could chat for hours," says Abigail.
"I think we could have seen the interaction among the strong females in our show more – and the only reason I didn't put Bridget on there is because Erin Reagan and Abigail Baker got some time together. Marissa and I didn't ever have words exchanged at all!!"