The Funniest Moment In Blue Bloods Season 3

Gallows humor is a form of dark comedy where people make light of a dark or grim situation. It's designed to relieve tension when there would ordinarily be uncomfortable feelings. Perhaps that awkwardness is still there, but a joke can help relieve some stress. 

Gallows humor is particularly common in jobs that regularly deal with dark subject matter, particularly paramedics and police officers. That's why it should come as no surprise that when humor does pop up on "Blue Bloods," it's this sort of darker comedy. The Reagan family, who all work in various positions in law enforcement, regularly find themselves in grim scenarios where a joke helps make everything easier to swallow. 

That's precisely what the show's fans are treated to during Season 3, Episode 13, "Inside Jobs." The team has just come across a dead body, and upon making a disturbing discovery, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) can't help but make a joke.

While interviewing a witness to the crime scene, a paramedic approaches Danny and his temporary partner to show how they've discovered a dead rat in the victim's pants. Everyone's taken aback at first, but it's not long until Danny's cracking jokes at the rat's expense. Danny asks if the rat had any identification or last words, upon which the witness remarks on how disgusting they're being. At this point, Danny explains that these kinds of jokes are how they cope with stressful situations, which is a perfect example of gallows humor mentioned earlier.

Naturally, the rat holds some significance for the case, but it's also just kind of funny to find in a guy's pants. The bystander may not get it because he probably has a regular job that isn't as stressful, but Danny and his team need to find an outlet wherever they can. To top off the scene, Danny's partner takes a picture and instructs him to "Say cheese" in a wonderful pun.

Plus, the scene takes place during the beginning of the episode, so while it establishes what's at stake and what case we'll follow, it also offers some levity right off the bat. Audiences don't get a lot of jokes in "Blue Bloods," so this one was bound to make viewers smile and appreciate the rare instances when the show cuts loose a little bit.