‘Blue Bloods’: Meet the Other Ladies of the Hit Show
These actors may not be the stars of the Blue Bloods, but they play vital roles to the show’s current existence. In its ninth season, the show’s future may remain in the balance, but there’s no doubt these supporting actors help generate more audience conviction to the show.
Starting in Season 4, Officer Eddie Janko was not only a new partner for Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) but also provided friction through a budding romance which was stifled until last season. As police commissioner, we’re not sure Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) could handle his job without Detective Abigail Baker who does more than handle his appointments and his paperwork. She’s his confidant and sometimes his conscious as well.
Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) would be lost without his current partner, Detective Maria Baez, with whom he has shared so much and entrusts his life to. Let’s take a look at some of the ladies of Blue Bloods who are not, at least yet, members of the Reagan family.
Vanessa Ray as Officer Edit ‘Eddie’ Janko
Prior to Officer Eddie Janko, Jamie Reagan had only male police partners on the street. Officer Janko made her first appearance during Season 4 and is portrayed by Vanessa Ray. Ray started her acting work in the theatre. Prior to being cast as Officer Janko, she was best known as CeCe Drake in Pretty Little Liars.
Blue Bloods fans had been patiently waiting for the right woman to come along for Jamie. The onscreen chemistry between Ray and Estes has been amazing to watch. There has been obvious romantic tension between their characters from the onset. However, because of their desire to retain partnership on the streets, they resisted temptation while each uncomfortably watched the other get involved in improbable relationships.
The season finale of Season 8 had Jamie bringing Eddie to the Reagan’s weekly Sunday family dinner where the two shared the news of their engagement. While much to the objection of the Commissioner, they planned on remaining partners at work however, in the end Jamie took the Sergeant’s exam, passing and becoming Eddie’s boss. Now in Season 9, Eddie proves she can handle the Reagan family just fine.
In real life, Ray is in her second marriage. Her husband is actor Landon Beard. A California native, Ray splits her time between there and New York.
Abigail Hawke as Detective Abigail Baker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryqLTNUxnQs
She’s been Police Commissioner Frank Reagan’s top aide and confidant from the beginning of the series in 2010. We’ve gotten to know her as one who often shares a different perspective on things with her boss. She is professional but isn’t afraid to call it as she sees it.
In real life, Hawke has one child with husband Bryan Spies, although on the show she has two kids. Her Blue Bloods husband is Officer Brian Baker (Jarid Faubel), who was shot yet survived in Season 8 by a drug dealer providing us with more insight into her character. Hawke keeps her private life just that, private.
Detective Danny Reagan’s former NYPD partners
Detective Danny Reagan has had a few partners since the show began. We enjoyed Jennifer Esposito as Detective Jackie Curatola, Danny’s first partner. When Curatola collapsed on the set in its third year, she was subsequently diagnosed with celiac disease. She took a leave of absence, during which time Megan Boone portrayed Detective Candice McElroy for a couple of episodes. Esposito told producers her illness could limit her work schedule and in return much to her dismay, the show’s producers wrote her out in 2012.
Marisa Ramirez as Detective Maria Baez
Danny and Baez investigate the death of a college freshman in tonight's episode of #BlueBloods. Will they pass the test? Stream it live on @CBSAllAccess: https://t.co/tTAtQG0YB1 pic.twitter.com/U8WepGjJCx
— Blue Bloods (@BlueBloods_CBS) November 3, 2018
Enter Marisa Maguire Ramirez as Detective Maria Baez. Since 2013 her role continues to win viewers over. Ramirez grew up in L.A., where she embarked in a modeling career at the age of 13. This led to an international modeling career and commercial appearances. She took acting classes and started receiving guest roles on daytime soap operas leading to being cast on Port Charles in 2000 as Gia Campbell, followed by the same role on General Hospital starting in 2002. She later joined the cast of the Young and the Restless before she landed her detective role on Against the Wall on Lifetimes. Other nighttime episode roles ensued with various shows before she started with Blue Bloods.
Observant fans likely noticed Ramirez was seen mostly clad in a coat or other bundled clothing during the spring of 2016. She gave birth to her baby girl, Violet Ray, in May of that year. Ramirez had been married from 2002 to 2011 to Nathan Lavezoli. She has not shared who is Violet Ray’s biological father; it was not a planned pregnancy.
While we, the fans, don’t know just where the rest of Blue Bloods Season 9 will take the Reagans, we will intently keep on watching. If the wedding bells don’t chime for Jamie and Eddie by the end of this season, we certainly hope the show will head into a Season 10 premiere event taking us for a walk down the aisle.