Blue Bloods season 8: Is Amy Carlson leaving as Linda Reagan?

Is Amy Carlson leaving Blue Bloods … or has she already left? This was one of the big questions for many people the moment that they saw the opening credits for the episode and realized that she was not a part of them. Not only that, but she was missing from the family dinner shot.

There was no news of Carlson’s departure from the show over the summer, and this only added to the mystery — she was a part of the press release for the premiere, as well, which only added to the blindside factor of her not being present in the story. It was pretty darn clear in the opening moments that something had happened to her, and that was what we are spending the premiere episode trying to figure out. It was one of the reasons why Danny was in therapy, as he tried to handle some of the grief that he felt and whether or not he wanted to keep fighting as a part of the police force. They made it through the fire, but did they suffer through something else devastating?

No matter what the answer was when it comes to Linda Reagan, we had a feeling that it was going to be terrible and a depressing way to start the season. (Update: We now know what happened, but there spoilers below. Read at your own risk.)

The truth about what happened – May 28th. This was a date Danny had referenced earlier in the episode, and it just so happened to be the date that Linda died over the summer. What happened to her? According to Danny’s therapist she died in a helicopter crash airlifting a patient. this was tragic, but completely unrelated to the fire or anything else that happened at the end of season 7. Danny still struggled to let it go, and blamed the circumstances of his job for it transpiring.

Could we have predicted this? – For the record, there were some signs that something was up even before this episode aired, as Carlson posted a rather cryptic message on Instagram earlier this month (see below) discussing a time of “rebirth.” These are the sort of things you don’t know to look for when you assume someone is still going to be a part of the show. As of this writing Carlson has not directly commented on Linda’s departure, but we’ll update if she does.

We will miss Carlson, and we congratulate her on playing a wonderful character for many seasons on the show. She brought so much heart and relatability to Linda and will be dearly missed. Hopefully there are more great things coming her way. You can view a statement from her HERE.

(Photo: CBS.)