‘Boston Blue’ Brings Back a ‘CSI’ Legend, but Its Biggest Problem Remains

The hit CBS series Boston Blue just pulled off a huge coup in the casting department. Emmy Award-winning actress Marg Helgenberger, a television legend and veteran of shows like CSI, will return to the network in the hit Blue Bloods spin-off. Helgenberger will make her series debut in the upcoming Season 2 episode “Bloodlines” on November 13, portraying Gwen Silver, the estranged biological mother of main cast member Sarah Silver (Maggie Lawson). Helgenberger makes a great addition to the series and the overall Blue Bloods saga. However, despite the stupendous casting choice, the show’s biggest problem still needs to be addressed.

‘Boston Blue’ Has Trouble Balancing Its Premise

Boston Blue serves as both a continuation and spin-off of its flagship series Blue Bloods. Much like its predecessor, it showcases a multi-generational family of law enforcers with the Silvers. The main connective tissue between the two shows is Blue Bloods veteran Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and his son, Sean Reagan (Mika Amonsen, who took over the role from Andrew Terraciano for the new series). Danny uprooted his life to move to Boston to mentor Sean in his own career as a police officer, while Danny also receives a fresh start in a new city, seeking to climb the ladder in his career. Boston Blue struggles to find a balance between these two narratives.

As great as it is to see a multi-ethnic Jewish family celebrating Shabbat in a weekly broadcast television series, it’s strange that the Reagans are constantly present for the dinners. The Reagans are Roman Catholics, and although they respect the Silvers’ religious practices, they aren’t Jewish themselves. In Blue Bloods, the Reagan family would occasionally invite guests to their Sunday dinners, but those were rare exceptions rather than the rule.

Danny and Sean appear to join the Silvers for Shabbat dinner on a weekly basis. It’s great that the Reagans and Silvers have a close friendship and bond, but they haven’t known each other too long. Since they aren’t related, it doesn’t make sense that they join the Silvers for Shabbat dinner all the time. Shouldn’t the Reagans set up their own Sunday dinners instead? It comes across as if the writers are attempting to forcibly mimic the weekly family dinner dynamic from Blue Bloods in Boston Blue, where it makes less sense.

‘Boston Blue’ Needs To Show More of the BPD Hierarchy

One area that Boston Blue appears to be working on in Season 2 is establishing the hierarchy of the BPD and City Hall, a narrative structure that the series has struggled with before. Thus far, the series has introduced the BPD’s chief, Lanigan (Ron Lea), who has appeared sparingly, but the commissioner has yet to appear. Beginning with its first season, Blue Bloods did a much better job of demonstrating the hierarchy of everyone’s roles in the NYPD, including Frank Reagan’s (Tom Selleck) relationship with the mayor’s office, Erin working in the District Attorney’s office, Danny operating as a detective, and Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) as a patrolman.

Across all these characters and subplots, the series presented a strong overview of the Reagans and their career dynamics; yet, in Boston Blue, it feels like we’re two seasons in and still playing catch-up. It derives from the series struggling as a continuation of Blue Bloods while trying to forge its own identity. Boston Blue shouldn’t copy the weekly family dinners simply because the Blue Bloods made them famous. Although improvements have been made in Season 2, with storylines involving BPD’s superior officers, such as Chief Lanigan and Sean and Jonah’s new sergeant, Betina Ryan (Sydney Ozerov-Meyer), it would improve the show to include additional storylines showcasing the command structure of the BPD, as well as Mae Silver’s (Gloria Reuben) office and their relationship with Mayor Jim Shaw (Brian Goodman).

How Marg Helgenberger’s Presence Can Help Improve ‘Blue Bloods’

Image via CBS

Boston Blue sometimes appears at odds with its format, trying to balance the traditions and characters of Blue Bloods to lure in longtime fans of the original series, while still maintaining strong narrative focus on its new characters and family. It’s simply not necessary for the Silvers and Reagans to be joined at the hip every week. Separate dinners would work fine, and maybe Sean and Danny could have their own Sunday dinners with Sean’s girlfriend, Penny (Xochitl Gomez), at some point? Also, why not bring Penny to New York City to introduce her to the Reagans, or have the entire family visit Boston to set up a Sunday dinner with Sean, Penny, and Danny?

Marg Helgenberger joining the show is a positive development because it helps flesh out Sarah Silver’s character arc and her relationship with her mother, whom we’ve never seen before. As a multi-ethnic blended family, the Silver family presents a strong family dynamic that’s unique to Blue Bloods, and the show should explore the family’s distinctness more in future episodes. This will further reinforce Boston Blue’s fresh new storylines, rather than trying to come across as Blue Bloods-lite or Blue Bloods: The Sequel.