Blue Bloods is known for intense storylines that coincide with heartwarming family moments. The formulas Blue Bloods has created have made it one of CBS’s most successful police procedurals. As part of the series intense storylines, Blue Bloods has featured plenty of heartbreaking episodes that left fans in tears while watching their favorite police procedural.
Fans have to watch the Reagan family go through losing friends, loved ones, and colleagues who are killed in the line of duty. They also go through the hardships surrounding everyday people, no matter their careers. Blue Bloods focuses on family, and it’s that familiar connection to the characters that makes many viewers feel as if they are going through the same feelings of loss as those on screen.
Updated on August 28, 2024, by Christopher Raley: SInce 2010, Blue Bloods has captured a solid fan base who look to the show for honest drama and a family that fights together for personal closure. With the show’s final season officially over, fans may want to revisit some of the most profound and sad episodes. More heartbreaking episodes were added to this article, and it was updated to conform to CBR’s current publishing standards.
“Officer Down” Finds NYPD Facing the Loss Of Their Own
This Season 1 Episode Still Hits Home
Early on in the Blue Bloods story, fans understood that the show was not going to soft-pedal the stresses, moral dilemmas, and tragedies that police officers face. This became abundantly clear to fans with the Season 1 Episode “Officer Down,” which portrays the killing of a police officer and what the department goes through in the aftermath. That puts this episode at number 15 on the list.
In “Officer Down,” Officer Michele Martin (played by guest star Maggie Steele) comes across a group of thieves involved in a diamond heist at a jewelry store downtown while she is on her break. In a brief shootout, Officer Martin is gunned down, and the department mobilizes to find the one who did it. This episode shows the department as it reels from the tragedy but also focuses on the Reagan family. For them, the event triggers memories of Joe Reagan’s murder which is an ongoing investigation at this point in the show.
“Fog of War” Explores Guilt Over Friendly Fire
Officer Addison Confronts the Reality That Mistakes Can Be Lethal
In “Fog of War” another guest star (Justin Cunningham) portrays what a police officer goes through when things go drastically wrong in the field. Cunningham portrays Officer James Addison takes part in a drug bust operation and shoots the undercover cop in a case of mistaken identity. The undercover cop later dies of the gunshot wound, and Addison is left to face the inquiry and his own conscience in the wake of the tragic mistake.
While Addison is cleared of wrongdoing, it’s his own feeling of guilt that creates his existential crisis: Should he continue to be a police officer? While this episode is not as tragic as others, Cunningham’s portrayal of inner conflict and the consequences at stake when being a police officer place this episode among the saddest. But Tom Selleck as Commissioner Frank Reagan helps take the edge off both Addison and the audience.
“Cutting Losses” Shows Danny Grieving the Loss of His Wife
The Reagan Family Rallies to Help Him
The Season 8 premiere of Blue Bloods had to deal with one of the realities of show running when Amy Carlson (who played Linda Reagan, Danny’s wife) left the show. The result was a death narrative for Linda that all happened off-screen. In the show’s arc, Linda died in a helicopter crash on May 28. Episode 1 of Season 8, “Cutting Losses” picks up with Donnie in the aftermath of his loss. Danny (portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg) feels guilty for not having been home enough.
Fans see the tough former Marine visibly grieving during a therapy session and also find Danny lashing out at his sister Erin’s ex-husband for just bringing up the date of the accident. But once again, the show balances Danny’s tragedy with the efforts of the Reagan family to help. Erin enlists Danny’s help on a case when he is considering retiring, and the family gets Danny and his sons a new home.
“Home Sweet Home” Shows Tragedy That Doesn’t Involve Death
Viewers See a Child Face Harsh Realities
While on patrol, Jamie and Eddie come across a homeless boy, T.J., and after they chase him down, they realize that he is 12 years old and has been abandoned by both his mother and his aunt. After getting in trouble for drug use in Baltimore, his mother sent him with some money to his aunt in New York. But it turns out that his aunt is homeless and she disappears, leaving T.J. to believe that her boyfriend has killed her. The story ultimately finds T.J. in a caring foster situation, but the revelation that his aunt wasn’t killed but in fact stole his money for drugs and left him alone leaves a lasting impression on the viewers.
In “Unbearable Loss”, a Father Loses His Son to Violence
Frank Reagan’s Harshest Critic Buries the Hatchet
“Unbearable Loss” combines a father’s tragic loss and the rivalry of bitter critics into one of the show’s top-twenty most highly-rated episodes on IMDB. Reverend Darnell Potter is one of the African-American community’s most out-spoken critics of Frank and the Reagan family, but he seeks Frank’s help to solve the murder of his son Michael to a gunshot.
As the two men attempt to reconcile their differences in the face of Potter’s brash behavior (he brings people to the department he thinks are suspects) and continued misunderstandings, Potter’s raw grief is at the forefront. But in the background is the Reagan family’s lingering grief over Joe, which is what makes this episode so poignant. In the end, Potter asks Frank to speak at his son’s memorial service, which becomes a way for the family to find continued healing.
“With Friends Like These” Offers a Look At Mental Health
And It Highlights The Tragedy Of Access To Treatment
“With Friends Like These” highlighted the division between firefighters and police officers, but the saddest element of the episode came from Jamie and Eddie. When responding to a person in distress, Eddie and Jamie find a woman who left her home and is struggling with her mental health. With no support system, the woman’s battle against schizophrenia makes for an emotional watch that engages real-world mental health struggles.
The episode gives an honest look into the lives of people who can not get the help they need to care for themselves. It also delivers the heartbreak police officers and others experience when they try to help someone but help comes too late. “With Friends Like These” finds Jamie pulling some strings to get the woman the care she needs, only to discover later that she commits suicide. The tragic end highlights how Blue Bloods is able to present real-world dilemmas without sugarcoating them, which is why it comes in at number 10 on the list.
“Two-Faced” Depicts A Father’s Love And Its Consequences
Janko makes a note in Blue Bloods.
Few things are as tragic as a child’s death, which is the case that Erin has to tackle in Season 9’s “Two-Faced”. Dr. David Peterson tries everything possible to cure his daughter, Sarah, who is terminally ill, but his unconventional methods cause her to die. What was considered an accidental death is later revealed, by the doctor himself, as deliberate poisoning at the request of Sarah to escape the pain.
The moral dilemma faced by Dr. Peterson, Erin, and the doctor’s ex-wife makes for a compelling but gloomy watch. Blue Bloods asks viewers to reevaluate what it means to love and care for each other and to identify with the lengths to which one would go to end pain for a loved one. In “Two-Faced” Erin decides to charge the doctor with manslaughter instead of murder, understanding that Sarah would not want him to spend his life in prison.
“Little Fish” Shows the Reagans Deal with Their Failures
They also Confront Real World Consequences
Police procedurals are known for being dark, and Blue Bloods is no different. The first season showcased how guilt plays into the role of being in the version of the NYPD the show created. In “Little Fish,” Danny and Frank face similar feelings of helplessness when they can’t help victims they had been connected to previously. When skeletal remains are discovered at a construction site, Frank is plagued with the feeling of failure as the remains belong to a kidnapped child from a cold case Frank worked on early in his career.
Frank returns to his detective days as he personally revives the cold case to find the real perpetrator, his interaction with whom is intense and emotional. Meanwhile, Danny tries to help a sex worker who helped him in a case before, but she is killed before he can find her. This heavy episode shows the more vulnerable sides of the Reagans which had yet to be explored in the first season but is a recurring theme throughout the show. How the family deals with failures without losing its cohesion is one of Blue Bloods’ biggest draws for fans..
“The Greater Good” Finds Frank Wrestling With Moral Dilemmas
Danny Has to Prove His Innocence Against Charges of Vengeance
“The Greater Good” set the tone for season 7 as many episodes were heavy in tone and left fans reaching for tissues. Frank Reagan faced a moral and ethical dilemma that touched on his grief from losing his son Joe, who died in the line of duty. When a mother, Grace Edwards, begs Frank not to let her son graduate from the NYPD Police Academy, so he won’t be put in danger, Frank understands her pain because her husband had been killed in the line of duty.
At the same time, Frank also understands the son’s deep and abiding desire to follow in his father’s footsteps. Seeing the usually stony Frank grapple with a problem he has faced personally was difficult for fans to watch. The mother’s love was touching, but it was also upsetting that she would try to control her son’s career. Meanwhile, Danny has to convince a grand jury that his shooting of a serial killer was in self-defense. But the charges against him question his motives, bringing up the moral dilemmas of death and justice.
“Love Lost” Delves Into Assisted Suicide
And It Tests Other Aspects Of The Show’s Relationships
“Love Lost” is another episode of Blue Bloods that brings a real-life issue into the show and forces viewers to take a second look at their own perspectives on the subject. Danny has to investigate a case that involves a woman who was suffocated by her husband. By the end of the investigation, it is revealed that the woman wanted to die and tried to have medically assisted suicide to end her pain from cancer.
However, complications with the medications caused her not to die, so her husband ended her life to help her out of her pain. Viewers see the sorrow in the husband as he deals with the grief of losing his wife and being the person who ended her life, which is heart-wrenching. “Love Lost” presents many moral and ethical dilemmas but plays to the human emotions in every viewer. Additionally, viewers also see Erin dealing with personal loss, as her ex-husband decides to defend the person she is trying to convict, culminating in an episode that tests the depths of relationships unlike any other storyline.
“Unfinished Business” wove a storyline of problematic police and their practices into Blue Bloods for the season. With Frank reopening a case that was closed, he may allow a convicted serial killer to be released. But when he learns a detective may have coerced a witness, which may have resulted in the accusation being false on one count, he determines to find the truth. However, the most moving part of the episode came from the case Danny was working on.
As a veteran and father, Danny is significantly impacted by the suicide of a fellow veteran who leaves behind a son. As with many of the emotional cases on the show, this one develops Danny’s character as a father and explains a good deal of his past. This episode has an excellent portrayal of PTSD and how it can irreparably change the lives of Army veterans and their families. This turbulent case also affects Danny, triggering emotions he would rather not deal with again, giving this episode a number 5 ranking on the list.
“Pain Killers” Tests The Bond Between Baez and Danny
Danny Faces Another Possible Heartbreak
“Pain Killers” builds on the emotional start to season 8 of Blue Bloods, with Detective Baez narrowly surviving an accidental drug overdose. The possibility of the loss of a beloved main character stirs something in viewers, who pull for Baez in “Pain Killers.” But this episode also expands on the grief that Danny is feeling from losing Linda in the helicopter accident. Viewers realize that losing his best friend and partner would break him.
Seeing Danny cry next to Baez’s bed and begging her to survive is a heartbreaking moment as it shows how close they had gotten as partners. With Danny going through so much in one season, it is hard for viewers to see him experience the potential loss of another person he loved. The episode also touches on child abuse and its perpetrators, and how murky the system of rehabilitation can be regarding sensitive topics like these.
“Partners” Puts Baez In The Spotlight
The Loss Of Her Brother Is Tragic
Police procedurals often use the cliché of involving family members in the main characters’ cases where they become victims or informants. Season 5 of Blue Bloods did this but made the episode emotional. Javier is introduced in an earlier episode as Detective Maria Baez’s protective older brother, who, after being down on his luck and getting sober, works as an informant. But when the brother and sister reconnect in “Partners”, Maria discovers that Javier is playing both sides against the middle.
In a confrontation with the drug cartel, Javier is killed by taking a bullet intended for Maria in a heartbreaking moment. Baez feels guilty as she felt she could’ve done more for Javier in the past but wouldn’t get the chance after he died. This was one of the few times fans saw Baez affected by loss and not one of the Reagans, and her survivor’s guilt is incredibly real and relatable. The inner world of a cop is always colored by their job, which comes through in Maria’s loss of Javier in “Partners.”
“The Blue Templar” Saw Justice for Joe Reagan
This Episode Brought A Major Early Arc To a Close
The best police procedurals include a case that started off the show and is solved in a later episode. This was the case with “The Blue Templar,” as the episode gave fans more information about Joe Reagan’s death and gave closure to the rest of the Reagans. This case was not just another cold one — the personal connection of the family made it the most sorrowful, but also the most important case.
Joe’s death was the primary catalyst of the show, so seeing the people who murdered him be brought to justice was emotional for fans, as they saw the Reagans finally feel they let Joe’s memory rest in peace. Much of the episode has a bitter-sweet feeling as they are happy to have caught the people responsible for Joe’s death but are sad he wasn’t there to see the case he was working on come to a close.
“The Thin Blue Line” Had a Calamitous Plot
It Shows Just How Close Officers Come To Danger
“The Thin Blue Line” started one of the most devastating storylines in Blue Bloods. This episode is the first meeting of Danny and a dangerous drug cartel that puts a hit on him and his family. In the finale of season 7, it seems that another Reagan may be killed due to their involvement with law enforcement. The answer is yes and no. During the episode, the cartel burns Danny’s house to the ground leaving him and his family homeless.
Meanwhile, a serial killer is loose, preying on the elderly. Jamie is on the investigation trying to track down leads but is unwilling to use methods similar to enhanced interrogation when dealing with suspects, causing his supervisor to heartlessly believe that he is holding up progress. But Jamie follows a hunch that eventually catches the criminal. Part of the heartbreak of this show is in retrospect, when fans learn in Season 8 that Linda was killed in a helicopter crash and discover later in Season 9 that the cartel caused the crash. The way the losses of this episode compounded in later seasons, puts “Thin Blue Line” at the number one spot of this list.
