While the death of Amy Carlson’s Linda on Blue Bloods was certainly shocking, there are specific details that make her death even more tragic. The series was unfortunately canceled after Blue Bloods season 14, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the show’s history was lost to fans. And it wasn’t a total loss, since Blue Bloods spinoff Boston Blue has already been announced. However, those who wanted to see many of the flagship series’ questions answered are still, unfortunately, at a loss.

One of those questions happens to involve Danny’s wife, Linda. The fact that Blue Bloods is joining the list of canceled CBS shows hardly matters because Linda died well before the series received its death knell. Linda died offscreen between season 7 and season 8 due to a helicopter crash, a job she was called to participate in because a patient needed an airlift. But while her death would be tragic under any circumstances, Linda’s upsetting exit was disappointing for other reasons as well. In fact, there was arguably no worse time to kill her off.

Amy’s Prominence In Blue Bloods Was Growing When Linda Was Killed

She Was One Of The Series’ Most Optimistic Characters

Amy Carlson took a long time to get main cast billing as Linda. She became a series regular in season 2, but she was then only granted “also starring” billing. She didn’t really get main cast status until season 5, but her first two seasons didn’t entirely do justice to her core character traits. Linda’s optimism was great, but getting shot in season 5 led to most of her season 6 storyline revolving around nearly constant arguments with Danny. For a while, it wasn’t even certain their marriage would survive.

Things took a major turn in season 7. Not only was Linda back to being the optimistic self she was before initially becoming a series regular, but Linda also narrowly escaped being in her house when it was firebombed, leaving her and Danny homeless. After struggling to deal with the realities of Danny’s job over the past two seasons, she was suddenly given a new reason to doubt the safety of her family all over again. But rather than pay off this storyline, the series cratered Linda with a helicopter offscreen before season 8.

Why Linda Was Killed Off In Blue Bloods

It Turned Out To Be A Surprisingly Tame Reveal

Danny reveals in the first episode of season 8 that Linda died in a helicopter crash. Naturally, many assumed this was due to some behind-the-scenes change. As it turns out, there was no real drama. Amy Carlson’s exit from Blue Bloods simply occurred because Carlson’s contract had run out, and she decided not to renew it for further seasons. She’d been on the show for more than half a dozen years, and she merely left to tackle other characters. It was a rather natural progression for an actor.

That said, she later made it clear that she would have been willing to come back for at least one episode. Amy wasn’t happy about the way her character was killed off. In particular, Amy Carlson didn’t love that her character was killed offscreen between seasons (via Deadline). Had they asked her to return to shoot a death scene, she would have been willing to do so for the sake of the fans who felt the loss of her character.

How Linda’s Death Changed Blue Bloods (& How It Will Impact Boston Blue)

Danny Didn’t Date Much After Her Death