Sonequa Martin-Green Explains ‘Boston Blue’ Finale, Working With Donnie Wahlberg and More (Exclusive)

This is quite an intense episode. Lena gets shot, she’s hospitalized, badly injured. Danny is one of the first people she asks to see when she wakes up in the hospital. Could you explain why that is?

Sonequa Martin-Green: I love that question. We talked about it a lot when we were on set that this event that happens really solidifies their partnership. If it wasn’t solidified already, this experience does it. It takes the cake, if you will. And it’s a huge bonding moment for the two of them. That relationship of Battle Buddy that I was privileged to learn about from veterans, it’s a special one. And when you see your partner going through a life-threatening experience, it changes things. It deepens things. And so in my mind, I had seen family members already, actually. They were around when I first opened my eyes and then in my mind, they had gone to get some food because I was good to go. And then I knew that the next person that I needed to see was him.

People wondered where Danny was, but he was in the hospital chapel praying for Lena’s recovery. Baez said it had been six hours. Was Danny really in there for six hours praying?

Because he’s in the same clothes, it does seem that way and I think some people are going to take it that way. I think that either way you take it is good, whether you think that he was doing some other things and then went in or whether he was there for the full six hours. I’m sure he was with the family for a time, which is great too, because even beyond Danny and Lena, this is a moment for the Reagans and the Silvers to really come together as well. We’ve been seeing these two families meld for a while. And again, over a life-threatening experience like this, the bonding is solidified. It is also solidified with the Silvers and the Reagans too. And so I’m sure he was with the family for a little while, but then I’m sure he was in that chapel for some hours as well.

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How did it feel to film that hospital scene with Donnie? Did it feel like you were solidifying your costar relationship too?

You know what? I think that our costar relationship has been solidified already. I think that our friendship is so pure and it’s so deep. And we knew that it would be that way because when we first met, it was as if we had always known each other. It was as if we were family already. But I do remember when we shot that scene, we felt it. We really felt it. And there’s a lot of emotions going on at the end of a season. You’re feeling all kinds of things because you are bringing something to a close. That moment will never come again. It’ll never be the end of the beginning again. And so the moment is charged, the air is charged and we knew that we’d be saying goodbye to each other for a little while. We’re coming back, thankfully, for Season 2, of course. And so we knew it wasn’t going to be long that we weren’t going to be together, but a lot of emotions are swirling at that time and they were for us. I remember we both were moved by that scene and by what it says about Danny and Lena and the trust being forged right in front of your eyes between the two of them.

I love how Donnie performed the scene. I love how he performs every scene, but I love that he said, “You really put a scare in me, partner.” I love the way that came across. And that’s what you see right there. It’s like no matter what’s going on, all of a sudden things are very clear, things are very boiled down to the truth. That’s how that scene felt when we were shooting it.

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What is Lena’s first thought when she sees her dad walk in the room?

Oh my goodness. Well, hearing the stories of people who have met parents like this later in their lives, at least the people that I’ve heard from, I know it’s not the same for every single person. But the people that I’ve heard from, they speak about it as if it’s this otherworldly experience. They speak about it as if it lives in the sort of ethereal, that it’s surreal, that it feels hyper-real. Is this real life? This is happening right now.

I think there’s a moment where the brain has to process and maybe it’s slow to process, oh my goodness, here this person is right in front of my face. And so I definitely wanted to allow that moment to hit and let all those thoughts come racing in and play out the ethereal quality of the moment, but it was very much like, “Whoa, that’s you. It’s you.” Because he had lived in Lena’s mind for four decades. To see him in real life, that I might’ve even improved that line when I say, “It’s you.” Because that’s what I was feeling. That kind of moment lives in the intangible.

It felt like, and maybe this is how you felt in the moment performing it, that even if she didn’t know that was her dad, she might’ve known that that was her dad when he walked in.

Yeah. Oh my goodness. Thank you for saying that. Yeah, absolutely. It’s like DNA recognizes DNA. Obviously I have such a biological connection to you and I can feel it. I can sense it. I think that may very well be the case for everyone. It’s such a special moment.

Erik King is great casting for this.

Oh my goodness. I feel like I really do look like the two of them [King and Gloria Reuben, who play Lena’s biological parents].

I see it. I do.

He’s got the high cheekbones, and I feel like I look like Gloria, too. So I was like, “I think this is perfect.” And yes, I love everything that he brought to the table. He brought such a depth. It was wonderful working with him. I’m so excited. I hope we work together a lot more.

It feels like it’s the introduction of a new very important character in the show with him and Christina. There’s so much to dive into.

Oh my gosh, absolutely. As well as Christina’s husband, my brother-in-law, we talked about that too, that here we have this new family that we could link up with because there’s lots more story to tell. We just started and we’ve left no stone unturned, but now we got a whole lot more stones that we need to turn over. So I’m super excited for all the storylines that could come from it and all the character dynamics that’ll be at play.

It’s really fun, too, just because of the internet meme layer of it all. Erik King, he’s the king of memes.

Yes, he is. He really is.

And for the “Surprise, motherf***er,” guy to show up as a surprise in this show, what a delight.

I know, I know. I hope [people] think it’s fun that they see him now in this light.

CBS

What Chris said to Lena, “I love you, and I want to be in your life moving forward,” is kind of a dream scenario for people in Lena’s boat. Did he say everything she ever dreamed of hearing from her long-lost dad?

You know what? He did. I really think he did, and you put it very well because that’s exactly it. The whole thing is I felt unloved and unwanted my entire life, and that has demolishes people. It is a wound that a lot of people have found really hard, if not impossible to heal from. And the fact that he says to her, “I love you. I’m sorry, and I want to fix it.”

Every box checked. She hit the jackpot.

Yeah, people go their whole lives without ever hearing those words and especially not all three of those things. It was a dream come true. And even in the moment when I was playing it, I remember thinking, “This is everything. I have to allow it to be like cool water on a burn or on fire. I want to allow that to happen.” Now it’s going to be a process. And I’m excited to see the continuation of this process in Season 2. And this is just me, Sonequa, speaking. I’m not teasing anything for Season 2. I just hope that we see this process continuing. But I remember I wanted to [feel], and I felt it in the moment, the waters of refreshing coming, at least that first touch of the water. You know what I’m saying?

Yeah, but it’s still a burn though.

It is still a burn, and it’s got to heal. But when it goes and it smokes, I almost wanted that. And so it is there, yes. I take this huge deep breath after he says that, which I did impromptu as well because it was like, “Whoa, that’s everything I’ve ever wanted to hear.”

Best-case scenario.

Yeah. If only that could be the case for everybody.

Brian’s fate is left way up in the air at the end of the episode, quite the cliffhanger to end things on. Do you know if Season 2 will pick up where that cliffhanger left off?

I don’t know if it’ll pick up where the cliffhanger left off, to be honest with you. Of course, we’re going to get into it, that’s for sure. I thought it was quite the juxtaposition to see this beautiful family moment backdropped by this horrible crash. And also, I got to big up the [visual] effects and the special effects of that scene because my goodness, it just feels so real. You really feel like you’re in that car with him, and it just stabs you in the heart. I applaud the story and the writers and the showrunners and our [post-production] crew, as well as Ryan for the moment, man. I know that we’re going to get into it, but I don’t know if we’re going to pick right up at that cliffhanger.

But I will say, I love that what you see at the end, which is happening while this horrible car crash is happening, you’re seeing these families molding together. I love that. The fresh perspective that Lena comes in with makes sense to me because of the near-death experience, because these things are really deep and they take a long time. They are not wrapped up in a neat bow, but what we do see is Lena in the best place she’s ever been before. Danny asks her, “Are you OK?” And she says, “Yes.” I say, “Yeah, I am.” And what I mean when I say that is, “I’m better than I’ve ever been before because I have healing and a fresh perspective and it’s because of that near death.”

It’s like, “You know what? I almost died, so I forgive everybody.” Because near-death experiences will do that for you. They’ll really show you what’s what, and what’s true and what deserves your attention and your energy. And so the forgiveness and everything that comes, I was excited to share that it was because of when you see the light, you see the light.

CBS

Hopefully Brian sees the light and comes back.

Exactly, yes.

You also had Blue Bloods‘ Will Hochman in this episode as well, which is a fun surprise.

We were so excited to have him.

Do you think that his character, Joe Hill, be able to help Lena in the future too?

I hope so. Honestly, I feel like I could speak for everybody when I say this, but I want as many [Blue Bloods] people as we can get. Let’s continue building this world. Let’s keep this world, this world that Blue Bloods established. Let’s just keep building it. Let’s keep enriching it. Let’s have people from our predecessor come. We’re standing on the shoulders of Blue Bloods. And so every single time that somebody from our predecessor, every single time they can come, it adds to us. It adds a richness. It adds a legitimacy to us. That’s what I think. And so I want everybody to come. But yeah, we were super excited to have him and he fit right in. Everybody just fits right in. It was such a joy.

Yeah. The dinner table is just big enough.

Just big enough. We had to squeeze.

If you bring in more, Mae’s going to need a second table, but that’s what Season 2 is for.

That’s exactly right.

Boston Blue, Season 2 Premiere, Fall 2026, CBS, Season 1 Streaming on Paramount+