Boston Blue Episode 7 Gives Lena A Storyline That Mirrors Danny's Blue Bloods Arc
Contains spoilers for "Boston Blue" Season 1, Episode 7 — "Baggage Claim"
Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green) is undoubtedly one of the strongest branches of the Silver family tree, and is anything but a carbon copy of her new partner, Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg). That's why it's so interesting that her storyline in "Baggage Claim" echoes something Danny went through during his time on the force back in New York City.
Her desperate desire to bring in Senator Lowell (Gabriel Burrafato) for committing multiple homicides — something he only got to do because she failed to correctly investigate his first kill during her time as a rookie cop — nearly eats her up inside. Lowell repeatedly uses his authority and position to escape justice, and Lena's ready to go rogue when Danny steps in and forces her to take a look at the bigger picture.
"I've been down this road many times. We have to be smarter than him, so when we nail that son of a b****, we nail him for good. That's what the victims deserve," Danny says. And he knows what he's talking about: back in Season 1 of "Blue Bloods," he finds himself dealing with a similar case. In what proved to be one of the most pivotal Danny Reagan episodes, "Privilege" sees a seemingly untouchable rape suspect try to exercise his authority over New York State law by claiming he has diplomatic immunity.
Danny's had to reel in other members of the force before
Though he's tempted to cheat the system in "Privilege," Danny teams up with sister Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and dad Frank (Tom Selleck) to find a legal way around this impasse. Eventually, they bring the perp in by applying pressure to his family members, who willingly turn him in when their own freedom is threatened. And that's not the only "Blue Bloods" episode that "Baggage Claim" echoes.
Danny also acts as a Jiminy Cricket-like good cop to a raging colleague during the Season 14 closer of "Blue Bloods," "The Heart of Saturday Night." In that episode, good guy cop Gus Vanderlip (Aidan Quinn) goes rogue when a perp he jailed walks free. Danny finds himself two steps behind a furious Gus, hoping to talk him down before he does anything rash. While Danny fails to keep the veteran cop from extracting extralegal justice in one of the saddest moments in "Blue Bloods" history, he does convince Lena to do the right thing in "Baggage Claim."
At the end of the day, Lena ultimately ends up getting her "white whale" perp. She and Danny work together to bring him in, finally allowing Lena to breathe easy and to get past the villain who's been haunting her for years. And she does it all without breaking the law — proving that she and Danny are a total crimefighting dream team.