Marcus Scribner on Why Jonah’s a ‘Younger Danny Reagan’ (Exclusive)

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 10, “Hard Truths.”]

Marcus Scribner sees his Boston Blue character, Jonah Silver, as a “younger Danny Reagan,” thanks to his proclivity to leap into action while on the job at the Boston Police Department. When working with his fellow rookie cop, Sean Reagan (Mika Amonsen), Jonah often feels like “it’s OK for me to go off and do my own thing, but you should follow the rules,” Scribner tells TV Insider. That’s why, when Sean saved Jonah from a murder charge in the Boston Blue midseason premiere, Jonah wishes he hadn’t put himself in danger.

Boston Blue Season 1 Episode 10 debuted on Friday, February 27, on CBS, and it revealed a mystery about Ben Silver’s murder that was eventually solved. As it turned out, the man who was in prison for murdering the judge didn’t actually kill him. The real killer was a hitman hired by a powerful man in Boston. That same hitman killed the fake killer, who was recently released from prison, and then tried to kill Jonah. Sean saved him in the nick of time.

Here, Scribner breaks down the episode and explains why he thinks Jonah and Danny have so much in common and explains the different ways in which the Silver siblings are processing their grief. Plus, he teases what it was like to have Blue Bloods star Len Cariou on set for an episode later this season and have Bridget Moynahan direct an episode of the spinoff.

This episode’s a big episode for Jonah. Why does Jonah struggle to see that his sisters are helping him on the case and not treating him like a kid, do you think?

Marcus Scribner: When you’re in that deep [in grief] and it’s hard to really reason or see, it feels kind of like it’s only happening to you for some reason, in a weird, selfish way. And of course, his sisters are going through it, but they’re not visually expressing it as deeply as he is. And I think that’s hard for him to deal with. It didn’t happen that long ago. It was within the year of where we’ve picked up [at the beginning of the series], so it’s still very fresh. He’s still angry about it, and he’s misplacing his anger on the people around him, the people who love him, and the people who want to help him because he feels helpless. He’s lost his father. He can’t get that back, but he wants justice, and he feels like people aren’t trying as hard as he is to get it.

Brendan Adam-Zwelling / CBS

Does Jonah trust Sean more after Sean lies about seeing the killer, or does he think that was unwise?

Jonah definitely trusts him more after it, but he knows it was unwise. I feel like he’s under the mindset where he’s like, “It’s OK for me to go off and do my own thing, but you should follow the rules.” That’s the way that he sees the world. And I think he’s unhappy with it for sure, but I think it definitely grows their bond. Sean is really risking it all there for him, and he knows that. He just wishes that he hadn’t.

At the beginning of this episode, does Jonah feel like his sisters don’t understand his grief? If so, why do you think he feels that way?

People have different ways of expressing grief, obviously. It takes me a while. For some reason, things hit me weeks after. And I know a lot of people deal with that, where it’ll happen, and you feel almost numb in a weird way. And then you’re like, “Why am I not feeling what I should feel?” And then all of a sudden, on a random Tuesday, everything hits you, and it comes crashing down, like, “Oh, wow, there it is.”

[Jonah] is handling his grief very viscerally. He wants to take action. He knows that he could do something about it, but maybe it’s not the right way to handle things; he’s going to do it anyway. Whereas Lena and Sarah want to go through the judicial process, which is the right way to do things, and he’s not cool with that. Seeing them taking things slow, in his eyes, feels like a lack of passion and a lack of care when really they’re just trying to do things the right way.

Does he ever doubt being in this line of work, knowing firsthand how dangerous it can be?

I don’t think so. He is the type of person who is, to help somebody, he’s willing. It’s exemplified in our first episode. He runs into a burning building off duty. He doesn’t really think about that. Obviously, number one goal as an officer, from what I’ve learned, is to get home safely. So he’s not going to go out there guns blazing, jumping around a corner, drinking Jason Statham style, but he is willing to do what is necessary to help people. I think that’s his number one goal. He doesn’t want to arrest people, tackle criminals, do whatever. He wants to make sure that people are safe and well, and see a positive example of what a police officer can be. And he wants to prove to himself that he’s more than his name and the legacy that the Silver family offers.

Talking about the Silver family, has his grandfather, Reverend Peters [Ernie Hudson], become a surrogate father for Jonah since his father died, would you say?

I think your father is irreplaceable. I think he, in a way, is less of a surrogate father and more of a mentor, someone he can confide in. I think to Jonah, it just still doesn’t feel real. He still feels like he can go home and talk to his dad or call his dad up. The Reverend is stepping up, definitely a positive male role model, I would say. Father figure in a way. You’re definitely right. I don’t want to completely take away from that.

Brendan Adam-Zwelling / CBS

How does Jonah feel about his mom, Mae [Gloria Reuben], and the way she handled Ben’s revived case by the end of the episode?

I don’t know. When I was reading the script, I was like, “What?” Jonah understands, and he comes to terms with [the fact] that it was the right thing to do, but I don’t think he’s OK with it or agrees with it. He knows in his head, but in his heart, there’s still some fire in there. It’s something that’s going to have to continue to get resolved. I don’t think it’ll all be said and done.

We see Jonah and Sean’s connection, but we don’t see much of Danny and Jonah together. What does Jonah think of Danny, especially now that he’s moved to Boston full-time for Sean?

He loves it. He knows how much Danny means to Sean, and he’s here for that. He loves the partnership that Danny has with Lena. Honestly, I see in Jonah, a lot of a younger Danny Reagan, somebody who’s willing to put themselves on the line and not care about what happens in the end or caring about what happens in the end, but that the bad guy goes away and that people are safe no matter what that means, even if it means breaking a couple of rules. So I think he really likes that Danny’s here for Sean.

Are Jonah and Sean more like brothers after what Sean did to save Jonah?

One-hundred percent. If somebody saved my life, I would never forget it. Jonah and Sean were already
close. And as you said, Sean lied for Jonah. There’s just so many compounding things. That’s his
boy for life. That’s his brother.

You have Len Cariou from Blue Bloods on the show this spring. What’s it been like to work with other cast members from the original show?

Len, it was legendary. Bridget [Moynahan], phenomenal. Bridget directed one of our episodes as well. It was fantastic. It’s been so cool to join the family and be a part of it, and learn from them. Len was the sweetest guy, and it was just incredible to get to work with him. It was like being with television royalty. It’s been phenomenal, and I’m still in disbelief. We’ve had amazing guest stars so far.

Boston Blue, Fridays, 10/9c CBS