Blue Bloods: Season 14's Huge Finale Guest Star, Explained

Contains spoilers for "Blue Bloods" Season 14, Episode 10 — "The Heart of Saturday Night"

"Blue Bloods" is set to end the first half of its finale season with a big guest star, and he will be a familiar face to fans of dramas everywhere. Aidan Quinn will appear in "The Heart of Saturday Night," with Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block fame) trying to quell the firestorm he stokes to life before his actions breed dire consequences.

According to a press release from CBS, Quinn is slated to portray Gus Vanderlip, a dedicated cop who goes on the warpath when he learns a perp he sent to prison has been released. Danny and Sid Gormley (Robert Clohessy) are in hot pursuit of Vanderlip, who they try to catch before he goes too far in determining why the convicted rapist has been set free, putting them in quite an uncomfortable position.

There's no word at press time about how this will turn out for Gus, but it should delight "Blue Bloods" fans, as Quinn is set to become another famous actor who's taken a guest turn on the program. And he brings quite a thick resume to the table with him.

Aidan Quinn first stepped into the limelight back in 1985, when he took on the minor role of Dez in "Desperately Seeking Susan." Quinn added supporting roles in "Stakeout" and the big screen version of "The Handmaid's Tale" before breaking out as the straitlaced brother Benny Pearl in "Benny & Joon." He then tackled one of his biggest roles, Alfred Ludlow in "Legends of the Fall." One section of a three-brother quadrangle, Alfred marries but does not capture the heart of his brother Tristan's (Brad Pitt, who almost quit the film mid-shoot) true love, Susannah Fincannon (Julia Ormond). Susannah's presence in the Ludlow household leads to disaster and death for nearly every member of the close-knit family.

After "Legends of the Fall," Quinn settled into a series of roles in arthouse pictures like "Haunted," "Songcatcher," "Looking for Richard," and "This is My Father." But he also continued to dip his toe into the mainstream, playing the handsome Gary in "Practical Magic" and Brian in "Music of the Heart." On television, he took on the role of Captain Thomas Gregson in "Elementary." Presumably, he will bring just as much class to his work in "Blue Bloods."