Contains spoilers for “Blue Bloods” Season 14, Episode 6 — “Shadowland”
Despite its rather severe and buttoned-down exterior, “Blue Bloods” has a definite fondness for exploring the supernatural. On Friday’s episode, “Shadowlands,” those exploratory forays will be taken to a whole new level. Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) and his partner Maria Baez (Maria Ramirez) are set to tackle a case with odd ties to a religious subculture they’ve never probed before: that of voodoo practitioners. You can expect the twosome to express their typical mix of skepticism and hope while identifying the perpetrator — in this case, with the help of Maria’s former partner, Wesley Pierre (Jason Tottenham).
This isn’t the first time Danny and Maria have turned to the realm of the unseen to get some tough answers to some difficult cases. The long, strange history of their friendship with Maggie Gibson (Callie Thorne) has resulted in some wild times at the precinct — and helpful information coming to light, in spite of both partners’ occasional skepticism about her methodology.
Maggie has gone from being a comedic sight gag to genuinely helpful informant
The supernatural hovers over “Blue Bloods” in the form of Maggie Gibson, who has had a complicated history with the Reagans in blue over the course of her five appearances on the show. A medium with a contact with the other side thanks to her late daughter, she’s gone from being a flaky acquaintance of Danny and Maria to a loyal informant and trusted friend. Danny and Maggie even share a brief flirtation, which hasn’t percolated into anything interesting yet, as a tragic truth about Danny Reagan is that he’s just starting to date again after the death of his late wife.
Maggie has proved her loyalty by walking into the line of fire for both Danny and Maria multiple times. In Season 10’s “The Real Deal,” she was almost killed by a perp the two are investigating, forcing Maria and Danny to save her.
The medium’s most recent episode, Season 13’s “Ghosted,” offers the most complex portrait of Maggie the show has presented yet. In it, she is attacked by an unknown assailant, and her injuries threaten her connection to the other side. Maria and Danny must help figure out who stabbed Maggie. Hopefully, their encounter with the world of voodoo will go more smoothly — and it won’t lead to one of those “Blue Bloods” plotholes that even the most dedicated of fans can’t explain.