Boston Blue S2 brings back a familiar Blue Bloods face, and it's the perfect casting
Donnie Wahlberg promised fans in 2025 that Jamie Reagan would visit his big brother. On November 6, Jamie showed up in Boston.
On August 7, Donnie Wahlberg posted a restaurant selfie to his Instagram Story from the Boston Blue set: him, Sonequa Martin-Green, Marcus Scribner, Mika Amonsen, and Will Estes. The caption did the announcing: "Welcome (back) to the family! Jamie Reagan! aka Will Estes!" Fans had spotted the two on set in Boston the day before, and TV Insider confirmed that Estes would guest star in season 2, which premiered October 9 on CBS.
The reunion aired on November 6 in episode 5, "Blood Diamonds," directed by Chicago Fire alum Monica Raymund. Jamie comes to Boston for a police conference tied to a new step in his career, and he and Danny end up caught in a diamond heist linked to a violent family feud. CBS's logline promised the case would force the brothers to "confront lingering tensions of their own."
It's the first time Wahlberg and Estes have shared the screen since Blue Bloods ended in December 2024.
"It was very healing... and wonderful... and emotional."
— Donnie Wahlberg, to TVLine
Why Jamie, and why now
Jamie was always the brother fans asked about. When Wahlberg posted the first Boston Blue teaser in March 2025, a commenter asked him to tell them Jamie was coming too. Wahlberg replied: "He'd better come visit his big brother." Eighteen months later, he did.
He's also the right Reagan for this show. For 14 seasons, Danny was the hothead and Jamie the by-the-book one. Put them in a city where Danny is still the new guy, with Jamie arriving on a career high, and the "lingering tensions" logline writes itself. TV Insider ran its interview with Estes under the word "terrified." He put it more simply:
"I was fine as soon as we shot the first scene."
— Will Estes, to TV Insider
What Boston Blue has brought back from Blue Bloods so far:
- Marisa Ramirez as Maria Baez, through season 1 and into season 2, now trying to build a life with Danny in Boston.
- Len Cariou as Henry "Pops" Reagan.
- Will Estes as Jamie, plus news from New York: Jamie and Eddie had a son, Joe Francis Reagan.
- Vanessa Ray visited the set in August, out of costume, so Eddie's status is still open.
Co-creators Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier have said more Blue Bloods cameos are coming this season.
Not a nostalgia act
The risk for any spinoff is turning into a greatest-hits tour, and Wahlberg has addressed that head-on. He told TVLine that Boston Blue doesn't need Blue Bloods to validate it, but that every time someone from the old show comes through, something special happens on set and on screen. He's also been clear about why the show exists at all:
"If I really wanted to keep 'Blue Bloods' alive, I had to do this show."
— Donnie Wahlberg
That's the balance the Jamie episode gets right: Martin-Green's Lena Silver and the Silver family carry the show, and a Reagan visit stays an event rather than a crutch. Blue Bloods ended with the Reagans scattered. Boston Blue keeps bringing them back for one dinner at a time, and with Eddie still unaccounted for, the next chair at the table is pretty easy to guess.
Previously we wrote: Fans still can't forgive Marshals for killing off Yellowstone's Monica