Ernie Hudson's Secret Blue Bloods Role Resurfaces Ahead Of Boston Blue

Ernie Hudson is doing something TV nerds love to spot: coming back to the same universe as a totally different guy. The Ghostbusters legend and all-around steady presence on Oz, Franklin & Bash, Grace & Frankie, and Quantum Leap is headed to the Blue Bloods spinoff Boston Blue in 2025. But if you feel like you already saw him on Blue Bloods... you did. Different role, different vibe. Let me catch you up and lay out who is who in the new show.

The Blue Bloods cameo you probably forgot

Back in 2018, Hudson dropped into Blue Bloods Season 8, Episode 13, "School of Hard Knocks," playing Principal Darryl Ward. The setup was grim: one of his students was shot by a rival gang member in the school courtyard. After that, a teacher got assaulted by a female student as part of a gang initiation. Wracked with guilt and fed up with the violence eating his campus, Ward snapped. He corralled several students, pulled a gun, and tried to scare them straight. Not his best decision.

Donnie Wahlberg's Danny Reagan managed to talk Ward down before anyone got hurt, and Ward was arrested. Hudson played him as a man who cared too much and finally broke, which is exactly the kind of middle-of-the-storm tension Blue Bloods eats for breakfast. The episode took on gangs and gun violence with more care than most procedurals manage, and Hudson gave it punch.

Now he is back... as someone else entirely

Fast forward to 2025: Hudson is joining Boston Blue as Reverend Peters, a respected pastor at a historic Baptist church in Boston. He is also the grandfather of Danny's new partner, Lena Silver. If you are hearing echoes of Tom Selleck's rock-solid Frank Reagan, that is the idea: Reverend Peters is designed to be the calm, moral center who can anchor all the hot-headed cop energy around him.

So what is Boston Blue, exactly?

The spinoff moves Danny Reagan from New York to the Boston Police Department, where he is paired with Lena Silver, a rising star who, like Danny, comes from a big-deal police family. They are both strong-willed, so expect sparks as they figure each other out on the job. Donnie Wahlberg is back as Danny and is also executive producing. CBS set the premiere for October 17, 2025.

• Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Danny Reagan: leaves the NYPD for the BPD and is still very much Danny.
• Sonequa Martin-Green as Detective Lena Silver: Danny's new partner, a Boston cop from a prominent police family and a rising star.
• Ernie Hudson as Reverend Peters: pastor of a historic Baptist church and Lena's grandfather; the show's steadying hand.
• Maggie Lawson as Sarah Silver: Lena's stepsister, a Boston Police superintendent.
• Marcus Scribner as Jonah: Lena's brother, a rookie patrol officer.
• Gloria Reuben as Mae: Lena's mother, a successful district attorney.
• Bridget Moynahan is expected to guest as Erin Reagan.
• Mika Amonsen takes over as Sean, Danny's youngest son.

Why this double-dip casting is not that weird

Blue Bloods is not the first show to recycle a great actor. Jerry Orbach popped up on Law & Order as a defense attorney before he became Lennie Briscoe. Garret Dillahunt did double duty on Deadwood as two different characters. Long-running franchises do this more than you think because, honestly, when a performer works, you bring them back. Hudson's Season 8 guest shot was memorable, but the new role is big-picture, series-shaping stuff. He will fit.

How we got here after the original show's end

CBS pulled the plug on Blue Bloods in 2024, which did not go over well with fans who had watched it for years. After the show's finale aired in December 2024, the network moved ahead on a spinoff centered on Danny's Boston chapter, with Wahlberg producing. Whether Tom Selleck or other familiar faces will swing through remains to be seen, but the door is clearly open. For now, the focus is Boston, the Silvers, and Reverend Peters keeping everyone grounded when tempers flare.

Bottom line: Ernie Hudson is back in the Blue Bloods world, this time as the moral compass. Boston Blue premieres on CBS on October 17, 2025.