Blue Bloods is one of the most popular police procedurals over the past decade, maintaining an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score throughout its thirteen seasons.
One of the best parts of the series has been the relationship between Detective Maria Baez and her partner, Danny Reagan.
Despite having different ideologies, Baez (played by Marisa Ramirez) and Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) always result in compelling television, personifying the idea of “good cop, bad cop.”
For some long-running shows, the good relationship between characters doesn’t always represent the true relationship between the actors.
That isn’t the case for Ramirez and Wahlberg, who consistently promote each other’s quality of work and the real-life friendship they share.
Wahlberg cherishes that relationship so much, he there’s only one thing that could ruin the show for him – if Maria and Danny end up getting romantic.
He referenced two actors who went through a similar issue in the show, citing it as the reason he didn’t want an on-screen relationship with his friend.
Will Estes’ character Jameson Reagan ended up marrying Eddie Janko, portrayed by Vanessa Ray.
The two characters were originally work partners, but since their relationship became romantic, they rarely have scenes together – especially not in any police capacity.
W ahlberg said he feared that if his character gets into a relationship with Ramirez’s character, they will cease to share scenes together. “And then I’ll miss my friend,” he said.
Ramirez shared the same thoughts, saying that she and Donnie “love each other” and that she’s excited every day to come to work with him.
This is her longest-running commitment as an actor; before Blue Bloods, she’d spend a few months with one actor before rarely seeing them again.
With Donnie, they’re together for months, years on end. They share scenes together and have come to truly cherish their relationship.
Historically speaking, police procedurals often stick their lead actors and lead actresses into a relationship to spark some interest from fans.
It happened between Mulder and Scully on X-Files, to Patrick Jane and Agent Lisbon on The Mentalist, and even Jake and Amy on the police comedy Brooklyn 99.
This often comes at fans’ request, but more often than not, the dynamic between the two characters changes for the worse.
If Wahlberg and Ramirez have their way, Blue Bloods’ showrunners will stay out of their relationship, allowing them to stay partners and keeping that incredible on-screen chemistry alive.
