Boston Blue: The Silver Family Tree Explained

Call them the new Reagans — if you dare. The Silvers may be the new kids on the block in "Boston Blue," but they introduce themselves as interesting people with a different way of looking at the world in the series premiere, "Faith and Family." 

The clan is comprised of five members as of this writing — Reverend Edwin Peters (Ernie Hudson), his daughter Mae (Gloria Reuben, who played a different character on "Blue Bloods"), and her children — daughter Lena (Sonequa Martin-Green of "The Walking Dead"), stepdaughter Sarah (Maggie Lawson) and son Jonah (Marcus Scribner). Mae was once married to the late Judge Ben Silver, who passes away before the show begins.

As "Boston Blue" works to establish itself as a fresh new story and not a mere "Blue Bloods" spinoff, one might wonder how the Silvers relate to each other, what common hobbies keep them in contact, and who they turn to in times of strife. This is a brief guide to who's who in the Silver family.

The story behind the Silver family tree is very "Brady Bunch" — Lena and Sarah are both the result of their parents' previous marriages. Mae separated from Lena's dad when Lena was only a baby, and when Lena was 13, Mae married Judge Ben Silver, who brought Sarah, his own biological daughter with another woman, into the fold. The blended Silvers then welcomed the baby of the family, Jonah, into the clan soon after Ben and Mae's wedding. They're one AstroTurf lawn away from giving Mike and Carol a run for their money.

It's remarkable to note that the whole Silver clan gets along beautifully. They're all clearly close and care about one another, even as Jonah struggles to be seen as a grown man and not the baby of the family, while Sarah tries to figure out who she is as an officer. They're bound together by respect and affinity as well as love — and religion also seems to be a uniting factor for the family.

On "Blue Bloods," the Reagan family were devout Catholics who often attended church, went to confession and took sacraments. The Silvers, too, are proudly religious — but their traditions mix two belief systems. Lena explains to Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Erin (Bridget Moynahan) that her mother converted to Judaism when she married Ben. Her grandfather Edwin, meanwhile, is a well-known and much-loved Baptist pastor in a church in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood. 

It seems that Sarah, Jonah and Lena all practice a combination of Baptist and Jewish beliefs, though Lena explains to Danny that they only attend the Reverend's church to stay close as a family. Yet they join together in a Jewish blessing over the meal they serve to the Reagans, then follow it up with a Baptist prayer led by the reverend. At the end of the episode, everyone dons their Sunday best to attend a service with the pastor's congregation.

Naturally, the ties that bind the Silver family together don't end with church robes and incense. They also share a joint desire to see justice served — whether they preach their faith in the system from a street corner or a courtroom.

Another commonality the Silvers have with the Reagans is that the majority of the family is involved in law enforcement. Lena is a detective, and Jonah is a beat cop who just graduated from the police academy. Sarah works as the superintendent of the Boston Police Department. Mom Mae is a district attorney for the city of Boston, while late patriarch Ben was a judge. The only member of the family who has nothing to do with the legal world is Reverend Edwin.

Each member of the clan brings a fresh perspective on the crimefighting world to the table. Mae practices law and represents the interests of the city in court. Sarah has to balance what the citizens of Boston want with what the law says. Lena and Jonah, meanwhile, are workaday cops dealing with new cases on a daily basis. At the dinner table, they puzzle out their latest assignments and — much like the Reagans — use their common pool of knowledge to figure out what's gone wrong.

The Silver family table may be crowded with smiling faces, but some members of the clan are missing. Sarah's mother and Lena's father aren't present in the family's day-to-day life, leaving their relationships with their children and the Silver family at large a gigantic question mark. Lena's remark that her parents broke up when she was a baby leaves the audience wondering if her dad has ever shown up for her. Then there's Sarah's mom, who also isn't in the picture at all. Lena doesn't explain if the woman is dead, so she might surface later on.

And there's one more important missing party. The absence of Judge Ben looms over his family, and it's clear that the Silvers miss their deceased patriarch even as his influence lives on after him. "Boston Blue" will presumably dig deeper into his legacy as the series goes on — but until they do, fans will have to keep watching and waiting for more hints as to who he was and what he meant to his family.