If you’re a big fan of the television show Blue Bloods, you have probably noticed by now that one of the major characters in the show, Linda, is no longer there. If you’re having trouble remembering or you just recently started watching, Linda was played by Amy Carlson. In reality, Carlson decided that it was time for her to explore other options after eight rewarding seasons on the show. Although the decision was difficult, she chose to exit at the conclusion of season 8 and therefore, the season 9 premiere started with news of her character’s death.
This was a little bit difficult for the producers of the show because they readily admit that everyone who plays on there has become something of an extended family. As such, they truly felt like they did have a death in the family in a manner of speaking. It was difficult for the actors as well, who had gotten used to acting alongside Amy Carlson for a number of years. In the show, she played the wife of Detective Danny Reagan. In real life, the entire cast was struggling with her absence. The storyline might have made it even more difficult, as it hinted that she had been murdered. However, it actually served two purposes. It gave writers an opportunity to explore certain storylines that would not have been possible otherwise, effectively reinvigorating the show and igniting an interest among new and old fans alike. It also gave the actors an opportunity to get through their emotions on camera. Many of the emotions that you see in the episodes are very genuine, as they have struggled to find a new identity without a key cast member.
One of the things about Blue Bloods is that the show is simultaneously creative and frustrating at times when it comes to its storytelling. Writers manage to hook onto these great storylines but they keep people hanging for so long that you’re ready to scream before the story finally gets resolved. In some cases, they simply play with your mind and it’s never resolved, leaving you to think up all kinds of scenarios in your mind. Such is the case with Linda Reagan’s death. You can bet that this is a story that will be stretched out over a very long period of time, one that the writers will tantalize audience members with from time to time. From their standpoint, it only makes sense to do so. They have an opportunity to draw more audience members in and keep their attention by focusing on aspects of the story and they also get to create some emotional storylines based from a single moment in time. They’d be crazy not to take advantage of it, even if it does keep fans waiting with bated breath.
In short, the same thing happened here that happens to a lot of television shows that are successful enough to continue on for a number of years. It never fails. People have a tendency to come and go once they’ve been doing a show for so long. For an actor, it can start to feel like they’re stagnant in the water when they’ve been playing the same character over and over again for almost a decade. If you stop and think about it, you don’t even run into that many individuals who manage to hold down a single job for a period of 10 years or more, so it’s asking a lot of an actor to keep playing the same role day in and day out without exploring anything different.
When it’s all said and done, the reason Amy Carlson left the show is for exactly those same reasons. She simply wanted to have an opportunity to stretch her wings and see what else she could do. One of the biggest fears of actors who play the same role for a long period of time is being typecast into that role, making it extremely difficult for them to get anything that deviates from that particular type of character. Since they love being challenged and playing other roles that are very different, it only makes sense that this could start to weigh heavily on an individual after they’ve been doing the same thing for so long.
There’s no doubt that her absence will be felt. Her character was a force to be reckoned with and she will be missed. However, the storylines that occur because of her death are even more riveting than many of the episodes that were previously aired.
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