Amy Carlson appeared in seven seasons of Blue Bloods as Linda Reagan, the wife of Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg). The character was the one adult member of the Reagan clan who was a nurse rather than in law enforcement.

Sadly, Linda was killed off-screen between Seasons 7 and 8 when the helicopter she was in, airlifting a patient, crashed. But now, in today’s finale of Apple TV+’s arson investigation/cop drama, Smoke, Carlson makes a switch, hanging up her nursing scrubs and putting on a badge.

For her role as Captain Pearson, Carlson didn’t rely on anything she learned from Blue Bloods but rather found an actual arson detective through her friend Dianna Taylor.

“She was generous with her time with me. And we had several long conversations about approaching arson,” Carlson exclusively tells Parade. “Her passion and enthusiasm for investigating fires was infectious. I found that the most important guide into her psyche was her drive to discover the truth, as well as her loyalty and dedication to uncover it above all else.”

This isn’t Carlson’s first time playing a first responder. She starred as a paramedic on Third Watch and played a badass bounty hunter on FBI: Most Wanted. She enjoys playing active characters who constantly face their fears.

“I relish embodying their passion,” she says. “From Alex Taylor on Third Watch to more recently Jackie Ward on FBI: Most Wanted, these characters thrill me in that they act first and think second. Captain Emily Pearson on Smoke represents a different flavor in that she is also a character of action, but in a more nuanced, thoughtful way. Captain Pearson leads with her mental intuition, which sparks her into action. She uses more of a ‘spider-sense’ to quickly put pieces of a web of evidence together. When I see characters on TV that tap into their fervor for the truth, I’m inspired as a person. And possibly feeding that drive in others through a character I’ve created is a thrilling prospect.”

Inspired by true events, Smoke, created by Dennis Lehane, follows troubled detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) and enigmatic arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) as they pursue the trails of two serial arsonists.

“Dennis created this incredibly layered character of Captain Emily Pearson. And one of the characteristics of the captain that I found most important to capture is her absolutely zero level of tolerance for any B.S. She smells it like blood in the water and has a visceral reaction to it,” Carlson says.

“When she arrives on the scene, her instincts are to put all procedures up until that moment into question,” she continues. “Because she is like a bloodhound on the job, she instantly brings with her a level of attention to detail and lack of patience for anyone who is standing in the way of that degree of focus. She also finds great joy in putting her subordinates back on their heels, having to defend their actions.”

While Captain Pearson enjoys making her underlings squirm, she is not without faults of her own.

“Dennis writes amazingly deep and complicated characters. And so of course, she too has made some pretty sloppy mistakes and used poor judgment, leaving her compromised. I love that Captain Pearson has a real Achilles’ heel and some delicious flaws, and I can’t wait to see how it comes back to bite her.”

The entire season of Smoke is currently streaming on Apple TV+