It’s here! The highly anticipated Blue Bloods spinoff, Boston Blue, has made its CBS premiere, and it did not disappoint. But is anyone really surprised by this? You have Donnie Wahlberg reprising his iconic role as Detective Danny Reagan from the original series, and a bunch of other talented actors in the cast. This show was bound to grab attention, and thankfully, it delivers exactly what fans were hoping for.
Boston Blue follows Danny as he relocates from New York City to Boston, joining the Boston Police Department and partnering with Detective Lena Silver. Together, they tackle high-stakes cases all across the city. The police procedural also introduces us to many of Lena's family members, who also work in law enforcement and play a big part in the series’ storylines.
Perhaps you watched the Boston Blue premiere, but missed or didn't understand a few things that happened. No worries! We’ve got you covered with a full breakdown of episode 1 down below.
Major spoilers are ahead from Boston Blue season 1 episode 1.
Danny takes a trip to Boston
The first episode opens with two guys walking down the streets of Boston. We find out later that the curly haired one is named Jonah and the other is named Sean Reagan. Yes, he's Danny's son. While chatting it up with a couple of women, Jonah notices a huge fire breaking out in an office building nearby. He and Sean rush into the building to try to save people. At this time, we learn that both Jonah and Sean are cops. While Sean wants to call for backup, Jonah insists on taking immediate action.
Sean discovers a woman who has been shot in the chest, slumped in front of a desk. She's dead. Meanwhile, Jonah is busy guiding people out of the building, shouting at Sean to hurry and evacuate. As Sean moves toward another area of the building, he becomes trapped as flames suddenly erupt around him. The episode then cuts to Danny in his New York high-rise apartment building. Guess who's with him? Detective Maria Baez from Blue Bloods! We got our first cameo.
Based on their half-undressed state, it looks like they either were about to be intimate or had just finished up. Danny's cellphone is going off, so Maria hands it over to him. Somebody's on the line telling him that Sean is at Boston General Hospital. Oh no! It looks like he's been hurt in the fire. Danny has to go to Boston now.
Danny teams up with Boston PD detective Lena Silver
Danny arrives in Boston and heads straight to the hospital. As he watches over a comatose Sean, an injured Jonah walks up to him. Jonah is okay, though. He explains to Danny that he pulled his arm while trying to get Sean out of the burning building. However, it's unclear when Sean will wake up. Jonah also shares with Danny that Sean found a dead woman with a gunshot wound in the building. This piques Danny's interest, and now he wants to know more. He asks Jonah where the building is located and then heads there.
Next, the scene shifts to the crime scene, where we meet Boston PD detective Lena Silver. As the other officers search for DNA evidence, Lena comes across the deceased woman. One of her colleagues mentions finding cans containing kerosene mixed with a hint of turpentine, suggesting that the fire was intentionally set. Lena deduces that the suspect was likely searching for something in the office and then ignited the fire to cover their tracks. Based on how the woman was shot, Lena believes the attack was personal.
The episode then cuts to District Attorney Mae Silver and Superintendent Sarah Silver, who are headed to give a press conference about the fire incident. We find out in this scene that Mae is Sarah's step-mom. During the press conference, Mae reveals that the deceased woman in the fire was Andrea Decker, CEO of Image Stats Inc. and IT company. She states that the company and Andrea are under investigation by her office. In this scene, it’s revealed that the Boston PD has been utilizing the company’s facial recognition software, which is under scrutiny for allegedly exhibiting bias against minorities.
With the current investigation into the company and CEO, Mae tells the press that she has filed an emergency ordinance to require the Boston PD to go through her before they use the company's facial recognition software. This comes as a complete surprise to Sarah. The episode then cuts to Danny standing outside the building where the fire happened.
He notices a man just staring at the building and approaches him. After showing his NYPD badge, the man starts running. Danny immediately chases after him. Lena sees all of this happen from a window in the building. Then, she chases after them. Just as Danny is about to go over a fence to continue following the suspicious man, Lena yells out "Boston PD" and tells him to stop. Danny's just lost a potential suspect.
Upon introduction, they quickly learn that they both work in law enforcement, just in different cities. Lena learns that Danny's son is Sean, and Danny discovers that Jonah is Lena's half-brother. Before leaving the alleyway, Danny finds a tool that the man dropped. It's his first piece of evidence. He and Lena then head to the police station. This is when Danny's introduced to Sarah, and he learns more about the Silver family and how they're all in law enforcement. Lena and Sarah are stepsisters.
Lena also learns who Danny's father is, aka NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan from Blue Bloods. Sarah tells Danny that she's authorized him to consult with Boston PD on the case. It looks like Danny and Lena will be working together from now on.
Danny and Lena have their first two suspects
After finding out that the tool he found was bought from a local hardware store, Danny and Lena head there to see if they can get some information on who purchased it. On the way there, Lena confides in Danny that she had previously applied for a promotion at the police department, but Sarah passed her over for the position. That's why there's tension between them.
Danny then opens up and shares that he's the reason Sean even moved to Boston. The story goes that Sean really wanted to be a cop, but there was a hiring freeze at the NYPD. Danny and Frank wanted to pull some strings and get him hired there anyway, but Sean refused. So, Danny then suggested that he move to Boston to work for the police station there.
After getting information from the hardware store on who the tool could possibly belong to, Danny and Lena head to the suspect's house. It turns out to be the same suspicious man from earlier in the episode. His name is Carlos Delgado, and he makes another run for it. However, he doesn't get very far because Danny and Lena capture him.
After pulling Carlos in for questioning, Danny and Lena learn that he's not responsible for the fire or the murder of the CEO. He's a private investigator who was hired to look into the CEO and her business dealings. Carlos tells Danny and Lena that one day, while snooping through the CEO's office, he overheard her and a former employee arguing. The former worker then stormed out of the building. Carlos describes the person to Danny and Lena as being a black guy and believes they were a software engineer.
Danny and Lena then head back to the police station. While looking through the employee list for Image Stats Inc. and IT company for all the black software engineers, Lena comes across two names. Danny tells her to input their names into a job listing website. They don't find a profile for one of the former employees, but they do for the other one. His name is Marquis Rawlins. Now, they just need to run his photo through the facial recognition software to see if it is a match with security footage from the night of the fire. The only problem is that they need approval to use the software. Luckily, Lena manages to convince Sarah.
The results turn out to be a 72% match, and they discover that Marquis used a personalized key card to enter the building right before the fire started. It's time for Danny and Lena to go catch their next potential suspect. They arrive at Marquis's house with backup and burst through his front door to find him packing clothes. Marquis immediately confesses to the murder, but Lena tells Danny that she finds that suspicious and he agrees.
Erin arrives in Boston to be there for Danny and Sean
Later in the episode, Danny returns to the hospital to check on Sean and, to his surprise, his younger sister, Erin, is in the room. This is our second Blue Bloods cameo! Danny had told her that she didn’t need to come, but Erin showed up anyway. He updates her on their investigation, explaining that he and Lena have a suspect in mind, but they still need the murder weapon to solidify their case. Erin then tells Danny that she's going to stay in Boston until she knows he and Sean are okay.
Suddenly, Jonah enters the room and invites Danny and Erin to dinner at his family's house later that night. Mae had asked him to invite them earlier in the episode. As Jonah leaves the hospital, he calls a colleague to ask if he still has access to the evidence locker. It looks like he wants to help with Danny and Lena's case.
It's time for dinner at the Silvers! After introductions are done, Lena breaks down her family's dynamics and their history to Danny and Erin. Once Reverend Edwin Peters arrives, aka Lena's grandfather, dinner is served. During this scene, Danny and the Silvers talk about the case. Based on what they learned from Jonah, they believe Marquis is covering for the real suspect. It's time to get back to work!
Back at the station, Danny, Lena, Sarah, and Jonah scroll through Marquis's social media page. They come across a photo of him, an ex-girlfriend, and another man. Danny thinks the man could be Marquis's ex-girlfriend's son. The young man's name is Caleb Bruce. Lena looks into the Boston PD database, but can't find him. Instead, she finds another Caleb Bruce, who is currently serving time in prison. Sarah then puts two and two together and states that he must be the father of the Caleb that's in the picture.
They know Caleb Sr. can't be the killer cause he's in prison. That leaves them with Caleb Jr. They use the facial recognition software again, and it turns out Caleb Jr. is a 99% match. They've officially got their killer!
Danny and Lena catch the real suspect
Danny and Lena head to the police station to question Marquis. They know that Caleb Jr. is the one who set the office building on fire and killed the CEO, but they need to know where to find him, and Marquis is the only person who knows his whereabouts. After some intense questioning, Marquis finally comes clean.
Apparently, Caleb Sr. convinced Caleb Jr. that the facial recognition software was responsible for his time in prison. This angered Caleb Jr., but it wasn’t until Marquis was fired that he truly snapped. Since Andrea Decker was in charge of the company that made the software and was the one who fired Marquis, Caleb Jr. blamed her for everything. That's why he killed her and set her company's building on fire. Marquis then shares Caleb Jr.'s whereabouts, and Danny and Lena head there. Jonah meets them.
Just as Caleb Jr. is about to get on the subway, Jonah notices him. He starts running, but Jonah tackles him to the ground. Danny and Lena then appear and hand over handcuffs so that Jonah can arrest him.
Sean finally wakes up
The scene then shifts to a local church, where Reverend Peters is leading a service. Danny and the Silvers are in attendance. After the service concludes, everyone gathers outside to chat. Danny says his goodbyes, explaining that he needs to return to the hospital to check on Sean. Before he leaves, however, Sarah mentions that he can continue working with Lena and the Boston PD while still staying in Boston. Danny considers her offer but doesn’t give a concrete answer just yet.
Back at the hospital, Danny watches over Sean while he's still in a comatose state. Erin then enters the room with food, and Danny gets up so that they can pray before they eat. As they're praying, Sean starts muttering things while slowly opening his eyes. Erin runs out of the room to get help, while Danny comforts a disoriented Sean. The first episode ends here.
New episodes of Boston Blue air every Friday night on CBS at 10/9c.