Why Did Amy Carlson Leave Blue Bloods?

Amy Carlson had been an essential part of Blue Bloods for seasons before her unexpected exit from the series. Starting from Season 1, she was portraying Linda Reagan, Danny’s wife, and her presence was strong enough for her to have booked a series regular status from Season 2 forward. While not a central character, she was crucial to the show — and to her on-screen husband.

Carlson’s sudden exit in the Season 8 premiere came as a shocker for fans and characters alike, and many have been wondering why’d she do it ever since.

Why Did Amy Carlson Quit?

The seemingly simple answer to this question would be, “her contact expired after Season 7 and wasn’t renewed.” But there’s something else going on here: for instance, there’s a direct conflict between what Amy Carlson’s co-stars say about her exit and what the actress herself shared with the media. Let’s start with the former.

“We were all disappointed to see that she was going. It was unfortunate that she made that decision at the end of season 7, so we were stuck with the storyline as we could get it,” Bridget Moynihan, the Erin Reagan star, claimed on PaleyFest.

Sounds like Carlson chose not to renew her contract, doesn’t it? But this comment annoyed the Linda Reagan actress who shared quite a different story later.

Amy Carlson Was Forced Out

After Bridget Moynihan’s words about the cast being “surprised” by her leaving Blue Bloods, Carlson replied with a snarky comment about not being even approached to renew her contract, which certainly leaves little room to surprises. Previously, she’d pointed out that Linda Reagan’s demise was not her choice in another interview.

“I feel badly that she dies the way she dies. I did not know they would do that. I was surprised. I wouldn't have done that,” the actress told Deadline.

From what we’ve gathered, CBS just wasn’t interested enough in bringing Amy Carlson back, so she wasn’t offered a new contract going into Season 8 — and Linda Reagan’s death was seen like a great way to add drama and a new storyline to Blue Bloods, potentially opening Danny to more romantic options in the future which we might yet see in the finale.

But Amy Carlson herself didn’t have much of a say there at all.

Source: Deadline