Amy Carlson’s abrupt departure from Blue Bloods in the Season 8 premiere was a major shock to fans of the long-running CBS series. Carlson played Linda Reagan, a registered nurse and supportive wife of Detective Daniel “Danny” Reagan. She’s been an integral part of the Blue Bloods cast since the first season and became a series regular in the second.
On Blue Bloods, Linda Reagan’s death was unexpected and upsetting, leaving fans extremely disappointed by the unceremonious send-off. As a result, Amy Carlson’s departure proved to be quite controversial with viewers. The producers decided to have Linda’s death happen off-screen, so viewers didn’t get to say goodbye in the saddest episode of Blue Bloods.
Updated by Lauren Younkin on June 26, 2025: With Blue Bloods officially coming to an end last year and the spin-off Boston Blue on the horizon, it has been a transitional time for fans of the long-running series. Although Linda Reagan is no longer part of it, her death certainly had a lasting impact on the show as a whole. This article was updated with additional information on the trajectory of Blue Bloods after Amy Carlson’s departure and reflect CBR’s current publication standards.
Who Was Linda Reagan on Blue Bloods?
Linda Was an Emergency Room Nurse at St. Victor’s Hospital
Linda Reagan was the wife of Detective Danny Reagan and the mother of Jack and Sean Reagan. As an emergency room nurse at St. Victor’s Hospital in New York City, the role Linda played in Blue Bloods was essential because she was the only adult member of the Reagan family who didn’t have a career in law enforcement. She would often voice her opinions openly during the Reagan family dinners on Sunday nights, which was a staple of Blue Bloods’ early seasons and remained a vital part of the show’s heart.
Although Linda was not directly involved with law enforcement like the other members of her family, her job at St. Victor’s would often intersect with Danny’s police work. In the Season 5 finale of Blue Bloods, Linda treated a patient who was a witness to the shooting of NYPD Assistant Chief Donald Kent and later got caught in the crossfire when her patient was assassinated. Although Linda made a full recovery, she had to meet with a therapist to deal with the post-traumatic stress caused by the incident.
What Happened to Linda on Blue Bloods?
Linda Died in a Helicopter Crash Between Seasons 7 and 8
Danny’s home was destroyed in a fire during the Season 7 finale, but thankfully every member of the family survived and was unhurt. However, in a therapy session in the Season 8 premiere, it’s revealed that Linda died off-screen due to another tragedy. Danny was contemplating retiring from the police force because he blamed himself for Linda’s death in a medevac helicopter crash. She was airlifting a patient during the crash, which the therapist noted was at least an honorable way for Linda to go out. With the support of his family and longtime partner, Maria Baez, he ultimately decided to stay on the job.
Season 9, Episode 1, “Playing with Fire” implied that the crash may not have been an accident, but instead had been caused by a Mexican drug cartel. Even several years after Linda’s untimely death, the character was still mentioned periodically, and her memory still played a significant part in Danny’s life. Some Blue Bloods fans hoped that Danny would move on with Baez since they have a chemistry similar to Bradford and Chen on The Rookie, but showrunner Kevin Wade shot down the idea in a TV Insider interview in 2021. This idea was challenged, however, in the series finale of Blue Bloods and may be addressed in the upcoming spin-off series Boston Blue.
Why Did Amy Carlson Leave Blue Bloods?
Amy Carlson Departed the Series After Her Contract Expired
Characters are killed off TV series for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it’s to provide narrative impact, like Lauren German’s departure from Chicago Fire. Sometimes, it has to do with behind-the-scenes factors. In the case of Amy Carlson, her Blue Bloods contract expired after Season 7, and she chose not to renew it (though she did not give a specific reason why).
Carlson explained to Deadline that she was not invited back for the Season 8 premiere to wrap up Linda’s storyline. She voiced her disappointment with how her character was killed, saying, “I feel badly that she dies the way she dies. I did not know they would do that. I was surprised. I wouldn’t have done that.” Despite her reservations about how her character exited the show, Carlson also said in the Deadline interview that she would be open to returning in a flashback, but unfortunately Blue Bloods ended at 14 seasons without this happening.
What Hints Has Amy Carlson Given About Her Reasons for Leaving Blue Bloods?
The Timing of Carlson’s Departure Gives a Major Hint Behind Her Reasoning
It is true that Carlson technically has not given a specific reason as to why she left Blue Bloods, but she did give a very interesting reply in the aforementioned Deadline interview. Before that, it is important to first note the timing in regard to Carlson’s comments about her departure from the series.
In late September 2017, Blue Bloods began its eighth season, and Linda Reagan’s death was revealed. Everyone was shocked to see Carlson gone, and she made the following statement on her Instagram in response:
“My heart is full of gratitude to each of you for your generous support of me and my character for the last seven years of Blue Bloods – Linda Reagan. I have been touched by your compassion and enthusiasm. I loved playing Linda: wife to Danny, mother to Jack and Sean, nurse and working mom. I’m proud of my contribution to building this series. I’m so grateful to CBS and the Blue Bloods cast and crew. Mostly, I am grateful to the fans who have supported me and the show. Peace, blessings and many ‘love you mores’ to all of you.”
A month later, the cast of Blue Bloods did an event at PaleyFest, and her castmate, Bridget Moynihan (Erin Reagan), noted, “We were all disappointed to see that she was going. It was unfortunate that she made that decision at the end of season 7, so we were stuck with the story line as we could get it… But I’m really thrilled for her to go off and pursue other things and follow what she felt was best for her.”
In that same interview with Deadline in November 2017, she was asked, “There have been comments by a Blue Bloods colleague that everyone on the show was surprised by your exit, which led to the unfortunate way Linda was killed off off-screen. What would you say about that?” Carlson’s reply was, “If someone had said they were surprised, and they didn’t know I was leaving, I would just respond to them and say it’s standard to have conversations with actors whose contracts are up prior to the season ending. It’s not that you start to shoot and don’t know.” Adding to that, Carlson also said of the scene in the Season 7 finale where Danny and Linda’s house was torched by the drug cartel: “I didn’t know at that moment, but it was emotional to watch that house fake burn down because the future was uncertain. And it was emotional.”
In other words, Carlson’s contract was up, and it seems there might not have been the best communication behind the scenes when it came to what that meant for the character of Linda Reagan. While there may be more at play beyond Carlson simply feeling it was time for her to move on, no further details have been given since to indicate otherwise.
What Has Amy Carlson Done Since Leaving Blue Bloods?
Carlson Has Been in a Number of Recurring Roles Since Her Exit from Blue Bloods
After Amy Carlson’s tragic departure from Blue Bloods, the actress has continued to appear in a number of different television series. Most notably, the actress has appeared as a guest on series like The Village (in which she played Julie Tucker), The Society (in which she played Amanda Pressman), and FBI: Most Wanted (in which she played Jackie Ward). She has also made appearances in several films since leaving Blue Bloods, including Sunny Daze, The Incoherents, and, most recently, Know Fear.
Before Blue Bloods, Carlson was known for her roles in the daytime soap opera Another World, the NBC drama Third Watch, and the procedural Law & Order: Trial by Jury. After not appearing in a TV series between 2021 and 2024, Carlson returned to television in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in March 2024. She portrayed Katie McGrath, the wife of Terry Serpico’s Chief Tommy McGrath.
The Impact Linda Reagan’s Death Left on Blue Bloods
Her Differing Perspectives Were Sorely Missed in the Show
With the public outcry that resulted from the hasty nature of Linda’s death, it’s safe to say that the whole situation left a bad taste in fans’ mouths. Many have pointed out how easy it would have been to instead have Linda die in the house fire in the Season 7 finale, which is a move that is not only expected from the season finales of television shows when an actor is departing but also would have allowed fans the closure of being part of Linda’s final moments on screen. Whether the series didn’t implement this storytelling decision as a result of production issues or because they didn’t consider it at the time, the lazy writing on display in the Season 8 premiere by employing a time-skip for an off-screen death left viewers of the show feeling like the storytelling had betrayed them after getting invested in the character for seven seasons.
The heavy emphasis on family is what set Blue Bloods apart from other shows of its kind, and Linda was a much-needed outside perspective within that family dynamic. Her absence from the series took away aspects of conflict that were integral to the show, from the parenting differences between her and Danny to fighting about the risks that his job brought to their family (which would ultimately be what resulted in her death at the hands of the cartel). While Danny has seemingly moved on from this tragedy by the end of Blue Bloods and is now going off to start his own story in Boston Blue, Linda’s death is still felt by all the fans that loved the character and what she did for the show.
