Blue Bloods spawned 293 episodes all through its 14 seasons. Whereas the overwhelming majority of those episodes make for compelling viewing, a choose few episodes left an indelible impression on the recollections of long-time viewers. Considered one of these particular episodes is the Season 5 finale, “The Artwork of Battle,” through which the Reagan household is plunged into disaster whereas coping with the actual risk that one in all them would possibly die. Every of the remaining relations, led by Danny and Frank, should ask themselves how far they’re keen to go to realize justice.
Now that Donnie Wahlberg has reprised the position of Danny Reagan within the upcoming Blue Bloods spin-off sequence Boston Blue, there may be renewed concentrate on Danny’s previous, particularly by way of why Danny determined to relocate from New York to Boston for the brand new sequence. For this goal, “The Artwork of Battle” is particularly useful, as this episode reveals Danny struggling to stability his uncooked feelings with a way of justice whereas trying to resolve one of the vital private instances in his profession. Furthermore, “The Artwork of Battle” episode, which first aired on CBS on Might 1, 2015, powerfully demonstrates the Reagan household’s indomitable capacity to shut ranks and strengthen underneath probably the most troublesome of circumstances.
A Reagan Household Member Is Shot in “The Artwork of Battle”

Blue Bloods
- Launch Date
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2010 – 2024
- Community
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CBS
- Administrators
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David Barrett, Ralph Hemecker, Alex Zakrzewski, Robert Harmon, John Behring, Alex Chapple, Jackeline Tejada, Douglas Aarniokoski, Eric Laneuville, Michael Pressman, John Polson, Heather Cappiello, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Jennifer Opresnick, Peter Werner, Donald E. Thorin Jr., Frederick King Keller, Bridget Moynahan, Dean White, Deran Sarafian, James Whitmore Jr., Martha Mitchell, Rachel Feldman, Robert Duncan McNeill
As seen with the Blue Bloods sequence finale, probably the most intense season finales are these through which the lives of the Reagan relations and their mates are imperiled. The Season 5 finale, “The Artwork of Battle,” opens straight after the conclusion of the penultimate Season 5 episode, “New Guidelines.” That episode begins with NYPD Deputy Chief Donald Kent and Kent’s spouse, each shut mates of Frank Reagan’s, being shot and killed by a vicious gang referred to as the Warrior Kings.
After Frank assigns the case to Danny, with the expectation of Danny following the foundations of regulation, Danny focuses on getting info from Hector, a gang affiliate who witnessed the hit and has been hospitalized with a bullet wound, on the hospital the place Danny’s spouse, Linda, performed by Amy Carlson, is employed as a nurse. Curtis Turner, a gang recruit who works as an orderly on the hospital, enters Hector’s room with a gun to kill Hector whereas Linda is tending to him. The episode ends with Linda shifting in entrance of Hector simply earlier than a number of gunshots erupt inside a black display.

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As “The Artwork of Battle” opens, it’s revealed that Hector and Linda have been each shot by the fleeing Curtis. Whereas Hector later dies, Linda is taken into surgical procedure, simply as Danny arrives on the hospital. Pushed by a necessity for justice and revenge, Danny units out to search out the perpetrator or perpetrators whereas being consumed by the thought that Linda won’t make it. Danny’s frenzied emotional state leads him to conflict with Frank, who inserts himself into the case whereas urging Danny to manage his rage. If “The Artwork of Battle” merely encompassed the private nature of this battle for Danny, with the added uncertainty of Linda’s situation, it could be a superior episode.
Nonetheless, what units “The Artwork of Battle” aside from most different Blue Bloods episodes is the way it frequently unleashes surprises by subverting expectations. As a substitute of giving in to his impulse for revenge, Danny ultimately depends on cleverness and intelligence gathering to catch the gang member who killed the Kent couple and ordered the hit on Hector. Earlier than ending with the touching sight of a recovering Linda becoming a member of the Reagan household’s Sunday dinner desk through speakerphone, “The Artwork of Battle” supplies a most satisfying comeuppance scene through which Frank visits the Warrior King’s imprisoned ringleader, Clinton Wallace, who’s surprised to appreciate that his life jail sentence simply bought so much worse.
Linda Was Killed on ‘Blue Bloods’ in a Contract Dispute
Whereas Linda survived being shot within the Season 5 finale, contractual points ultimately led to the character’s demise. Throughout the filming of the seventh-season episodes of Blue Bloods, Amy Carlson declined to resume her contract to play the position of Linda within the present’s eighth season, thus forcing the present’s artistic group to eradicate the character. On Might 28, 2017, between the Season 7 finale, “The Skinny Blue Line,” and the Season 8 premiere episode, “Reducing Losses,” Linda dies in a helicopter crash whereas tending to a affected person the crew is airlifting to a hospital.
Within the Season 9 premiere episode, “Taking part in with Hearth,” drug cartel member Luis Delgado, who was liable for the earlier firebombing of Danny’s home, tacitly admits that Delgado’s cartel was behind Linda’s demise. This revelation leads Danny to primarily instigate Delgado’s homicide by releasing Delgado in entrance of his crew and due to this fact making him appear like a snitch, thus sealing his destiny.

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Carlson’s sudden and surprising departure from Blue Bloods precluded a correct demise scene for Linda, whose demise is revealed in “Reducing Losses” as a postscript, as Danny speaks of his sense of grief and loss to a therapist. Simply as “The Artwork of Battle” serves as a becoming tribute to Linda’s life and her presence on the present, “Reducing Losses” may be very efficient in displaying how Danny makes an attempt to course of the shock of Linda’s demise whereas carrying on along with his life. Certainly, the haunting sight of Linda’s empty chair on the Reagan household dinner desk reverberated all through the remainder of the sequence, and definitely past.
“The Artwork of Battle” Is not the Greatest ‘Blue Bloods’ Episode
Some of the necessary characters in Blue Bloods is a personality who primarily exists by way of recollections and photos. That is Frank’s departed son, Joe Reagan, who was murdered within the line of responsibility on Might 15, 2009, roughly 15 months earlier than the present started. The primary-season finale, “The Blue Templar,” resolves the thriller behind Joe’s homicide, revealing {that a} group of corrupt law enforcement officials often called the Blue Templar killed Joe after he infiltrated their ranks. Within the episode, Frank discovers that the corrupt officers murdered Joe after he bought too near exposing the group, which Frank dismantles within the episode.
Whereas “The Artwork of Battle” is commonly listed as being among the many present’s finest episodes, “The Blue Templar” is mostly known as being the present’s finest episode. Certainly, “The Blue Templar” episode is commonly spoken of by Blue Bloods followers in distinctly reverential phrases, particularly with the episode’s emotionally overpowering concluding sequence, through which Frank and the remainder of his surviving relations go away their conventional Sunday dinner after which make their technique to Joe’s grave to pay their respects. In fact, along with Joe’s enduring presence, his legacy manifested itself on Blue Bloods by way of the introduction of Joe Hill, an NYPD detective, performed by Will Hochman, who was revealed to be Joe’s organic son within the present’s Tenth-season finale. Blue Bloods is streaming on Paramount+ and Hulu.