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Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9 Delivers a Shockingly Intense Midseason Finale and Finally Ends Its Worst Subplot

Critic's Rating: 4.8 / 5.0

Anyone else need a minute to catch their breath?

Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9 offered the most intense follow-up to the crooked-ADA story possible… leading to a cliffhanger I never expected.

It sucks that this is it until the end of February, especially since the show has struggled to find its footing and FINALLY hit its stride.

Jonah and Edwin pay their respects at Ben's grave on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Michael Gibson)

Jonah and Sean’s Goofy Stories Are Over, And I Couldn’t Be Happier

If you’re tired of me complaining about the ridiculous rookie stories that are almost always comic relief, I have good news: it seems like that era of Boston Blue is over for good.

I’m not just talking about the cliffhanger, which was shocking despite Jonah having gone off the rails for most of Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9.

This serious story marks the most significant rift between the rookies, with Jonah sending Sean into the deli so he could beat up the suspect who killed his dad, and Sean telling him afterwards that partners tell each other what they’re up to.

Jonah is in big trouble now, but even if that last confrontation hadn’t gone the way it did, he created a conflict that would be hard for him and Sean to bounce back from.

Edwin comforts Jonah at the graveyard on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Michael Gibson)

It’s about time, too — high drama beats ridiculous hijinks any day of the week, especially for a show that is trying to show cops realistically.

Jonah’s Story Finally Gave Edwin Something Important to Do

It’s only in the past few weeks that Ernie Hudson’s grandfather character has had a real story, and many of his best scenes were part of this midseason finale.

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I loved his talk with Jonah at the gravesite.

Edwin’s God talk might not have stuck, but I was surprised that Jonah was still so consumed by rage after Edwin helped him express the pain beneath his behavior.

Sean tries to reason with Jonah on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/John Medland)

I would have thought that getting some of that grief out would have tempered Jonah’s rage somewhat, but it didn’t appear to make a difference.

Jonah’s Disappearing Act Was Tense As Hell

I didn’t expect him to go rogue to the extent that he did. Maybe it’s because I write thrillers and watch Days of Our Lives, but when Jonah was missing, and his phone was off, my first thought was that someone did something to him.

I was disappointed that that wasn’t the case, though we don’t know exactly what happened, only that Jonah tailed the suspect to some random location and ended up shooting him.

Leaving out the actual confrontation was a brilliant move on Boston Blue’s part.

Sean's girlfriend on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Jeff Medland)

Since We Don’t Know What Really Happened, There Is Almost Certainly a Twist

We don’t know how the confrontation went down, so it’s possible (though not probable) that this was a clean shoot.

Additionally, we don’t really know why Jonah was there.

Do you think Jonah’s shooting the man who killed his dad is as straightforward as it appears?
Share your theories in the comments! Feel free to share this article with any other Boston Blue fanatics, too.

Sure, he stalked the guy before and even punched him, leading to an all-out brawl — but that was before he talked to Edwin.

I doubt Jonah’s grief and remorse at the graveyard were phony, so it’s possible that this final confrontation wasn’t anything like it seemed.

Danny considers transferring fulltime to Boston on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Brendan Adam-Zwelling)

It’s easy to fill in the gaps in this story with the idea that Jonah was again randomly stalking this guy, but what if that’s just what the writers want us to think?

We know the suspect was a member of the Red Saints and didn’t like being confronted by Jonah in front of his fellow gang members.

So could he have dropped a false tip or otherwise lured Jonah to the area and then set up an ambush that forced Jonah to shoot to kill?

I doubt this scenario is going to end with Jonah stripped of his badge and awaiting trial for killing his father’s alleged killer, so that type of ambush makes the most sense.

Whatever the truth is, it has to come out during the rest of Boston Blue Season 1, and I’m here for that.

A shady defense lawyer on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Michael Gibson)

The mystery surrounding this entire scenario is far from over, too.

We still don’t know what’s up with that shady attorney (though I’m guessing he’s Red Saint affiliated) or the real reason Ben was killed in the first place.

Despite Everything, Mae Was Right to Expose the Corrupt ADA

Regardless of Jonah’s opinion, this didn’t seem like a difficult moral decision.

A corrupt ADA is going to ensnare innocent people in his net sooner or later, and requires removal as soon as the problematic behavior comes to light.

Danny and Lena investigate at a strip club on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 9
(CBS/Brendan Adam-Zwelling)

I did wonder if the fact that the ADA was problematic would mean that he handled all his cases incorrectly.

It would have taken a lot more time to examine each case closely than to throw them all out, so it made sense that the judge would err on the side of “unfair to the defendant.” Plus, without that decision, there would have been no story.

Meanwhile, Danny’s renunciation of his NYPD badge is a big deal — one that shows why the first season of Boston Blue should have aired alongside the last season of Blue Bloods.

Although Danny would still have been able to work with Lena without fully transferring to the Boston PD, he wasn’t able to be the lead detective — but as far as the Reagans are concerned, this change closes the door on him ever coming back to New York full-time.

That deserves a whole scene with his family’s reaction, but unfortunately, we can’t get that now that Blue Bloods is off the air.

The Hour Delivers Little Blue Bloods Touches

Danny sits across from Sean looking somber on Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 8
(CBS/Brendan Adam-Zwelling)

Still, we did get the first Jack mention since Boston Blue began, and we don’t know what the show has up its sleeve for when it returns — could there be some more cameo appearances coming?

What did you think of the Boston Blue midseason finale?

Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with anyone you’d like to join the conversation.

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If you enjoyed this article, check out Whitney Evans’ thoughts on watching Boston Blue as someone who never watched Blue Bloods. You can also check out all of our Boston Blue reviews for the season so far.

Boston Blue will return to CBS with all new episodes on February 27, 2026, at 10/9c. The first half of Boston Blue Season 1 is available to stream on Paramount+

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3 Comments

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Dean

December 19, 2025 at 11:31 PM

Well its official Detective Daniel Fitzgerald Reagan of the Boston Police Department.

For the first time in along time I was fully attentive with the Silver family’s turmoil. What separates them from the Reagan’s tragedy is they never fully got closure until they found who murdered Joe and when they did Sonny Malevsky punched out his own clock rather than face consequences not ideal justice but the man who took Joe from them was gone from the Earth and by his own hand. The Silvers had peace for a time until this case on Ronan Flaharety got tossed and now it may look like Jonah punched out Flaharety’s clock.

Sarah and Jonah dealing with this was understandable as they both were Ben Silver’s biological children so they feel the hurt the most but given their positions they processed the loss through their own way.

Sarah is usually stoic and professional but you can see her edge come out noticeably for her dad’s murder while she tried to follow the protocols as Superintendent she’s still pushing the envelope as best she can pressing the guy into being a snitch and getting a name Grady Malone who had a hand in his Ben’s murder learning her dad’s killing was targeted by a crime syndicate. And then she lets her armor down with Lena and breaks into tears her sister’s arms, she skipped out on breakfast with her dad the day he died and feels she could have changed it all prevented him from being killed had she showed up. Again Sarah is my favorite of the Silvers

Jonah unfortunately not so much even if I felt sympathy for him I always called him the anti-Jamie he’s more of the street than the rules more impulsive than methodical and he was just lashing out at his family his mom, his sisters, even he bro and it blew up on him.

So a lot to unpack for the new. Regardless of what happened and who shot first Jonah just killed a member of the most dangerous crime family in Boston who killed his father. Danny will no doubt be assigned to this case as the rest of the family is too close to it and can only do solo investigations if he’s officially a Boston cop.

Love the shoutout to Danny’s oldest so Jack is a doctor a Reagan who became a healer. And the shout out to Henry ‘Space is for astronauts partners ride close’ is something he would say.

Wait’s going to be a while but I look forward to the mid season.

author-avatar

sarah

December 20, 2025 at 12:12 AM

I am glad, finally putting end to goofy and unfunny, storylines with Sean and Jonah, did not work, retooling the characters is good direction for the show. I enjoy Danny more Boston Blue than on Blue Bloods. Lena and Sarah are best characters in Boston Blue.

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MrWriteNYC

December 20, 2025 at 09:15 AM

Glad they the rookie “subplot” is now the big story, at least in the short-term, though there are likely going to be long-term consequences for Jonah; this might be what breaks them up and leads to new stories/development for Sean.

Two detractors for me:
You place stones on a Jewish gravestone with the left hand; Jonah and Edwin used the right.
That was some NAAAAAAAAAAAAASTY-lookin’ pizza Danny and Sean were eating. That did Boston no favors.

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