The long summer without new Blue Bloods episodes has already begun, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start obsessing over the show’s future. Blue Bloods will be back for a 12th season in the fall, which means speculation about Danny and Baez’s relationship turning romantic will start up again. However, in a recent interview, showrunner Kevin Wade poured some cold water on that idea.
“We recognize it and certainly the actors like each other, in front of the camera and between setups,” Wade told TV Insider in May. “I’m gonna use Sam and Diane from Cheers and really age myself here, but once it happens, there’s nowhere to go. There really aren’t stories in happy couples and there are definitely not stories in police detectives on the job having a personal relationship with their partner.”
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Another issue that stands in the way of the two becoming a couple is that Det. Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and Det. Maria Baez (Marissa Ramirez) would need new partners. As we saw after Sgt. Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) and Officer Eddie Janko (Vanessa Ray) got engaged, they could no longer work together, at least in the same police cruiser. Eventually, this was solved by Jamie becoming a sergeant at Eddie’s precinct, and Eddie was given a new partner to walk the beat with.
“It would get a little bit to me into the weeds unless we found them other partners,” Wade explained. “But we have so little real estate as the show grows, as we bring in a guy like Will Hochman playing Joe Hill, as we play Whoopi [Goldberg] or Dylan Walsh as the mayor. It’s 43 minutes and we have to keep an eye on what we have room for.”
Even if a romance between Danny and Baez never happens, it is clear the two remain very important in each other’s lives. In the Season 11 episode “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” Baez told Danny she thought it would be “awkward” if she told him about the man she was dating (that man turned up dead on her lawn, killed by a jealous ex). “You should probably know that whatever awkwardness you felt, I feel it too,” Danny told her. “Maybe that could just be enough for now?” Baez asked. Danny agreed with this, adding, “Yeah, I think so.” Although there were several episodes after that, the show focused on other matters, including the return of Joe Hill in the two-hour season finale.
In a March interview with PopCulture, Ramirez said she was happy to have Baez be part of Danny’s extended family as his close friend and professional partner. “I’m a part of his extended family, and it’s a good place to be,” Ramirez said. “Whether it blossoms into something more, I mean, the possibilities are endless, and I’m sure maybe they would like to explore the possibilities. But who knows? … Everybody makes different choices. Who knows what’ll happen?” Past episodes of Blue Bloods are available to stream on Paramount+.
