‘Boston Blue’ Premiere: Sonequa Martin-Green Explains Lena & Danny, Rodgers Fallout

Boston Blue has returned, and this season, every member of the Silver family is struggling to keep their personal and work lives separate. Here, Sonequa Martin-Green breaks down the Boston Blue Season 2 premiere with TV Insider and teases what’s to come in Season 2 now that Brian Rodgers’ (Ryan Broussard) fate has been revealed and the mystery of who attacked him has gotten more complicated. Warning: Boston Blue Season 2 premiere spoilers ahead!

Boston Blue Season 2 Episode 1 was Lena’s first day back at work after spending three months in rehab for the injury she incurred in the finale. Rodgers is alive and still healing, but he has yet to return to work. He’s displaying concerning PTSD symptoms that are preventing his return, but Boston PD superintendent Sarah Silver (Maggie Lawson) only knows about that because of things she learns from stepsister Lena about their romantic relationship.

Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg), meanwhile, was offered a promotion by Sarah in the Season 2 opener. Before accepting, he needed to check with Lena, who had been passed over for the job before. Lena assured Danny that she didn’t want it, that the near-death experience months before changed her priorities. Priority number one is finding out who was behind the attack on Rodgers. Lena got a lead implying a connection to Thad Longfellow (Ward Horton), the Assistant District Attorney who’s challenging Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben) in the election for District Attorney. She confronted him, and it’s going to have a “ripple effect,” according to Martin-Green.

Dive into the Boston Blue Season 2 premiere in the interview below.

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Lena is quite upset by Sarah using their personal life at work when she gets the information about Brian’s return to work request. What feelings does this bring up for Lena, and what might she be in denial about?

Sonequa Martin-Green: Oh gosh. It’s such a complicated situation because the backdrop of everything, the foundation of everything starting in Season 2 are these near-death experiences. Lena almost died and then so did Brian. They had to crawl back to health with each other. They healed together, they rehabbed together. They were there at their darkest moment. They were there at the brink and they brought each other back. So, their relationship has been forged in this brand new way.

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Coming off of that is the sadness from seeing that their paths are bifurcating. Lena is taking this opportunity to have a new lease on life. She’s taking this opportunity to delve into restoration, to heal, to see things anew in a clearer way, to live again, to start over in all these ways. But sadly, it’s not the journey that Brian is having and it’s becoming more and more obvious.

That moment with Sarah, it’s riddled with all of that. It feels like a betrayal just between the two of them because that’s a family rule that the Silvers have: What we discuss at the table stays at the table. I believe it was Mae that actually said that to Sarah’s fiancé at the end of Season 1. “Hey, don’t share what we talk about here.”

It was such a breach of trust, but also, it comes into a situation that is already so confusing and challenging. Lena knows that she’s going to have to wear it and that it’s going to put an even greater wedge between her and Brian, which is not what she needs right now.

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Later in the episode, Sarah uses what she knows about Brian and Lena’s personal life against him to set up a scenario where she can test if Brian is actually ready to come back to work. What can you say about whether Lena might find that out and how she might feel about it? As we see at the end of the episode, Sarah does deny his request to return to work.

That’s right. She does. This is what makes good storytelling and this is what makes it complicated when you work with your family. As Lena, I say sometimes, “I just hate that my big sister is the boss because.” This is where family and work intersect in these ugly ways. If Lena were to find out about it, it would not be good.

Now at the same time, Sarah believes that she’s doing what’s right because she feels like she has a bird’s-eye view. She feels like she can see it clearly where Lena cannot because maybe she thinks Lena can’t see the forest through the trees. But at the same time, at what cost? And so I love it because these are the things that you have to deal with. It’s not so easy when the whole family is occupying the same police force.

In this episode, there’s an example for each of the Silver family members of them letting their personal lives bleed into their work lives. But now, they’re all feeling like they need to in some way. How is this going to reverberate through the season?

What I have now come to say quite a bit about this season is that it’s going to have a ripple effect. It will have a ripple effect and it will not be without consequence.

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Do you think Lena and Brian were in love before the attack or did those three months of joint rehab really forge that?

They were in love before. I think that [rehab] made the love deeper because there’s a certain comfort level between the two of them. They were [work] partners for so long. We know how a partner is a battle buddy and it’s a relationship that they would say civilians don’t understand. That’s what people in the police force would say. When you will put your life on the line for your partner, it is a bond that you can’t explain, that you don’t have in any other way, so they had that to start. So, I feel that in their romantic relationship, there’s a sort of seamlessness to it. There’s a sort of like, “Oh yeah, we got this. This is what it is.”

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Once they went through those near-death experiences, it got deeper. Now we really are having to cleave to each other. Now there’s almost a sense of desperation for each other. But they’re actually running in two different directions, which makes it that much more painful.

Is it possible that Lena might not be as ready to return to work as she may seem? Things are still very emotionally fresh for her with this Rodgers case.

I think she is ready. The Brian of it all though is taking up quite a bit of heart space and mental space and life force. Because this is a new lease on life for Lena, she has decided to approach life anew and look around and say, “OK, I was holding onto a lot of resentment, to a lot of bitterness. I had a lot of wounds, but I almost died, so it’s time to get rid of them. It’s time to let it all go, forgive who needs to be forgiven, for relationships to be restored. It’s time for redemption for myself and for anyone around me, for mom, for dad. It’s time.” That does produce a readiness.

She was in a position to serve her position in a much better, clearer way. A lot of Lena’s ambition might’ve been in trying to prove herself, and now it’s not. But as good story goes, that’s not just open and free and clear. There’s the challenge of Brian in the midst of all of that.

 

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And then of course, Brian, her previous partner at the force, got this sergeant detective promotion before she did. Now Danny is getting the same promotion. She says she’s OK with it and that she doesn’t want it. Why not?

It’s because of what I was just saying, actually. Episode 7 of Season 1, when Lena has been following this congressman for a long time who she knows is a murderer and early in her career she wasn’t able to catch him, it was a big setback for her. And then also with what happened before she joined the academy, she was behind because of what happened with Troy. Once she joined the academy, she was full speed ahead, similar to Sarah, and rushed to that detective position, fighting, fighting, fighting. Before she wanted that position to prove something to herself, to the force, to her dad who maybe was watching. There was all that at play before.

After almost dying, it was a brilliant technique in the story to be able to say, “You know what? I’m not carrying any of this anymore. What do I truly want to do? What does Lena want to do? I want to get back to the basics. I don’t need to prove myself anymore. Let me sharpen myself as a detective. That’s actually what I want to do. I can live for myself now.” And of course, her dad [Chris Williams, played by Erik King] coming back into her life had a lot to do with that too, and her mom finally being honest with her. It was a lot of uncovering and a lot of healing and a lot of maturation that happened in a really short period of time.

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I see that. I feel like she might want it, but maybe that’s just my read on it. It’s an “I don’t need it” mindset, but it’s OK to want it, right?

Oh yeah. You know what? I wonder if there will come a time when she wants it again.

Sure.

And if that happens, then it’ll be a short list. But in the story, what ends up happening is the position becomes open and what you don’t see on camera, but me and [series creators Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier] and the writers talked about this, Lena and Sarah had a conversation. Sarah came to her immediately like, “All right, maybe now’s your time.” And Lena said, “No. Actually, no, I don’t want it.” Sarah was surprised as well, which I ended up saying that she was like, “Really, Lena? You don’t?” She’s like, “No, I actually truly don’t, but you know who’d be good for it?”

I was really happy just as Sonequa because it speaks to the legacy of Blue Bloods carrying over because [Danny] wasn’t in a leadership position on Blue Bloods. It’s like, “All right, well, we had 14 years with this character. Now’s the time.” So, being able to link the two shows together in that way was cool. But if she does ever want it, then it will be very easy to slip into it.

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Was that scene with Sarah ever written and it just wasn’t filmed, or it was just a character development conversation you had with the Brandons and actors?

Yeah, it was [a character development conversation]. It was one of those things, and we talk about these scenes a lot that are not filmed, that are not in the script, but that happened. It happens quite often actually. So, this is what it looked like when the position became open, this conversation was had. I appreciate that the story was told this way, to be honest, because otherwise you have Lena being stepped over yet again and this time by an older white man from a different city. If Sarah Silver were to make that decision, that would be a detriment to her character. So, I love that we were able to find this perfect path forward, just generally speaking, that made sense for everybody.

Yeah, it’s good. It’s needed that Lena has agency in this promotion for Danny.

Exactly. It was needed. It would’ve told a very different story and not a good one otherwise.

Yeah, it would’ve shortchanged Lena and Sarah.

Yeah.

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With Baez [Marisa Ramirez] and Elena [Eleanor and Penelope Yataco] moving to Boston, are we going to see Lena and Baez get closer this season?

I hope so! [There are] possibilities. It’s so funny too, because we’re shooting Episodes 7 and 8 right now, and I wish I could tell you everything, but there’s lots of opportunities now that she’s in town.

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I think Baez fans will be happy about that.

Yes, I think they will very much.

Lena publicly challenges Thad at the end of this episode, and there’s this potential connection with Chris, her dad, in this Rodgers investigation. What can you tease about the drama that will unfold from this possible connection to her dad’s precinct?

My gosh, ripple effect. I’ll say it again. Ripple effect, because you have every single member of the Silver family and both members of the Reagan family at a precipice of great change. They’re all deciding, “Who am I going to be as I enter into this next chapter of my life and my work and my identity?” That’s the same with Jonah [Marcus Scribner] and Sean [Mika Amonsen], their rookie year is over. Now who are they going to be?

It’s the same with Lena. “I’ve got this new lease on life. Who am I going to be now? Now I’m going to have boldness too, by the way, to call him out publicly.” Danny’s now a sergeant detective. Who is he going to be now? And Mae, now she’s got this election coming up. And so this outburst, if you will, is going to have a ripple effect with that because now she’s got to fight for this.

She’s got to fight for this election and everybody’s involved and even grandpa [Ernie Hudson] is going to have to get involved. So, it’s all hands on deck, essentially. Everybody’s going to be affected, and it’s going to be a long journey to see how all of it plays out.

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It was very impulsive of Lena to go out and do that immediately. How might she reconcile this with herself moving forward?

The impulsivity came from the boldness because just like being willing to forgive, to restore, she’s also more willing to… I’ll put it like this, it’s being more willing to be no nonsense because what he did is unacceptable and who he is purporting to be is a lie. And I don’t think Lena would’ve done it before almost dying. I don’t think so.

Yeah, that’s a big part of it.

Big part of it. It’s that thing, I don’t care anymore or I don’t care as much anymore. I’m going to be more honest. I’m going to be more open. I’m going to be more authentic. I’m not going to ask as many questions. I’m not going to be so polite, but at the same time, I’m going to be kinder and more empathetic and more open in that way. So, I really look forward to it. This is not a one-time thing. This is an ongoing journey for her and for all of us really.

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It was very Danny Reagan of her, almost going a little rogue when you’re not supposed to as a detective.

The interesting thing too is that at the end she says, he’s like, “What are you doing?” And she says, “Exactly what you would do, protecting your family.” And he’s like, “Oh yeah.” He completely gets it. I love all these layers and that things aren’t so easy. I love that things are complicated.

I’m excited to see how it continues to play out, even beyond what I know. I’m excited for people to see what we’ve done so far and what’s to come because having characters that grow and change is one of the most exciting things of good storytelling and seeing them solidify is fascinating to watch. And I also hope with Mae and the election and everything, Kenrick [Green], my husband and I, we joke all the time that we’ve got to get Charlie Price in there, which by the way, we will get to see more of because we’ll be in Mae’s world watching as this election unfolds.

I love the Silvers. I love Lena. I love the partnership that Lena and Danny have, and I love what the Silvers are, what they represent, how they carry themselves. And I love this Silver-Reagan bond as well. I’m excited for people to see Season 2, to say the least.

Boston Blue, Fridays, 10/9c, CBS