Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Faith and Family,” the series premiere of CBS’ “Boston Blue.”
When Blue Bloods ended last year after 14 seasons, viewers still had multiple questions about what happened to the Reagan family. Luckily, the spinoff “Boston Blue,” led by Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan, gave us one big answer in the first moments of its Oct. 17 premiere.
In the finale, Danny finally asks his longtime partner Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) to buy him pizza. And in the first minutes of the premiere, he was shown in bed with Baez. Their banter is back, but this time with a romantic twist.
“Once we knew we had a chance to continue Danny Reagan’s story, Brandon and I looked at what the dangling threads were in the final episode and what we owed. Obviously, the biggest one was what happened when we went out for pizza,” co-showrunner Brandon Margolis told Variety. “We wanted this show to feel like it was continuing that story in near real time. It’s been about a year since the finale aired, but if Danny and Baez were together, where would they be and what would that look like? How might that complicate their journey from New York to Boston? For us, it was important to serve that and continue to establish that relationship.”
Ramirez has not yet signed on for additional episodes, but Sonnier confirmed that the relationship will continue. “Long-distance relationships come with it. I think we can expect to play that relationship through to the end and really understand where they are in the evolution of this relationship that we’ve been watching for 10 years,” he says. “It’s a four-hour drive!”
Mika Ammonsen as Sean Reagan
CBS
In the premiere, Danny is paired with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent Boston police family. He takes on a new role with the Boston Police Department in order to be there for his son Sean (Mika Ammonsen), who was injured while working as a police officer.
One big difference from “Blue Bloods” is that Sean was recast. Andrew Terraciano played the character in episode 292 of Blue Bloods, but Mika Ammonsen took over the role in the spin-off.
We love Andrew and the work he did on Blue Bloods over the years. In fact, at the end of the day, we were both starting a new chapter in our lives. “Not only does Sean have a fresh start, so to speak, by joining the family business, but Danny Regan becomes the father of a police officer like never before,” Margolis explains. We felt there was an organic opportunity to bring a new performance with new energy to dramatize that change. Same characters, same relationships, but completely different. We love this vulnerability that Micah brings to Sean, yet this desire to prove himself. It was really fun to see it become a reality. ”
Sonequa Martin-Green as Lena Silver, Bridget Moynahan as Erin Reagan Boyle, Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan
CBS
The show will likely have a similar tone to “Blue Bloods” and feature more familiar faces. Bridget Moynahan’s Erin Regan appears in the premiere, arriving in Boston to make sure Danny is okay, but it looks like this is just the beginning.
“Can we expect family to appear? Can we expect visits and travel? Yes, we can,” co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier added. “What we really mean is that we are an extension of the universe. This is not just a run-of-the-mill spin-off. It’s a different look at a law enforcement family from another dynasty, through the eyes of the Reagans. But the Reagans exist. They still exist in the world, living the lives we’ve watched for so long.”
Additionally, each episode will feature a family dinner. The Silver family’s Shabbat dinner was part of the premiere, and Danny and Erin were excited to attend.
“We do a Shabbat dinner every episode. We want to pay homage to the original show. Sunday dinner was very reflective of what that show was about, what that family was about,” Sonnier says. “One of the things Donnie always told us was how many real-life law enforcement agents he met while making ‘Blue Bloods.’ How grateful he was that the Reagan family reminded him of his family. It’s an organic way to continue that world. I sit down to dinner with my family as often as possible. I have four young children and all the things that people like. But we celebrate Shabbat as much as we can, so Fridays are a time for us to connect as a family.”
“Boston Blue” airs on CBS at 10pm ET and streams the next day on Paramount+.
