Following its 14-season, 293-episode run in December 2024, Blue Bloods was given a ceremonious End of Watch call to honor its CBS finale. Far from the last time fans can witness police officer Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) patrols the crime-ridden streets, the new spin-off Boston Blue will follow the character to the Massachusetts capital.
As Reagan relocates from New York to Boston and meets his new Boston PD colleagues, he buts heads with his new partner, the eldest child in a proud family of Boston cops who knows much more about the city and its criminals than Reagan does. Between the premise, casting, development, and potential release date, it’s high time to pull out the magnifying glass and inspect all there is to know about Boston Blue thus far.
‘Boston Blue’s Premise & Development
Boston Blue did not begin as a conceived Blue Bloods spin-off. According to Deadline, a project titled Jamaica Plain was pitched by writers Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, named after the Boston neighborhood. The premise involved an LAPD officer transferred to BPD and the subsequent culture clash.
With CBS intent on keeping Blue Bloods around, Boston native Donnie Wahlberg urged the producers to transfer Danny Reagan to the city instead. The idea was fleshed out more once CBS greenlighted the premise. The extended plot concerns Danny relocating from New York to Boston, where he clashes with Detective Lena Peters, described by CBS as the oldest daughter of Boston’s proudest law enforcement family.
For Danny, who spent years in New York with the comfort of his blood kin as his co-workers, the brash Boston native will testify how Lena operates within her family of lifelong law enforcers. The shoe is on the other foot for Danny, a clear focus of Boston Blue’s narrative. With far less agency than he had back home, navigating the new BPD and its geopolitical machinations will further complicate Danny’s transfer.
In Blue Bloods’ finale, Danny worked up the nerve to ask Maria Baez out for pizza, something his grandfather had asked since the death of Danny’s wife in Season 8. Without trafficking in too much conjecture, Maria may venture to Beantown to be close to Danny in Boston Blue.
Discussing Danny’s arc moving forward, Wahlberg told Entertainment Weekly:
“I would say I would have Danny Reagan walk right into his next chapter of his life, maybe in a different place doing a similar job and perhaps with someone from the current cast.
But I want him to not be too far from the family so that he can still see them and spend time with them, but maybe to see what life has in store for him now that his boys have gone off and he’s empty nesting and his wife’s gone. Maybe he can see what the future holds for him on his own. As long as he can visit the family sometimes. Does that sound like a tease for a spinoff?”
Visiting family is a priority for Wahlberg, begging the question of which Blue Bloods characters will return for Boston Blue.
