How Boston Blue Will 'Honor' Blue Bloods' Legacy After Danny Joins BPD — Plus, Scoop On An ER Reunion And Baez's Return

The "Boston Blue" midseason premiere finally brings Ben Silver's true killer to justice — and clears up a few key misconceptions along the way.

For starters, Jonah did not kill Ronan Flaherty. And Flaherty, it turns out, did not kill Ben.

The real culprit was fellow gang member Doyle O'Keefe, who murdered Flaherty to cover his tracks after carrying out the hit on behalf of real estate developer David Laughlin, whose Mission Hill mega-mall plans were blocked by Judge Silver. When Jonah came face to face with O'Keefe — and nearly died at the hands of his father's killer — it was Sean who stepped in, firing his weapon for the first time and putting a bullet in O'Keefe's arm.

But the hour's most lasting impact may be Danny's decision to officially accept a Boston PD badge — a move that cements his future in Massachusetts and sets the stage for how the series plans to "honor" its "Blue Bloods" roots moving forward.

Below, co-creators Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier break down that turning point, explain how the show will stay true to its procedural legacy, and preview what's ahead in the remaining 10 episodes of the freshman run — including the return of Maria Baez and an "ER" reunion.

TVLINE | Donnie Wahlberg has said it was never a question of if Danny would join Boston PD, but when. Why was this the right moment to pull that trigger? Was there ever internal debate about holding it for later in the season?
MARGOLIS | It all kind of started when we realized we were gonna be transitioning Danny from NYPD to BPD — this is before the [writers'] room began — and what that process would look like. As much as we wanted to just sort of skate past it and be like, whatever, he's BPD now, let's not focus on that, there was the reality of what a tenured career at the NYPD would look like, and you can't just pick up and go.

Being able to be a contractor with BPD or to be on a joint task force, if you will, was how the show started. But we recognized we still owed some stories around making that choice — and, in particular, we could make it an emotional choice for Danny. It's hard to recognize that he would have to give up his shield.

As we were looking at emotional stories and when is the right time to pass that baton, we recognized that until he's carrying it, he can't run lead. Technically, Lena is the one arresting anybody in these episodes — or, at least, the one who can press charges as a Boston police officer. So in an emotionally charged case, like the one we get in Episode 10, where anybody whose name is Silver is not allowed to work the case, we recognized that that would be a very impactful moment for Danny to step in and step up for his newfound family and say, I can lead this now because I am Boston PD and the time has come to take that mantle.

SONNIER | With everything on the show, it goes back to family. This was a moment to step up for his found family. For the family he sits around the table with in Boston, he needed to make that move.

What I'll also say is that we do honor the "Blue Bloods" legacy of trying to be true to the police procedure and the truth of the police work, so we do mention in Episode 10 that he is accepting this badge, but there will be a few more steps along the way to finalize his transfer.

TVLINE | How will that procedure play out on screen?
MARGOLIS | There will be a couple of stories in the back half of the season that speak to the process — in terms of actually using his Boston badge as opposed to the shield. In particular, he mentions that there's a requirement that he would have to serve a shift in uniform, which is something we definitely plan to explore as an episode idea in the back half of the season.

TVLINE | The Reagans and the Silvers were already intertwined, but with Danny and Sean stepping up the way they do here, does this shift the dynamic? Are we moving from two families connected by circumstance to something more unified?
SONNIER | I don't know that it shifts it as much as it solidifies it — as much as it seals the deal of what was already happening. We've had the experience over the first half of the season of watching them really be embraced by this family and integrated into this family. This is sort of the final stepping over that threshold of acceptance — we're going to step up for this family just like we would step up for any Reagan who was in this situation.

TVLINE | Sean fires his weapon for the first time to save his partner. What does that moment mean to Sean? And how does it affect his partnership with Jonah going forward?
MARGOLIS | The episodic story for Sean was really about trying to understand what it means to be a partner — or at least what a rookie's point of view on being a good partner is. In the beginning, when his instinct is to have his partner's back, regardless of the circumstances, he is quickly caught in a lie by his father, and Danny recognizes that Sean is just trying to look out for Jonah's wellbeing. But there's a right way to do that and there's a wrong way to do that; there's a smart way to do that and a stupid way to do that.

Danny wanted to call Sean's bluff by pointing out that being there for your partner is not what you think it means — you really need to be on this job a little bit longer to get what it means. Even in that final moment, when Sean does pull the trigger, he saved Jonah's life by stepping up, but it's the moment afterward where he's able to be there for Jonah to help calm him down and help him center himself after this emotional realization about his father's murder. That's the element of being a partner that Danny wants Sean to focus on. So as much as it was a visceral moment for him to pull the trigger, it was about emotionally being there for him as opposed to just the physical protection.

TVLINE | Now that that chapter is closed, does it materially change the trajectory of the Silver family in the back half of the season? And how does it shape the choices they make from here?
SONNIER | It definitely shapes choices moving forward. It's the closing of that chapter and looking forward. Now that we're settled in this new version of our reality, and now that we're fully embodying our lives, what does that mean? What choices can we move toward instead of away from?

Ben will always be with them, but now that they've brought his true killer to justice, they can look forward to what it means to be a police officer, what it means to be a district attorney, and what it means to be in new partnerships without that weight of Ben hanging over them.

TVLINE | We've talked before about Jonah being in this family of strong women and wanting to prove himself. Does the outcome here — and how he composed himself — change how his sisters and his mother look at him?
MARGOLIS | That's an emotionally cathartic moment for them to get this actual closure in the wake of realizing the closure they thought they had was fake. I do think there is an appreciation on everybody's part that [if not for] everyone's participation, this never would have been sorted out and resolved.

As much as Jonah's instincts in the midseason finale to follow this guy led to a very chaotic situation, had he not done that, none of this would have come to light. And in the end, as we know from seeing the episode, he didn't do anything illegal and he was doing things by the book. He didn't actually cross a line.

So I do think everybody recognized that the Silver family and the Reagan family came together, everybody brought their own piece of the puzzle to the middle and believed, okay, we've done this for our dad. And moving forward now, like my partner said, it allows them to move into new avenues in their life — in terms of relationships and the growth of family — as opposed to just looking back in grief.

TVLINE | You've got Gloria Reuben's former "ER" co-star Harry Lennix — who played Jeanie Boulet's love interest, Dr. Greg Fischer, during Season 3 of the NBC juggernaut — guest-starring this season, with his debut in Episode 11, airing Friday, March 6. How does his character intersect with the world? Is this a one-off appearance, or are you planting seeds for something more substantial?
SONNIER | Gloria's former "ER" co-star and our former co-star from "The Blacklist." We know Harry very, very well, and we were thrilled to bring Harry in.

This is not a one-off. Like we said, we've closed that chapter with Ben, and everyone is starting to look forward. As we move forward in relationships, Mae does start to open herself up to the possibility of a new romantic relationship, so we do see Harry more than just this one time.

MARGOLIS | [His character] is in the legal field. He's a judge, and as someone who runs a court in Mae's district, there's going to be some overlap organically in their professional life. But we will reveal how they knew each other prior and under what circumstances — and there will be an opportunity for a new connection between them.

TVLINE | Danny and Baez were already struggling with what his move means long term — and now he's put down permanent roots. When she returns in Episode 15 (airing in April), where are they emotionally? And how does his decision complicate the conversation we saw earlier in the season?
SONNIER | I would just say that we left them in a spot where they're trying to make it work. In her next appearance, they — spoiler alert — get to work a case together. There is a crossover case that bleeds over from New York into Boston, and there are lots of old feelings that are resurfaced.

Their partnership is as strong as it ever was. Their romantic relationship, however, has the ups and downs of any long-distance relationship, and we want to be true to what it means to have started this new thing, but also recognizing that they have lives now in separate places.

TVLINE | Earlier in the season, when Danny first decided to stay in Boston, he talked about how easy it would be to get back to New York for Sunday dinners — though we've also talked about how that's easier said than done. Is there any indication, either in Henry and Erin's appearances later this season or when Baez resurfaces, that he's made the trek — or at least attempted to?
SONNIER | The answer is yes. There is indication in both the Baez and Erin stories that it is a little harder than you think to get back home once you've started to set up a life in a new place. And so those things are all dealt with in the romantic relationship and in the sibling relationship — the obligations that Danny has started to acquire here in Boston.

What did you think of the "Boston Blue" midseason premiere? And what are your hopes for the remainder of Season 1? Grade the episode via our poll, then drop your thoughts in a comment below.