‘Blue Bloods’ New Spin-Off Has the Perfect Opportunity to Bring Back More Reagans, According to Star Sonequa Martin-Green

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Boston Blue.]

The CBS drama series Boston Blue, a spin-off of the hit series Blue Bloods that ran for 14 seasons, sees NYPD Detective Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) in a different environment than he’s used to and surrounded by someone else’s prominent law enforcement family, at the Boston Police Department. Partnered with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), whose sister is police superintendent (Maggie Lawson) and whose mother is district attorney (Gloria Reuben), the pair understand what it’s like to carve out their own path while navigating a family legacy and quickly develop a banter over weekly Shabbat dinner. And while they’re still figuring out how to effectively work together, their family ties run even deeper with Lena’s brother Jonah (Marcus Scribner) the rookie cop alongside Danny’s son Sean (Mika Amonsen).

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Martin-Green opened up about the experience of developing the partnership between Lena and Danny, establishing this new TV series with a blend of nostalgia from the one it grew out of, and putting their own spin on family dinners. She also talked about the memorable introduction between Lena and Danny, the powerful women in the Silver family, finding the banter with kindred spirit Wahlberg, what an honor it is to have Reuben as her TV mother, her hope to have Bridget Moynahan (as Danny’s sister, Erin Reagan) and other Reagans continue to appear, why she has no interest in directing an episode of the series, and the limitless opportunities for both drama and fun.

A Memorable Introduction for Lena Silver and Danny Reagan Kicks Off Their ‘Boston Blue’ Partnership

“Even though they started on opposite ends, there’s something that makes them trust each other fairly quickly.”

Image via CBS

Collider: I love a good memorable character introduction, and your character and Danny meet with her holding a gun to him in an alley as he’s running away from her. They have to exchange a lot of information about each other in a very small amount of time, in order to get a real sense of who the other is and whether they can trust each other. What did you think of their meeting? How did you feel about their introduction in this series?

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: First of all, thank you for calling it memorable because we felt the same way. I thought it was fantastic, the way that these two characters meet. I thought having them on opposite ends like that, and then having them come together was really smart. I thought it was also quite electric. And you’re right, there is a lot of information that they learn about each other really quickly. One thing that I noted, from the very beginning, and I discussed it with everyone, and we all talked about how special it was, was that even though they started on opposite ends, there’s something that makes them trust each other fairly quickly.

Rather than having to fight and scrape and battle to get to that point, there’s just something about the other that clicks and that makes sense and that makes Lena want to put the gun down. They are so similar, even though they’re so different. They come from such similar places. The fact that they’re both detectives from prominent law enforcement families alone, that’s such a specific experience that they both have. They also have that attention to detail, and passion and competency with the job. I love that, while they start on opposite ends, they quickly put the guns down.

A profession like this is typically fairly male-dominated, so it’s cool that we not only see your character in a position of authority, but her sister is, as well as her mother. Even if they’re not all in exactly the same line of work, they’re all women of power. Was that something that was also important to you?

MARTIN-GREEN: Oh my gosh, 1,000%. I love all aspects of the Silver family. That’s just one of them. These are male-dominated industries. Law enforcement, in general, is a male-dominated industry. When you speak to female police officers, female detectives, and female lawyers, that is also a specific experience. There are lots of things that you have to mine, at all times. Mae Silver talks about how she raised her daughters. We have this standard of excellence. We have this leadership and expertise. But then, there’s also an elegance to it, as well, which I particularly love. In my humble opinion, true femininity is so beautiful because it’s strength through softness. I love that we don’t have to pretend to be men. We can just be strong in all the ways that we’re strong. Mae Silver, played by the absolutely brilliant Gloria Reuben, exudes that and I believe she instilled that in her daughters.

What was it like to find out that Gloria Reuben would be playing your mother? How was it to find that dynamic?

MARTIN-GREEN: She always delivers, no matter what. Her eyes are the size of saucers, so you look at her face and you’re like, “Oh, my goodness, how is she this beautiful?” But then, you also just get lost in there because her eyes are an ocean. I was so excited when I found out that she was going to be Mae Silver. I feel that way about Ernie Hudson as well. I’ve just loved both of them for so long. I’ve looked to them for so long. It’s such an honor to be able to share the screen with them, and then to also be this family with them, on screen in the story and then off-screen with our show family. I feel the same way about Maggie [Lawson] and Marcus [Scribner] and Mika [Amonsen] and, of course, Donnie [Wahlberg]. We’ve got a really good thing going and everybody delivers. That trust was built so quickly because of that.

Since these two families have a history, even though Lena and Danny don’t know each other, it feels like they can still jump in and immediately have a bit of banter, much like any family does. What’s it been like to find that with Donnie Wahlberg? What are you enjoying about finding the fun in that?

MARTIN-GREEN: I love it. It’s super easy for me and Donnie because we were fast friends and, in a lot of ways, felt that same kindredness that Danny and Lena feel. It was very easy and very fun. All the partnerships on the show are really important to us, including Sean and Jonah. Sarah and Mae have a partnership as well, on their side of things. I love that we have these couplings, and then we also have the full family coming together too. We’ve been really loving building the humor. Something that Donnie said when they were discussing this iteration of Blue Bloods and the Brandons (Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier) asked him, “What do you want to do that you haven’t done before, having played this man for so long?” was that he really wanted to have fun. I totally get that. I also want to have some fun. We dig out all the opportunities that we can to do that. That’s how you build chemistry. That’s how you build relationships in story. We’re loving it.

Sonequa Martin-Green Admits to Eating Too Much Brisket in the ‘Boston Blue’ Dinner Scenes

“We absolutely love Shabbat.”

Image via CBS

It’s nice that you can have these pairings, but at the same time, you can also find that balance with having the bigger scenes together with the family meals. I love that we get to see them sit down for Shabbat. What’s it like to have moments like that with, with not just a blended family, but a blending of two families?

MARTIN-GREEN: They are our favorite. When you have a familial environment, it’s those group scenes that really bring it all together. We absolutely love Shabbat. We look forward to those scenes. We have so much fun. We eat so much food. As you can see, we do not play. We eat. We are so stuffed by the end of the scene. Sometimes we get to the point where it’s like, “I can’t eat any more brisket.” We love it. There’s this authenticity that’s there because we’re really eating, really drinking, really enjoying each other, and really having a good time with each other. We just absolutely love it. I so appreciate the Brandons for understanding how important family dinner was going to be with any Blue Bloods spin-off and I appreciate that they give us some freedom. They let us play with each other, and I think it just makes such a difference. That’s how those scenes pop because we really are truly enjoying each other.

You’ve already had another Reagan show up for her brother. What does Lena think of Erin Reagan? What kind of vibe did Bridget Moynahan bring to the set? Will we see more of her or any other Reagans this season?

MARTIN-GREEN: I certainly hope we see her some more, and I hope we see other Reagans. I want all the Reagans to come. I would love that. That would be amazing. We absolutely adore Bridget. Of course, Donnie adores Bridget, and they have so much history together. I love watching them together because you just see all those years that they’ve known each other. You can see how much they respect each other and how comfortable they are with each other. It’s really beautiful. I just love her. I think she’s beautiful, inside and out. She’s directing, as well. She’s just on top of it. She’s an actor’s director. I’m having a really good time.

Sonequa Martin-Green Explains Why She Has No Interest in Directing an Episode of ‘Boston Blue’

“It’s never been something that I’ve wanted.”

Image via CBS

Would you ever want to direct an episode of the series yourself?

MARTIN-GREEN: Never. I won’t say never because you get in trouble when you say never. But as of now, I have no interest whatsoever in directing. I could change. I could feel differently, come 2027, come 2026, come tomorrow. As of right now, it’s never been something that I’ve wanted. I will tell you that what does pique my interest and what I have a silent passion for is editing. That I would love to do. I would love to edit. That I really enjoy. I will work in a dark room by myself, absolutely. I don’t want to have to make all of those decisions. I will produce. I love producing. My husband and I launched a production company recently and we’re super excited about all the possibilities there, and I’ll edit in that dark room by myself. But no, somebody else can direct.

She pretty quickly sees things that make her wonder and worry about Danny. Because she has experienced loss and grief within her own family, do you think that kind of makes her more observant and better at sensing that in others, including in Danny?

MARTIN-GREEN: Oh, gosh, 1,000%. It makes her have a keen eye. To that point, that is yet another thing that they share, that deep grief. Losing people that are closest to you, they understand that. He lost his mom, his brother, and his wife. Lena lost her stepdad and never connected with her father. Grief is familiar to both of them. It makes her eye that much sharper.

With Danny Reagan, you have this character who people that have seen Blue Bloods will very much know because he is a very strong character in his own right, but there’s also the process of figuring out a show and establishing what it is and what all the relationships are. Was there anything that you were nervous about, or is it just super fun to get to take a character that people know and throw him into a world that people don’t know yet?

MARTIN-GREEN: What’s interesting about it is that we’ve got two things in one. We’ve got Danny Reagan, who all the Blue Bloods fans have known and loved for so many years. At the same time, we’ve got this whole new family. Because you’ve got Danny in a fish out of water situation, introducing the audience to this new family through his eyes, you’ve also got this family being introduced to this Danny, who is new to people as well. The Silvers are also introducing a new Danny through their eyes. Those two things are happening at the same time, which is great. We see how he has evolved from the Danny Reagan that we’ve known for so long, and I love that because you would imagine that he would. I think it’s exciting for people to be able to see him evolve and to see him get to know a whole new city, a whole new family, a whole new way of life, and to be the father to this cop now. I think that it’s going to be great, and I’m hoping that people get to love the Silvers through his eyes as well.

Lena Silver and Danny Reagan Will Continue to Explore the Drama and Fun in Their ‘Boston Blue’ Partnership

“Their lives are going to bleed over onto each other.”

At the end of the second episode, Danny lets his son in on the fact that he’s going to stay in Boston and be there to have his son’s back. How does Lena feel about that? Is she going to have times that maybe she regrets teaming up with him? What can we expect from their partnership, moving forward?

MARTIN-GREEN: You can expect a lot of life happening in this partnership. This is a character-driven show. Even though it has a procedural format, it’s also character-driven. You’re going to see these two go through so much, right next to each other. Their lives are going to bleed over onto each other. They’re going to have that constant pursuit of justice and of the bad guys. We’re going to see how these cases affect them. We’re going to see how they continue to blend and find their footing in this partnership, and also how they affect each other. That inevitably happens in a partnership. From what I’ve learned from folks in the military, it’s much like a battle buddy. We talk to the police officers and detectives who consult for us on the show, and they tell us how that partnership is such a special bond, being back-to-back with someone in the field, risking your lives. There are just limitless opportunities for drama and fun, at the same time.

Release Date

October 17, 2025

Directors

Anthony Hemingway, Randall Zisk

Writers

Brandon Margolis, Brandon Sonnier

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  Donnie Wahlberg

  Danny Reagan

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  Sonequa Martin-Green

  Det. Lena Silver

Boston Blue airs on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+. Check out the trailer: