Are Danny and Maria Finally Taking the Leap on Boston Blue?
Boston Blue brings back Detective Maria Baez and puts her relationship with Danny Reagan in the spotlight. After years of fleeting mentions, the spinoff’s new episodes signal a full-fledged arc for the fan-favorite partners.
So, quick catch-up: the new spinoff Boston Blue is not pretending the Danny-and-Maria thing never happened. In fact, it is finally treating that relationship like an actual storyline instead of a blink-and-you-missed-it tease.
Where Danny and Maria left off
The early episodes make it clear Danny Reagan and Detective Maria Baez did go on that pizza date, and they are trying to make a relationship work. Complication number one: geography. Danny wants to stick close to Boston because his son, Sean, is now a rookie with the Boston PD. That puts Danny in Boston and Maria in New York, which is romantic if you love I-95 and airport security.
Is Maria actually coming back this season?
Yes. Marisa Ramirez is back in Season 1 of Boston Blue as Maria Baez, and not just for a quick cameo or to keep Danny smiling. Co-showrunners Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis have made it pretty clear that Maria’s premiere appearance is not the only time we’re seeing her this season. Also, they are not exactly betting on long distance as a long-term solution between Boston and New York.
"It’s not that long a drive [between New York and Boston]. It’s an even shorter plane ride, if that’s how you want to get there."
What’s next on screen
- Maria pops up again on the November 21 episode.
- This is not a background cameo. She teams with Danny and his partner, Lena, to track down a serial home invader.
- The show is leaning into the relationship, not shelving it.
The realistic messiness (and why that’s the point)
The showrunners are also trying to manage expectations: adult relationships are complicated even without badges and dueling zip codes. Danny has his sons, Maria has her daughter, everyone has demanding jobs, and that long-distance thing is not nothing. But the producers are framing these hurdles as story fuel, not an excuse to break them up off-screen. Translation: expect friction, not a quiet fade-out.
Bottom line: Boston Blue is actually following through on Danny and Maria, folding it into the weekly cases, and letting the personal stuff be part of the job. Took long enough.