Danny & Baez's Major Blue Bloods Franchise Twist Explained By Donnie Wahlberg

Published Oct 16, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. 

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Warning: SPOILERS for Boston Blue season 2, episode 2 are ahead!Boston Blue just delivered a major shakeup to Danny Reagan and Maria Baez’s relationship.

While the Blue Bloods spinoff saw Danny moving from New York to Boston when it premiered last year, he and Baez have maintained their romance long distance. Marisa Ramirez reprised Baez in three episodes of Boston Blue season 1, and she returned in tonight’s episode on CBS’s fall 2026 TV schedule with her adopted daughter, Elena. While “Ripple Effect” started off with the three of them having some fun at a park, it soon became complicated with the appearance of Dania, Elena’s biological maternal grandmother.

Blue Bloods franchise fans will remember that Baez adopted Elena after her biological mother, Elena Marquez, was killed by Mano Sangriento. Dania was too sick to come forward when her daughter died, but now she wants to be part of her granddaughter’s life. By the end of “Ripple Effect,” Danny and Baez decided it would be a good idea for Elena to meet her grandmother. However, that doesn’t mean that more issues won’t pop up in this aspect of Danny’s life.

Ahead of Boston Blue season 2’s premiere, ScreenRant’s Adam Holmes chatted with Donnie Wahlberg about what went down in season 2’s first episodes, and what’s coming up next. On the subject of Danny’s relationship with Baez, Wahlberg acknowledged that while it’s important for him to nurture his paternal instincts towards Elena, there’s always going to be a degree of danger in their lives given her background:

The biological grandma is a big thing, but I think what's cool and what's gonna be challenging for Danny is that he loves Maria, but he's also becoming a stepdad for all intents and purposes. It's a big deal in his life, and I think that as he grows closer as a dad to Elena, it's just gonna make the relationship more important to him with Maria, but it's also gonna create more challenges and possibly danger because of who Elena is. She’s the daughter of a dad who ran a cartel, who's still out there. He’s in prison, but as we've learned with this cartel, nobody's ever really safe, no matter where they are.

Wahlberg then explained how Danny values family, so he’s aware that it’s important for Elena to get to know her grandmother, though both he and Baez were initially cautious about Dania before the latter ran a background check on the older woman. However, by doing this, it potentially could lead to her criminal biological father causing problems:

I think the stakes on a personal level get raised because he doesn't just have a girlfriend, he has a family. The stakes get raised because of the nature of who could be connected to Elena. And the grandma coming around, it's interesting because Danny comes from a big family, so he knows the importance of family.

He's also watched Lena not know who her biological dad was into adulthood and how that impacted her. And here's this grandma coming, and it gives Danny and Baez a chance to expand Elena's family, and at least let her have a connection to her biological parents, her biological mom, but that could open the door for the biological dad to show up, right?

From Wahlberg’s perspective, it’s a “great conundrum,” and Danny would usually say it’s not a good idea to bring Dania into the picture. Even the fact that she found Elena is “dangerous,” even if she herself is not. That said, he’s also seen how his Boston Blue partner, Sonequa Martin-Green’s Lena Silver, was impacted by not having her biological father in her life until recently. As such, this will “create a certain want for Danny to give Elena a full family life growing up.”

Why Filming Boston Blue Season 2, Episode 2 Was “Exhausting” For Donnie Wahlberg

CBS

ScreenRant: What was the experience like of filming that intense shootout scene on the bridge in Episode 2?

Exhausting. It was super intense, and the thing is, it's like one of the things I learned from Tom Selleck. He always would say this phrase, ‘Slow down to hurry up.’ And that was just in my head the whole day when we filmed that scene. It’s like, slow down to hurry up. Take each moment as it comes. Be mindful of what you're doing when you get out of the car. If you're firing the shotgun, be mindful of what you're doing. Be intentional with each thing. Don't just go, crazy and haphazard. Be intentional. I think when we slow down and really take our time with the process, it speeds it up in a really wonderful way.

That day was exhausting, but it went by pretty quick because we were just really focused on each moment. Danny says, I think, ‘Count each round. We have to preserve [rounds], we're outnumbered here. We're in danger.’ I think counting each moment for Sonequa and I, you know, was like the way Danny and Lena had to approach the situation, and somehow when it was all over, it was like, ‘Wow, all right, we did a good job with that, and we were aware.’ In the chaos of something like that in real life, it would be so chaotic, it'd be hard to focus. It's the same way as an actor. We’re not in any jeopardy is the big difference. No one's firing real guns, but it's so chaotic.

There are cameras moving and this is happening. I'm not looking at someone when I'm in the shootout. I'm looking at a blank area. There's no one there, right? So you have to really slow yourself down and be mindful of what's happening, because you can trip over yourself in the rush to make it awesome. And if you slow down, you can actually make it more awesome.

ScreenRant: Danny is clearly annoyed that the DEA took over the biker gang case at the end of Episode 2. Is that something that will be further explored this season?

Well, I can say it in this context: Danny tends to get annoyed when any federal agencies get involved in police work. it's a big thing he played in New York. So whenever the feds, as he would say, come around, he doesn't like it. So it’s something that could continue to be explored, but it's just inherent in who he is. He’s a cop's cop, and if you work for the other agencies, he respects what you do, but just don't step on the cop's toes, is how he feels about it. And anytime there's another agency stepping on the cops' toes, he's gonna have a problem with it.

ScreenRant: How will the Silver family’s political conflict with Thad Longfellow affect Danny going forward, if at all?

I think it will affect Danny in terms of how it affects the family. I think if one thing with Danny is, I don't think he's interested in politics, but he loves the Silver family, and he's very protective of his partner, and she's very protective of him. She doesn't need him to protect her, but this is his new family, and I think if Danny would behave a certain way if someone threatened the Reagans, I would expect him to behave a certain way if someone threatened the Silvers. And I think that is how it will impact him, and how it impacts the Silvers.

ScreenRant: Danny accepts the promotion to Sergeant Detective by the end of the premiere, and Lena makes it clear nothing will change between them. Realistically though, how does this promotion affect the dynamic between Danny and Lena going later into the season?

I don't think it changes it that much. The one good thing about doing this show or doing this character is I've gotten to talk to a lot of detectives over the years, and It doesn't really change that much. What it does, I think in terms of on screen, it creates flexibility, where Danny can sit a case out, he can supervise from the squad room. It allows us to do, to try different things, but I think overall it's not suddenly like Danny needs to be called ‘Sir.’ He's just a sergeant; sergeants still go out on cases, they're still out in the field doing what they do, so it doesn't really impact the partnership, other than there just may be a little… because Danny was new in Boston, he tended to be more deferential to Lena, and now that he has sergeant stripes, you know, there'll be times where she may have to be deferential to the rank.

But I think if anything, I think it kind of puts them on a more level playing field. Danny made a choice when he came to Boston. He was there for Sean. He fell in love with his family, he fell in love with the city, and, but he treated Lena the way he would want to be treated in New York. He was very respectful of her history in that city, and her rank, and her reputation, and her skills. I think he treated her the way he would want to be treated. So I think now that he has the rank of sergeant, I think he'll be respectful of the rank… I’ve known a lot of detectives. Some are bosses and some aren't, and they all love and respect each other and work hard. it’s still super cool. As a sergeant, I think in some ways it's freed up Danny to, I think, even appreciate Lena's skills even more, if that makes sense.

It’s like, ok, yeah, watch her do this work, watch how good she is. I think there's a line in episode two where Danny says that. He’s like, ‘Watch how good she does an interrogation,’ where now that he's a boss, he can trust that a little more. He can lay back and let her do that and not feel like he's not carrying his weight. It's like, no, as the supervisor, as the boss in this situation, watch her, watch how awesome she is, and this is gonna be great. I’ll just watch her back, and if she needs me, I'll chime in or do whatever, but I think it's cool. I think the dynamic won't change that much until it changes.

ScreenRant: In the premiere, Danny calls Grandpa Henry for some help. Since, unlike last season, you and Len were filming separately, were you able to touch base with him at all or talk with him during the course of that filming, catch up?

Yeah, I've checked in with Len a lot, and he's just such a good guy. I check in with all the cast. I don't think there's anyone of the main cast that I haven't spoken to from time to time. Len just brings so much, and even one scene … he was so good in the episode he did last year, and when he referenced the Boston Strangler, that he was on the task force, that was his connection to Boston … it’s like when someone first says, let's do a Boston Strangler episode, one of the things that puts it over the top for us to, to commit to the storyline is Grandpa worked on the task force, we got to incorporate him. Oh, now this is getting good, this is getting tasty and exciting, right? So it's that kind of energy.

ScreenRant: Because you’re also an executive producer on this show, what’s the big thing, goal, etc., that you wanted to accomplish or explore going into season 2?

I think the main two priorities for me were one, to make the show as entertaining and layered as possible for the audience. It may be my music background and that I still perform on stage, frequently, but I think it's really important to give the audience… the phrase is their money's worth, but the show's still on CBS, which doesn't cost any money, but people are investing their time in this show, and we have to entertain them. We have to make it worth their time. There's so many other things they could be doing in today's world, and they're choosing to spend an hour with us, even if it's on DVR or whatever, or if it's streaming on Paramount+. It doesn't matter. They're giving of their time to us, and we have to give them enough in the show to make it worth their effort to watch us, so that's always a priority for me.

I would say in terms of the specificity of the show itself, I think that the characters, the main Silver and Reagan characters who exist on the show, I think fortifying those relationships is really a big priority for me. One of the strengths of Blue Bloods was that, suddenly, you might have an episode where Danny and Grandpa get to play an arc together, and it's like, ‘Oh wow, this is fun and this is cool.’ Or it may be Will and Grandpa, or it may be Danny and Janko get to do something. We have such a strong cast on the show, and for me, it was really important that if Sean's having a problem and Jonah's concerned about it, or Danny’s concerned about it, let's put Danny and Jonah together to talk about it and see how are they gonna help Sean, Those kinds of things.

… Where’s the scene where Lena and Sean get to work together or talk or figure out a problem or give advice or whatever. Those main relationships, I think, are where the show lives, and I think solidifying those relationships and discovering them and unraveling them and getting to know the characters on a deeper level. I think is where the show will do a better job of, but I think it truly lives in the relationships, and so I think it's important to focus on those.

• Boston Blue's showrunners opening up about Blue Bloods' Will Estes returning as Jamie Reagan.
• More details about Danny and Baez's evolving relationship.
• CSI's Marg Helgenberger is playing Sarah Silver's estranged biological mother.
• Boston Blue is delving into a canceled Blue Bloods story.
• The spinoff's showrunners are invested in having Tom Selleck reprise Frank Reagan.

Note: Boston Blue airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

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  Donnie Wahlberg

  Danny Reagan

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  Sonequa Martin-Green

  Lena Silver