‘Boston Blue’ Bosses on Danny and Baez’s Future, Sean Recast for ‘Blue Bloods’ Spinoff

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “Faith and Family,” the series premiere of CBS’ “Boston Blue.”.”

When “Blue Bloods” ended last year after fourteen seasons, there were still several questions viewers had about what happened to the Reagan clan. Luckily, with Donnie Wahlberg’s Dannie Reagan spinoff “Boston Blue,” they got one big answer in the opening moments of the Oct. 17 premiere.

In the final Danny Finally asked his old partner, Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) to get pizza. And in the opening minutes of the premiere, he was shown in bed with Baez; their banter returned, this time with a romantic twist.

“Once we realized we had an opportunity to continue Danny Reagan’s story, Brandon and I looked at what the dangling threads were of the finale and what was owed. The biggest one, of course, was what happened when they went out for pizza,” says co-showrunner Brandon Margolis. Variety. “We really wanted to feel like this show continues that story in fairly real time. It will be about a year since the finale went off the air, so if Danny and Baez were together, where are they and what would that look like? How could that possibly complicate a trip from New York to Boston? It was important to us that we service that and continue to build that relationship.”

Although Ramirez has not yet signed on for more episodes, the relationship will continue, Sonnier confirms. “Long-distance relationships exist. I think we can expect to continue that relationship and really get a sense of where they are in the progression of this relationship that we’ve been looking at for a decade,” he says. “It’s a four-hour drive!”

In the premiere, Danny teams up with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family – something he knows a thing or two about – in Boston. He takes on a new role with the Boston Police Department to stay close to his son Sean (Mika Amonsen) after suffering an injury while working as a police officer.

A big difference with “Blue Bloods” is that Sean has been recast; While Andrew Terraciano played the character in 292 episodes of “Blue Bloods,” Mika Amonsen has taken over the role for the spinoff.

We love Andrew and the work he has done on ‘Blue Bloods’ over the years. Basically it came down to telling a new chapter in both their lives. Not only is it Sean who has joined the family business, so to speak, and is turning a new leaf, but now Danny Reagan is also the father of a cop, which he’s never been before,” Margolis explains. “So there are all these new storylines to explore. It felt like there was an organic opportunity to bring a new performance with a new energy, to help dramatize that change. It’s the same character, it’s the same relationship, but it’s also completely different. We love what Mika has brought to Sean, this vulnerability and yet this desire to prove herself. It was just amazing to see it come to life.”

The show will have a similar tone to “Blue Bloods” and will likely feature more familiar faces. Bridget Moynahan’s Erin Raegan appeared in the premiere, arriving in Boston to make sure Danny was okay, which appears to be just the beginning.

“Can we expect some family members? Can we expect some visits and some travel? Yes, we can,” added co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier. “We really mean that we are an extension of the universe. It’s not just your average spin-off. It’s a different look at another dynastic law enforcement family through the eyes of the Reagans. But the Reagans exist. They’re still in the world, living the lives we’ve watched for so long.”

Additionally, each episode features a family dinner: the Silver family’s Shabbat dinner, which was part of the premiere, in which Danny and Erin enthusiastically participated.

“We’ll have a Shabbat dinner every episode. We hope to honor the original show and their Sunday dinners were so much a weave of what that show was about, what that family was about,” Sonnier says. “One of the things Donnie always told us about was how many real law enforcement people he would meet while working on ‘Blue Bloods’ and how much they appreciated the Reagan family reminding them of their family. They sat down and had dinner. This is an organic way to continue that universe. It’s something we do. I sit down with my family as often as I can. I have four young kids. Everybody has baseball and dancing and all the things those people do. have. But as often as we can, we sit down and celebrate Shabbat, so Friday is our time to connect as a family.”

“Boston Blue” airs at 10pm ET on CBS and streams on Paramount+ the next day.