Danny Faces an Uncertain Future When ‘Blue Bloods’ Returns for Season 8
Police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) often threatens retirement, but in Season 8 of Blue Bloods, it’s elder son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) who’s talking about turning in his badge. And who can blame him. In the finale, Danny’s home was torched by a Mexican drug cartel after the NYPD’s crack detective put a damper on their sales flow.
“That retaliation really leads Danny to ask the big questions,” says executive producer Kevin Wade. “Has what makes him a good cop prevented him from being the husband and father he wants to be? What’s the real cost of his calling?”
“The family will support each other—as always,” Wahlberg says. “But will Danny allow himself to accept help?” There’s more difficulty ahead, including “some shocking changes” for Danny and his wife, Linda (Amy Carlson), “that will affect everyone for years to come,” Wahlberg hints.
Selleck’s commish has his own changes to cope with. With the resignation of his frenemy Mayor Poole (David Ramsey), he has a new acting mayor to contend with. Though she’s smart and committed, “Margaret Dutton [Lorraine Bracco] has never served at the head of the table before,” Wade notes. “Her inexperience forces Frank to step outside of his domain at One Police Plaza.”
Blue Bloods, Season Premiere, Sept. 29, 10/9c, CBS
Come Join the Reagan Family Dinner
Get absolutely everything about Blue Bloods in your inbox!
Conversation25 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
G
Well, for once I'm not alone. I thought I had missed the premiere somehow........then I was confused....Linda died? Huh, what the heck? Then I asked my husband and he was as confused as I. So I'm sorry to hear that her character died and we will miss her. She was a great foil to Danny. Really enjoyed her in the show. So Amy Carlson......Linda.....you will be missed. A lot.. Peace be with your character. Peace be with you.
5
-
R
Holy freakin' crap. I missed the first ten minutes of this show's season premiere--TEN MINUTES--and I find out that **spoiler**spoiler** Linda is dead and **spoiler**spoiler** Erin's ex-husband is on the brink of death after a murder attempt.
3
-
P
I watched the whole show, they never showed Linda's death, only talked about it.
2
-
B
So disappointed that 'Linda' not in show anymore. I thought her character added a different dimension to family that was needed to balance the Regan's out.
3
-
O
Seriously, I didn't miss a second and all of a sudden, whammo, What the heck did he just say???? I couldn't believe it!!!
3
-
O
So sad they killed her off.
2
-
R
Yeah, my first shock was that Erin's ex was in the hospital and apparently touch-and-go. I thought, "Well, that must've happened quickly."
Then I hear Danny say something about not being able to talk to Linda. So I thought, hmm, maybe he still feels guilty about their house being torched. But no, that didn't seem to fit. Then I thought, hmm, maybe the stress got to them and they separated--yeah, that seems likely. But NOOOO, then they mention that Linda was DEAD. As in D-E-D, dead. Some random comment about her being on a life-flight chopper or something... even though she's never done anything like that before, not that we've ever seen, at least.
So yeah, this season opened like a bombshell I wonder if they eventually want to have Danny date again, and maybe that's why they did it??
2
-
O
"As in D-E-D, dead."
Is that a Robin Hood: Men in Tights reference I see? 😉
"
Some random comment about her being on a life-flight chopper or
something... even though she's never done anything like that before, not
that we've ever seen, at least.
"
I agree. It seemed like such a hamfisted way to off her as we've already seen her be grievously wounded twice by "gangstas" in the course of her job. Having one of them off her, or having affiliates of the gangsters who torched Danny Reagan's house off her as revenge, would've been a far better way to go about it.
Or they could've just said that she was working double shifts at the hospital or something...even saying that she, out of the shock of her house being torched, joined Doctors without Borders and is treating people in the bowels of the jungle would've been better. o_0 🙁
-
C
off cammera death OUCH thats a giant middle finger from the producers to her
1
-
-
P
We are, were, loyal fans of Blue Bloods. Anticipated this season all summer long only to be disappointed. Not in the actors but with the writers. If your going to kill off a main character why start the season with a believable story line showing Lindas death & funeral. Instead they say she died in a chopper crash while medivacing a patient? Really? she was an ER nurse. The new mayor scenario was lame at best. The whole season premier was like a 3 course meal with watered down soup. Need to fire the writers fast. Disappointed in Texas
1
-
O
I ment why not start the season with a believable plot
1
-
O
What gets me is that Blue Bloods showed Linda almost die in the line of duty at least twice already: when she was working the mobile clinic in the 'hood, and when she was shot at the hospital while trying to rehab the kid who decided to become a "gangsta".
If they were bent on killing Linda Reagan off then something like that, or saying that affiliates of the gangsters who blew up their house whacked her in revenge, or that some scum who were angered at her family (lawyers, cops, and her deadbeat brother have enemies aplenty) offed her, would've been far better IMO.
-
C
I totally agree and was disappointed in not being prepared to hear that Linda had died when at the last episode, Season 7, she was at the dinner table. Some bad writing here and the rest of the show was drab. Were there new writers perhaps?
-
G
I completely agree. I thought the Season 8 opening episode was poorly written and for the most part, poorly acted. The character of Linda Reagan has been very central to the success of the story. The explanation regarding Linda's death was very weak. The scenes depicting Frank's "firing" were not believable - just not well done all the way around.
-
O
Writers please write Linda back in an make this all a bad dream that Danny's going threw since the burning down of house...that's a believable plot and I bet you won't loose 1000s maybe millions of watchers who love the whole family dianamics that Linda added to the Reagan's not being born one. Please reconsider what you've done ! I'm saddened an don't even wont to watch anymore cause blue bloods wasn't one of "those shows"....samamomw/hope
-
-
C
We were really surprised that Linda died off the show had me in tears she will definitely be missed
1
-
R
I watched last season finale just to see if I missed something? NO, ended with her alive at the dinner table. Did she die at the Last Supper, where did this helicopter come from?
1
-
B
Wow. The only quicker release I've ever seen was when she was a paramedic/firefighter on,I think it was, ER. A guy was racing his car through an intersection and ran through the red light and T-Boned another car. She arrived on the Engine and there was a fire under the hood of the race car. She jumped on the hood to try to pry it open and the nitrous bottle blew up. She came down on her back and was looking up and the bottom half of her body landed 50 feet away. I think she lasted 30 seconds there. I feel like I was left out of this one altogether. I also feel like she was a calming soul on this show, and she will be missed. She is a gifted actress. Why was she written out so fast?
-
B
I watched the entire episode and I was shocked about Linda being killed off but I also went back to season five and counted and out side of the dinner scenes from season five thru seven Amy Carlson only had 18 episodes where she had more than just the dinner scene.Thats out of 66 episodes and the way they killed her sucked due to her never doing or the show mentioning that Linda was a flight nurse.Amy Carlson did fulfill her contact which ended last season and I wonder if anyone else noticed that only Danny was grieving her.Jack and Sean seemed to care more about a real back yard and not be fazed by the death of their mother.the Reagan family still mourn the lost of Joe but a few months and Danny needs to move on from the love of his life who he was married to for 21 years I am very disappointed in BlueBloods writers and producers
-
O
I am really disappointed in the loss of the
character of Linda Reagan, both as a wife and mother but a nurse. I thought the whole episode could have been better orchestrated , Frank was home and didn't even mention the attempted murder of his former son-in-law.
Too many big stories
I often feel that they kill off married characters so the spouse can have a new romance. I think Amy Carlson did a great job depicting a woman of her own in a big, powerful family
I would like to see Frank retire and find and reinvent himself while we all keep watching, how much can he take!
I can't take much more of Jamie and his partner playing chicken, get together already!
-
O
On Hawaii 5-0, the two main Asian actors left the show after a public row with its producers. Those producers, in turn, wrote their characters out by simply reassigning them to mainland assignments.
Danny Reagan's first partner on Blue Bloods became a primadonna and got herself canned from the show, and she was somewhat gracefully written out (and was even invited back to star in another CBS show, NCIS)
"Linda Reagan" leaves the show "on the down low" and she's ham-fistedly offed. So is the takeaway here that if an actor is to leave the show, he has to publicly pitch a fit lest the show screw over his character?
-
R
Actually in the very first episode (pilot) of the show, Danny had a male partner. I think. Jennifer Esposito didn't appear as his partner until the 3rd or 4th episode.
But yeah, I'm really quite surprised that the show managed to keep this a secret for the past four months.
-
O
Jennifer Esposito has an illness that caused her to be on and off the show so they let her go. She was never referred to as a prima donna that I heard.
1
-
P
Yes, Jennifer was ill. Then she went over to NCIS for a season, but is not back this season. I wonder if Blue Bloods let Amy Carlson go, or if she wanted to be let out of her contract...
1
-
O
I'd forgotten about that. I remembered that they recast Nikki after the pilot.
So this show has churned through more characters than I'd thought.
But I still wonder why Linda Reagan had to be killed off, when Hawaii 5-0 just wrote (its actors who left) out of the show. It's not inconceivable to have written her out, as it seems to me that we've had some episodes already over the years where Nikki, Henry, Linda, and even Jamie have barely featured.
-
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services