Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Boston Blue’ On CBS, A Contrived ‘Blue Bloods’ Spinoff That Finds Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan In The Boston PD
**Do You Remember How Cringey and Contrived Spinoffs Were Created in the 1980s and 90s?**
Someone shows up as a handyman or a cop in one department gets permission to work with another, and boom, you get a spinoff. We thought that kind of writing ended a long time ago, but it seems the writers of the *Blue Bloods* spinoff *Boston Blue* didn’t get the message.
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### BOSTON BLUE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
**Opening Shot:**
Scenes in Boston at night. Two young guys are debating if anyone their age even knows who Bruce Springsteen is when they come upon a group of women and start flirting.
**The Gist:**
The young men, Sean Reagan (Mika Amonsen) and Jonah Silver (Marcus Scribner), are rookie Boston PD officers. When Jonah spots a building on fire down the street, they rush toward it and into the building to help evacuate people. Inside, they discover a victim who is dead—not from the fire, but from a gunshot wound in her chest. Suddenly, a fireball blasts Sean through a glass door.
Back in New York, Sean’s father, Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg), is called about Sean’s serious condition. He immediately heads to Boston. Once there, Danny flashes his NYPD detective shield to question a suspicious onlooker and chases him through the streets.
The lead BPD detective on the case, Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green)—who, yes, is Jonah’s sister—catches up with Danny and holds a gun on him until he throws her his shield.
The woman who was shot is the CEO of a software company that created facial recognition software used by the BPD. However, the software has been under investigation due to evidence that it is biased against darker-skinned subjects. District Attorney Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben) bans the use of the software, surprising BPD Superintendent Sarah Silver (Maggie Lawson)—who is Mae’s stepdaughter, Lena’s stepsister, and Jonah’s half-sister.
Sarah authorizes Danny to work alongside Lena on the case. As they get to know each other, their differing investigative styles become apparent: Danny colors outside the lines, while Lena plays things straight—mainly because of who her mother and sister are.
At one point, Danny wonders if he’s letting the personal nature of the case get to him. Danny’s sister Erin (Bridget Moynahan) arrives from New York to check on him while Sean remains in a coma.
Lena invites Danny to join the Silver family for their Friday night dinner, where Mae, Sarah, and Jonah also gather. Danny invites Erin along. The Silver family’s dinners are Friday nights because Mae and Lena converted to Judaism when Mae married Lena’s stepfather. Adding to the family dynamic is Lena’s grandfather, Edwin Peters (Ernie Hudson), a reverend at Roxbury Baptist Church.
Yes, the Silver family is complicated, but they always try to make it to Friday night family dinner—just like the Reagans did on Sunday nights.
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### What Shows Will It Remind You Of?
If you didn’t realize it by now, *Boston Blue* is a spinoff of *Blue Bloods*.
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### Our Take
*Boston Blue* was eye-rollingly frustrating to watch because it feels like showrunner Brandon Margolis and his writing team took every contrived, clichéd way imaginable to create a spinoff of a hit series. The result is a story that feels ripped straight from a 1980s spinoff episode.
Never mind the hilarious fact that Boston-native Donnie Wahlberg plays a Brooklyn-born cop transplanted to Boston.
The only storytelling aspect that felt somewhat organic was the idea that Danny would rush up to Boston after his son’s injury. But the fact that he can flash his NYPD detective shield, chase a suspect, and avoid arrest? Or that the BPD allows him to work on the case despite no jurisdiction and a direct personal connection? It’s all absurd. But Margolis and company clearly needed a way to get Wahlberg’s character to Boston.
Then there’s the Silver family. You knew the family aspect of *Blue Bloods* would carry over, but it feels like the writers decided to do the opposite of the Reagans. They created a blended, mixed-race family that is Jewish, but with a patriarch who is a Baptist minister. They do Shabbat dinners and church on Sundays. It’s a lot to keep up with, and none of it feels particularly relevant to the story moving forward.
The whole thing is just one cringey line after another—even with talented actors like Martin-Green, Lawson, Reuben, Scribner, and Hudson in the cast. The actors struggle to make the over-explained complexity of the family’s faith feel natural; it’s obvious they’re not quite buying into the dialogue themselves.
As for the case Danny and Lena investigate—facial recognition software and its biases—it feels immaterial. Its real purpose is just to get Danny integrated into the BPD, at least as a consultant for now. How the show will handle his permanent place in the department will likely be just as contrived.
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### Sex and Skin
None.
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### Parting Shot
Sean wakes up in distress as Danny and Erin have “Sunday dinner,” praying over vending machine sandwiches.
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### Sleeper Star
If you haven’t seen Marcus Scribner since *black-ish* ended (though he did move to the spinoff series *grown-ish*), you might be surprised at how grownup he looks in *Boston Blue*.
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### Most Pilot-y Line
Every time Danny called Lena “Beantown” and Lena retorted by calling him “Brooklyn,” we wanted to throw our remote at the TV.
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### Our Call: SKIP IT.
The first episode of *Boston Blue* twists itself into storytelling knots just to get Donnie Wahlberg’s *Blue Bloods* character to work with the Boston PD. Similarly, the construction of the Silver family feels just as contrived.
That said, it might still find an audience among viewers who miss *Blue Bloods*.
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### Where To Watch *Boston Blue*
Paramount+ offers two subscription plans:
– The ad-supported **Essential plan** costs $7.99/month.
– The ad-free **Premium plan** (which includes Showtime and live CBS) costs $12.99/month.
New subscribers can enjoy a seven-day free trial.
https://decider.com/2025/10/17/boston-blue-cbs-review/
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