Even after so many seasons of “Blue Bloods,” it remains one of the most consistently top-notch police procedurals of its day, delivering riveting stories week after week. Centered on a family of police officers, the show stars Tom Selleck as NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan and Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, and Will Estes as his children, who all work in different capacities in the New York law enforcement community. Each week, members of the family hunt down criminals and seek justice for victims on the streets.
Though each episode usually ends with a moral and a lesson discussed over a lively family dinner, the stories themselves are packed with excitement and high drama. From nail-biting chases through the streets of New York and tense shoot-outs to heartfelt moments of family, friendship, love, and loss, “Blue Bloods” runs the gamut.
But one of the show’s biggest strengths is also its ability to tug at the heartstrings, delivering moving moments that have brought audiences to tears time and time again. Across the show’s many seasons, we’ve found a select few that stand as the saddest of them all. So grab the tissues as we look back and rank the saddest moments in “Blue Bloods.”
Danny tries to help a fellow vet
The cops of “Blue Bloods” investigate all kinds of cases each week, and they treat them all with the same dedication they would if the victims were their own flesh and blood. But in the Season 4 episode “Unfinished Business,” Danny Reagan investigates an assault whose circumstances hit a little too close to home. On top of helping the victims and stopping the perpetrator, Danny finds himself wanting to help the very man who’s wanted for beating his wife and abducting his own son.
Alongside his partner Maria Baez, Danny discovers that the man wanted in connection with the assault and kidnapping is John Russell, a military veteran like himself, and one who may be suffering from severe PTSD. Having gone through a similar situation during his time in the armed forces and come out the other side with scars of his own, Danny is determined to get the child returned home safely, while also helping the veteran. It all culminates in a shocking climax and one of the series’ saddest moments, with the ex-soldier standing on a ledge, unable to cope with his seemingly endless suffering. Danny gets Russell’s son out safely, but despite his best efforts, the man throws himself over the edge, taking his own life as Danny is forced to watch in horror.
Finding Joe’s killer
When “Blue Bloods” began its run, we met the Reagan family still reeling from the death of Frank’s son Joe. His killer was still unknown, and it wasn’t until the end of Season 1 that the identity of the trigger man came to light. When it did, it was a sad moment not just because of Joe’s death, but because of how it all went down. The truth is revealed in “The Blue Templar,” a story that centers on a secret order of police that’s been around for decades.
Getting information on Joe’s death leads the family to members of the Blue Templar. Not only does the Reagan family finally get closure on the death of their kin in a soul-shattering moment when they get their man, but it’s even more devastating to learn that Joe’s death came at the hands of a dirty cop — Sonny Malevsky. As the leader of the corrupt Blue Templar, he knew Joe was investigating his secret organization. This episode is both one of the saddest in the show’s run and one of the best “Blue Bloods” episodes, capping off the season-long story arc while also confronting issues of police corruption.
An anniversary loss
When an episode of “Blue Bloods” has a title like “Officer Down,” you know it’s not going to have a happy ending. And that’s exactly the case with this Season 1 episode, which guest stars Maggie Steele as NYPD officer Michelle Martin. As the episode begins, a group of bank robbers posing commit a daring heist at a diamond exchange. Heavily armed, they take a group of hostages, force a man to get them into the vault, and escape with a major score before Officer Martin intervenes.
Coming upon the scene, Martin draws her sidearm but is gunned down in cold blood by the thieves, who show no mercy and leave her to die on the pavement. The episode deals with the emotional fallout as the Reagans and the rest of the NYPD reel from the death of one of their own. This moment is made all the more poignant by Martin’s initial introduction, where we learn that she was preparing for a big night with her husband. It was their wedding anniversary.
Able to draw in the audience even with the death of a momentary guest star, this episode opens with a shocking tragedy and never gets any easier.
Frank’s regret
Cold cases are such compelling stories that there’s an entire series about them. Well, “Blue Bloods” has done them too. Season 1’s “Little Fish” sees the return of a decades-old case after new evidence is discovered. The situation becomes particularly tricky because it was Frank Reagan who failed to find the killer in his early days as an NYPD cop.
The discovery takes place during renovations on a home, where among the architectural framework are found the skeletal remains of a 9-year-old boy. The shocking nature of the find is sad enough, but then it’s learned that the body is that of a missing persons case from 25 years prior, and it was Frank who’d failed to solve it. The normally steely-stomached commissioner loses his composure, unable to deal with the fact that he let a killer go.
Compounding this reminder of one of his greatest failures is that when the killer is finally found, it’s revealed to be the same man Frank had questioned about the crime decades before. Not only that, but the murder weapon is a missing hammer that Frank had noted in his case file.
Danny breaks down
The death of a major character is always a candidate for a series’ saddest moment. But the death of Linda Reagan — Danny’s wife — actually happened off-screen between Seasons 7 and 8 after actor Amy Carlson opted not to renew her contract with the series. As a result, audiences weren’t able to feel the weight of her loss by seeing her die in the course of an episode. Instead, we were forced to deal with the aftermath, which, in some ways, was even more gut-wrenching. In the Season 8 premiere, “Cutting Losses,” the family tries to keep Danny busy to keep his mind off of the loss.
Though later episodes reveal more about Linda’s death and its connection to a notorious criminal, it’s the premiere that delivers the arc’s saddest moment. Still unable to cope with the death of his wife, Danny breaks down in a mess of tears as he unleashes all of his anguish, finally confronting his feelings in a moment that anyone who’s ever lost a loved one can understand.