For BOSTON BLUE star and executive producer Donnie Wahlberg, welcoming his BLUE BLOODS costars back means more than picking up an old storyline.
“We love each other, and it means a lot,” Wahlberg told Entertainment Weekly, describing the friendships that survived the original show’s cancellation.
Wahlberg became Detective Danny Reagan on BLUE BLOODS in 2010 and stayed with the CBS drama through its 14-season run. Its 2024 ending left him with relationships he wasn’t ready to leave behind, even as the spinoff gave Danny a new job and a new city.
Now, familiar faces can walk onto a different set and still find a welcome. Wahlberg said the BOSTON BLUE cast greets returning actors with an appreciation that sometimes surprises the visitors themselves.
The actor discussed reunions with fellow actors Will Estes, Bridget Moynahan, Marisa Ramirez and Len Cariou. For longtime viewers, those names bring Danny’s brother Jamie, sister Erin, partner Maria Baez and grandfather Henry back into the picture.
Cariou’s return is more than a possibility on Wahlberg’s wish list. CBS’s Season 2 premiere announcement names Henry among the people helping Danny and Detective Lena Silver investigate murders resembling the Boston Strangler killings.
Related: BOSTON BLUE Returns for Season 2 This Fall—Here’s What to Expect
That episode, “The Crash,” also brings Danny a career-defining promotion. His son Sean and fellow officer Jonah Silver join the investigation after completing their rookie year, giving the story room for both generations of the extended family.
The upcoming reunion episode with Estes carries a different kind of weight. Wahlberg told EW that Danny and Jamie explore surprising, vulnerable subjects, and he compared the brothers’ conversations to the actors themselves finding a measure of healing.
“I think when some of the guest actors get to come back and play these characters again, there’s something healing that happens,” Wahlberg said. He connected those returns to the abrupt ending of a show the cast had hoped would continue.
He also described sharing emotional moments with BOSTON BLUE co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier after takes with returning actors. The reunion matters on both sides of the camera: the characters have history to revisit, and the people playing them have years of friendship behind the scenes.
BOSTON BLUE still has a family of its own to introduce and develop. CBS’s series description pairs Danny with Lena, played by actress Sonequa Martin-Green, whose relatives include District Attorney Mae Silver, Police Superintendent Sarah Silver and Baptist pastor Reverend Edwin Peters.
Danny also hopes to reconnect with Sean, played by Mika Amonsen. That father-son relationship keeps his move grounded in something more personal than a change of police department.
Movieguide® previously reported on Wahlberg’s plans to bring the two television worlds together before the spinoff’s 2025 debut. This latest interview shows what those plans have meant to him once the reunions actually began.
For viewers who followed the Reagans for years, the appeal is easy to understand. A new city doesn’t erase the people who helped shape Danny, and a new cast doesn’t require the old friendships to disappear.
BOSTON BLUE is now in its second season, with new episodes on Fridays and streaming availability through Paramount+. Wahlberg’s reflections offer longtime fans a reason to watch beyond the next case: the chance to see familiar relationships continue.
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