It certainly isn't mentioned often. It wasn't even revealed until the finale of the show's fourth season, but in fact Det. Julio Sanchez is a widower.

The brusque, frequently belligerent and occasionally chauvinistic detective lets his softer side show in the episode, in which Brenda (the show's main character, played by Kyra Sedgwick) gets married. At the reception guests are asked to record a video message for the newlyweds, and he mentions in the video that his wife died six years earlier. He still wears the ring, showing the kind of bond the newlyweds have entered into.

This, of course, allows him to be as flirty as he wants to be without taking the ring off. It's telling, perhaps, that all of that flirtation doesn't lead anywhere.

Season 4 was a big one for Sanchez's backstory. A few episodes prior to the finale (episode 7, titled "Sudden Death," to be precise) sees his younger brother being killed in a gang murder.

The episode allows Cruz to stretch his acting legs a great deal, as his character covers a huge range of emotions in dealing with the loss. If "Double Blind" showed Sanchez's softer side, then "Sudden Death" showed both a soft side and an even harder one.

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