“Blue Bloods” is still one of the highest-rated primetime dramas on TV right now, even on those rare occasions when they air a record-breakingly bad episode in terms of ratings. The series stars Tom Selleck and his amazing mustache as patriarch Frank Reagan, the NYPD Commissioner whose children follow him in his footsteps professionally, creating a very interesting family dynamic. But it isn’t just the Reagan family drama that keeps viewers tuning in week after week.
Throughout the course of the show, Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) has changed partners more often than most viewers realize. He’s had six different partners in total, including the short-lived DeMarcus King (Flex Alexander), who was only in the pilot. Given how often Danny has changed partners, a Reddit thread asked fans for their two cents on which partner has been the best fit for Danny so far. Fans were seemingly so sure of one particular winner that there was little room left for debate.
Fans are 100% sure that Jackie is the clear winner
In that Reddit thread, u/Calisto_fox won the greatest amount of upvotes by declaring that Danny and Jackie Curatola (Jennifer Esposito) were 100% great together. u/donknoch quickly reinforced this by boldly stating that nothing more needed to be said. Out of all of the potential candidates that viewers could choose from, the debate mostly centered around Jackie and his current partner, Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez). u/StevenArviv added some nuance to the discussion, confessing that they have a hard time choosing between Jackie and Baez, writing, “Jackie was a much better balanced ‘partner’ as a cop for Danny but Baez’s character compliments him more and is better for him as a person. Jackie is just a more passive version of Danny.”
It’s unfortunate that such a beloved fan favorite had to leave the show — but once you learn the reason why and the IRL drama behind the scenes, it’s even more heartbreaking. Esposito left the show due to chronic illness shortly after fainting on set. This was apparently a result of a grueling filming schedule that her body just couldn’t take. The producers issued a statement suggesting that her part-time work schedule being incompatible with what they thought was best for the show, but also didn’t mention her health issues. Esposito soon fired back, alleging that there was some “ugliness” between her and the series’ producers but not going into much detail about it (via TV Line).
It’s unfortunate that Esposito’s bad break from the show means that fans won’t get any more enjoyable drama between Jackie and Danny. But Esposito still has a thriving acting career, so there are plenty of other shows to watch her on.