The 2026 TV schedule kicked off in early January with shows on ABC, NBC, and Fox, but CBS' biggest shows have yet to return in the new year. Boston Blue wrapped the first half of its first season in the fall on a major cliffhanger, not too long after the cast celebrated the early Season 2 renewal. That was weeks ago, however, with fans more recently having no option other than revisiting earlier episodes with a Paramount+ subscription for a Boston Blue fix during the wait for the winter premiere.
Now, between new details about the first episode of 2026 and comments from the showrunners, it's time to look ahead to when the Blue Bloods spinoff will be back on Friday nights.
When Boston Blue Will Be Back
Boston Blue will return to CBS before the end of February, but only just. The winter premiere will air on Friday, February 27 at 10 p.m. ET, following Fire Country at 9 p.m. ET and Sheriff Country at 8 p.m. ET. (As of CBS' latest batch of renewals, all three Friday night shows are guaranteed through the 2026-2027 TV season.)
The reason for the long break for Boston Blue is presumably the same as for FBI following its nightmarish fall finale and most other network TV shows in the coming weeks: the 2026 Winter Olympics taking place from February 6 - February 22.
CBS has released a logline for the winter premiere, called "Hard Truths," to drop some details about the aftermath of the fall finale ending on a bloody Jonah holding his gun over the dead body of Ronan Flaherty, a.k.a. the man who killed his dad. Take a look:
Following the release of Ben’s killer from prison, Jonah continues to struggle with anger and grief confronting the killer and putting family bonds to the test, and Mae and Sarah face painful truths that could change everything. Meanwhile, Danny and Lena take on a high-stakes case that uncovers deep-rooted secrets and forces unlikely alliances.
There are many more questions than answers about the winter premiere, and I'm particularly wondering if the "high-stakes case" for Danny and Lena will be tied to Jonah or they'll be assigned to something entirely separate. It does seem safe to say that Danny takes Sarah up on her offer to officially become a cop with the Boston PD rather than going back to New York and the NYPD. The showrunners even shed some light following the end of the fall finale.
Danny's Reason For Staying In Boston, According To The Showrunners
After co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier explained the importance of Silver family dinners following in the grand Blue Bloods tradition of Reagan family dinners, co-showrunner Brandon Margolis opened up to CinemaBlend about needing to find a reason why Danny Reagan would ever leave behind his life in NYC and start over in Boston. He told me:
We had talked a lot about that coming into the season, making the transition from NYPD to BPD, and what that would look like in the real world, and also emotionally for this character. In bringing a Reagan to Boston, we realized the only reason he would leave New York was for family. The only reason he would stay is for family. And obviously, the front half of the season, the obvious version of that was him connecting with his son, who's now a cop. But the big sort of planting his flag moment that he was going to stay for us was declaring that the Silvers are also family now. It's a family he's choosing.
Sean was the initial reason why Danny dropped everything in New York and raced to Boston, but his son is no longer his only reason for staying in the city. It didn't even take a full season of partnering with Lena and joining her family for supper for him to find another family in Massachusetts.
Danny ended the first half of Season 1 by telling Lena, "I think I'm gonna need that Boston badge after all." Based on what Margolis went on to explain, the detective meant that very literally. The co-showrunner said:
When he recognizes the situation in front of him where Jonah is now potentially going to have to be investigated and that... the Silvers are not going to be able to do that, Danny still can. The only problem is he needs to be able to run lead, so now to step up for them, he will need that Boston PD badge. So it is this moment of declaring, 'I am staying for my son, but he's not the only member of my family I'm staying for. The Silvers have welcomed us in.' This found family is now going to need him more than ever.
Danny and the Silvers may feel like family to each other, but he's still a Reagan from NYC, and that means that he can investigate a case involving Jonah that Lena, Sarah, and Mae presumably can't touch. It remains to be seen if Sean can be involved; while he's not a Silver any more than his dad is, his status as Jonah's partner could complicate things.
Of course, Jonah already complicated things all by himself by going after the man who murdered his father. While it seems like a safe bet that he didn't actually kill Ronan in cold blood, he didn't exactly look like an innocent man when he was discovered covered in blood and holding a gun over the body of a man he had every motive to want dead.
Danny may have his work cut out for him, if he's able to help out the Silvers by working a fair investigation into Jonah!
More Reagans Are On The Way
Even though there are still weeks left to go before the winter premiere to pay off on that fall finale cliffhanger for Jonah, Danny, and the Silvers, there are some details that should excite fans of Blue Bloods who are always keeping their eyes peeled for nods to Donnie Wahlberg's previous CBS series.
While I don't think anybody should hold their breath that Tom Selleck will be appearing as Frank Reagan in the foreseeable future after the Blue Bloods star's alleged thoughts on the spinoff, there are three familiar faces reportedly set to appear in the second half of Season 1.
Bridget Moynahan will return for her second episode of Boston Blue after reuniting with Donnie Wahlberg for the series premiere. TVLine reports that she'll appear in Episode 17, expected to air in May. Danny's sister was supportive of him coming to Boston (and dining with the Silvers) early on, but a lot has changed now that Sean's healthy and Danny is planning to stay. Will Erin's support change as well?
Len Cariou, known for playing Henry Reagan in all fourteen seasons of Blue Bloods, is set to appear in Episode 13, according to Matt's Inside Line. The report also states that Marisa Ramirez will reprise her role as Detective Maria Baez in Episode 15. I'm particularly curious about seeing Baez again after she and Danny started their romance off-screen between the end of Blue Bloods and beginning of Boston Blue.
Long-distance seemed doable before Danny decided to stay with BPD rather than return to New York; will their relationship survive his choice? I'm interested to see if there's a divide on how Blue Bloods and Boston Blue fans feel about Danny and Baez's relationship. The pair came into the spinoff with plenty of history for existing fans of the franchise, but newcomers don't have twelve years of context for why the relationship is so important to him.
The Blue Bloods reunions are down the line, so fans may want to first focus on the resolution of the fall finale cliffhanger and what it means for Jonah moving forward. Tune in to CBS on Friday, February 27 at 10 p.m. ET for the winter premiere of Boston Blue or stream it next day on Paramount+. You can also find the full run of Blue Bloods on the platform.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.