‘Blue Bloods’: Danny and Baez Fight NYPD Transphobia in Murder Case

This week’s episode of Blue Bloods, “Guardian Angels,” took on a topical murder case for Danny and Baez. The two investigated the murder of a transgender woman, Kayla, who was found deceased in a dumpster. Although the case did not give the detectives time to discuss their personal feelings for one another, they did grow to understand the transgender community better and understand the transphobia within the NYPD.

During their investigation, Detectives Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) worked closely with Ansley Roberts (guest star Ivory Aquino), who pushed Kayla to go to a trans night at a bar. During the night, Kayla met a man who was not trans. Ansley felt incredibly guilty about this, so she worked hard to help them, even though she believed finding Kayla’s killer would not happen. She also clashed with Baez, who was working hard to understand the situation better.

Later, they discovered that another trans woman, Marie Adams, was killed a few months ago in the same way Kayla was killed. Danny couldn’t find any information on her until Ansley suggested he look up information using Marie’s birth name. He did and discovered that Marie’s case was never solved. Detective Pete Castellano (guest star Peter O’Hara) was the detective on the case, so Danny and Baez had a chat with him, only to discover Castellano was transphobic and used a slur to describe the victim. Castellano had no interest in seriously investigating the case, so Danny yelled at him. The detective didn’t care and tossed Danny the case file.

When another trans night came up at a bar, Danny and Baez asked Ansley to draw out their suspect. She was understandably apprehensive about the idea at first but agreed to help. Once at the bar, Ansley quickly drew the attention of the killer. When he attacked her, the man called Ansley a “freak” and tried to kill her. Danny and other officers jumped in to stop the killer and arrest him. Baez helped Ansley, who cried in her arms.

“Guardian Angels” was another episode that did not push forward the personal relationship between Danny and Baez. In “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” the two agreed to leave their relationship at an “awkward” stage. Since then, there haven’t been hints about anything romantic going on, but last week’s “The Common Good” and “Guardian Angels” both showed how well they work together on murder cases. The next Blue Bloods episode, “Happy Endings,” airs on Friday, April 16 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.