Lena Goes Rogue Like Danny in Case That Gets Personal in Episode 7

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 7, “Baggage Claim.”]

Lena Silver’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) “white whale” case resurfaced in Boston Blue‘s December 5 episode. Her feelings about the case made her hellbent on catching the killer, similar to how Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) would make cases personal on Blue Bloods. Danny had to teach Lena what he learned at the NYPD, which was that when you care so deeply about a case, it matters even more to solve it by following police procedures down to the letter.

Lena and Danny attended a gala in disguise to get into the same room as their suspect, Senator Lowell (Gabriel Burrafato). Lena was seething with anger when questioning the politician, revealing they had a history. During her first years as a detective in Boston, Lena suspected that Lowell murdered a sex worker. She was right, but she didn’t investigate properly, allowing him to slip through the cracks and get away with murder. It took Lena years to trust her instincts again and rebuild her credibility. There was no way she was letting him get away this time.

Lowell was suspected of killing a woman he encountered in a hotel, who wound up dead, her body stuffed in a suitcase and left in a public park to be discovered by Sean (Mika Amonsen) and Jonah (Marcus Scribner) while on the job. Lena knew in her gut that Lowell killed Claire, and her hunger to bring him to justice made her want to cut corners. Danny kept her on the straight and narrow, but eventually she snapped, asking why he was “questioning every instinct” she had.

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“Why don’t you trust me?” she pressed. “I need your help, Danny. And I thought you were the kind of partner who would understand and who would stand with me. Was I wrong about you?”

“Of course, I trust you. And more importantly. I believe in you. You think I would be in this city if I didn’t? Sean or no Sean, I would be out of here,” Danny replied. “I also happen to believe that you are 100 percent correct about Senator Lowell. I’ve been down this road many times. We have to be smarter than him, so when we nail that son of a bitch, we nail him for good. That’s what the victims deserve. And maybe you could trust me a little bit, too.”

Lena grit her teeth and worked with Danny to find the evidence they needed. They finally found the real crime scene, as well as damning photos of Lowell taken by Claire, and his hair at the scene of the crime. They brought the crooked senator to the station for one last question before he was arrested.

“How does it feel to know that after all this time escaping justice, you are finally going away for good?” Lena said while staring him down.

This case strengthened the bond between Danny and Lena, proving that they make each other better as partners. Danny’s attachment to Boston is growing by the day. How will that impact the future of his relationship with Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez), who wants to keep on living in New York? Boston Blue was renewed for Season 2 on Wednesday, December 3, so the show has plenty of time to figure that out.

Boston Blue, Fridays, 10/9c, CBS