By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Voight and Woods’ back-and-forth battle came to an end during Chicago P.D.‘s Season 5 finale, with rather tragic consequences for one third party.
Following the prison stabbing last week, Olinsky is taken to a hospital. Meanwhile, Voight is about to confess to killing Bingham, on the record, to free his friend when he gets a call. He rushes to the hospital and tells a barely conscious Olinsky, “You be strong. You hang in there.” To his credit, Olinsky replies, “I got this.” But sadly, he doesn’t. A passing doctor tells Voight that his pal didn’t make it. The Intelligence boss then informs his unit, who have expectedly emotional reactions to the loss. Halstead storms out of the room, while Ruzek comforts a crying Burgess, who is later tasked with packing up Olinsky’s desk. (Surely, there’s some underling who could have handled that?)
In the aftermath, Voight funnels all his energy into finding out who killed Olinsky, and even goes so far as to “interrogate” an inmate in a prison supply closet. When Antonio is horrified to see the prisoner beaten bloody — Olinsky wouldn’t want this, he says — Voight claims that the other man tried to choke him with his handcuffs. The tension between the two grows after Voight finds the person who ordered the kill and shoots him dead. Antonio arrives right after the gunfire, so he doesn’t know for sure what happened. Voight says the man was reaching for a gun, but the witnesses on the neighboring rooftop exclaim that Voight shot him in cold blood. After the higher-ups call in both detectives, Antonio notes that he can’t confirm or deny what Voight did, which ruffles Ruzek’s feathers. As far as Ruzek sees it, Voight took out a career criminal who was responsible for their friend’s death, so how can he not support that?
As for Woods, he finds a witness of his own, who claims to have seen Voight and Bingham together the night of the murder. However, the witness wants $20,000, which Woods gives to her on the condition that she exaggerate what she saw to seal the case. Later, Voight tells Woods that he doesn’t understand the difference between dirty and necessary. While Woods hurts innocents for his own ambition, Voight bends the rules to put away the truly evil and dangerous. Then Voight asks about the witness, even mentioning her by name. Yes, he set up Woods, who is arrested by Internal Affairs for bribing the fake witness. But the victory is bittersweet, as Olinsky is still dead, and the episode ends with an emotional Voight drinking, punching a door and breaking down as he cries, “I’m sorry, Al. So sorry.”
On the topic of the heartbreaking death, showrunner Rick Eid told TVLine, “From a creative perspective, it was a decision that evolved organically from the ongoing storyline between Voight and Woods. The writers and I kept coming back to this idea that Voight’s decision to kill Bingham should cost him something. Over time, we landed on the notion that Olinsky should be the person to pay for Voight’s sin because Voight admired and loved him so much.”
“From a business perspective, however, this was an extremely difficult decision,” Eid continued. “[Longtime series regular] Elias [Koteas] is a terrific actor and a good person. He’s also been an important part of the show since the very beginning. So this part of the process was really challenging. But Elias handled the news like a true professional and remained committed to the show and his character until the final shot. We will miss him dearly.”
P.D. fans, how are you feeling after Olinsky’s demise? Grade the season ender below, then hit the comments with your thoughts.
Bring Al back. A passing doctor told Hank so why couldn’t that have been a mistake and they can bring Al back. No one saw Al after surgery. There is still a way to bring him back.
IT WAS REALLY 👍 GOOD!!!! I WILL REALLY MISS AL THOUGH!!!!
Chicago PD is one of my favorite shows but didn’t like AL leaving. He was one of my favorites and they killed him off. I’m mad about that. They could have ended it better than that.
Right! It’s like killing off Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Really ridiculous Killing off Olinsky was a mistake. The show just won’t be the same without character. Definitely lost this viewer won’t be watching next season. 🙄
Lucky you. I’m stuck with having made the husband a fan, and he will probably still watch. Computer laptop time, coming up.
Just got threw watching CPD. OMG! It was so so sad I cried so much I hope this isn’t the end of Chicago PD
Officially announced today that there will be a season 6.
I won’t watch it when the series returns first Sophia Now Olinsky! I’m from Chicago I reside in Las Vegas now! Worst ending yet! So long to one of my Favorite Shows
Killing Al was the last straw for me. We had to sit through Erin WHINE about her mother, her friend blah blah etc for over 2 seasons while real talent in Koteas was just a side note. He was the real anchor for the show. No reason to watch any more.
Getting Woods was awesome. Killing Al was horrible. Bring Al back. He is my favorite character. I May not watch next year without Al
CANNOT STAND RUZEK! It was only a few episodes ago that he was going on about not lying for that cop-turned-informant who lost his career as a result of a questionable shot. The cop kept telling Ruzek he was in the right but Ruzek kept insisting he would NOT lie for him because he didn’t see it and the cop lost everything. But now he goes off on Antonio for doing the same thing, telling the truth! And earlier in the season, he was mad at Upton for not lying for him when he was brutal with a witness. He thinks he is the next Voight, but he is even worse – a hypocrite!
I agree. He has been all over the place this season, fixing dui’s for his sister, getting played by Woods, unfairly profiling blacks until called out by Atwater, and yes, not lying for that cop but expecting others to lie when it affects him. He’s also has some real anger management issues. Burgess needs to look for a more mature man :-)
Agreed. They are both awful Chicago PD does not show police officers in avoid light. Most of the police in Intelligence are criminals. It’s terrifying.
Stupid autocorrect. Chicago PD does not show police officers in a good light.
Really liked Olinsky in the first few seasons but this season he rarely appeared (until last few episodes) and when he did, his character seemed so tired, and spoke with such a soft monotone voice, I had to use close caption to understand what he said. And no, I am not old and hard of hearing! It just seemed like all the energy was sucked from his scenes, sadly. I was really wondering if he was suffering from an illness of some type. With that being said, the actor brought an interesting character to the show the last five seasons, and it is sad to see his demise as a suspected felon instead of the long-serving policeman he was . . .
I expected someone would die. They have entirely too many characters and subplots. I honestly thought it would be Atwater cause he’s the weakest character and an obvious Token glorified extra. The writers do not respect Atwater. He gets linked by every intelligence male member. It’s pathetic. Put him out of his misery for God’s sake!
No longer going to watch Chicago P.D. after they killed Al. His character was compassionate, had integrity and was loyal…Wow, Mistake, BIG mistake! Erasing Chicago P.D. from by DVR now.
Compassionate, yes but integrity? not so sure. He and Voight have hidden bodies going way, way back. And I don’t see planting heroin on a witness as an act of integrity. I guess an act of desperation but he didn’t care that it could ruin that man’s life. And loyalty is a good thing unless it is blind loyalty where you hurt not only yourself but those around you. I think the difference between Voight and Al was that at least in the beginning, Al had a conscience about what they were doing. Sorry to see the demise of that and of him. But I will still watch next season to see the aftereffects.
Hey, the husband says, “If they can bring back Dan Conner, they can bring back Olinsky.” He’s got a point. Hint, hint to Dick Wolf.
Just wish it didn’t have to go that way! Love Al’s character and will miss him! Thought that was the plot twist after getting Woods maybe Al was hiding out until next show! I guess not😢
Btw im still going to watch the show! Love this show, my favorite out of all!! Sometimes characters are killed off, no reason to stop watching!
I just wished that they hadn’t killed off Elias. He was my favorite character.
I just wished that Elias was not killed off. He was my favorite character.
I wish they would have left it in a way that Olinsky could come back. I really liked him and will miss him.
I have absolutely no sympathy for Voight. Fans act like he is a hero and idolize him but HE is the reason Alvin Olinksy is dead. He should have manned up before Al was even arrested instead of letting him take the fall. And I hate that Voight does not even see or apparently care how his actions can affect his unit, possibly destroying their careers as well. And I hate that people are angry with Antonio for being the ONLY person on the team to question what is going on and to have the audacity to tell the truth! Only on Chicago PD is ethics considered a bad thing!
1000% agree about Voight. I was so angry with him all episode long. Antonio was totally in the right. I also think Halstead and Upton take the same view of things as Antonio, but they have a little less seniority, so they just stayed mum while Antonio confronted Voight about it.
We need real Cops like Voight, Sure the Guy wasn’t reaching but He was a Pivotal Cartel King Pin and behind killing Olinsky, Voights Partner and Best Friend and a Pillar to his peers in his Dept and Unit. The Goody Two Shoes as the story line goes does go overboard about caring if the Demons get roughed up but—. Too many cops are Getting Killed at Present due to the Liberal Movement,Cut loose Voight Drones on the Crime Spree Plaguing our nation and All will be safe again. Hated to see the other Female Cop leave and the Character who plays Voight is the Perfect Choice. If I miss the Show especially when Sports I don’t watch anymore due to the Kneeling Issue blocks it out I freak out. Chicago PD knows how to make the Perps Pay the way they deserve and that is with the Iron Hand of the Law. Which at Present is Extinct due to Democrats Insanity.
Cops getting killed at present due to the Liberal Movement? What in the hell does that even mean? Laws exist to protect people, including those who may be charged and NOT have commited a crime. And yes, there are people who are charged but are innocent. Thank God laws exist to protect all of us. And that has nothing to do with being conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, in your political views.
Bring AL back tell me he still alive he really makes the show! !
Thank you
This show now has my permission to go straight to hell where it belongs.
I don’t think Al is dead. No funeral. There is a surprise somewhere to bring Al back but I think it will be to stop Voight for taking lives and lying about his reasons. He’s a great cop but a dirty cop. And it’s bleedinv into the squad.
I just had to say I was really tickled by a scene in Chicago mad this week a patient asked doctor Charles played by Oliver Platt to hand him a book out of a Box the book that doctor Charles handed him was John Grisham’s a time to kill yet rOliver Platt also had a part in that movie as attorney named Harry Rex Vonner. I just wondered if Oliver Platt knew what the book was he was going to be handing to the patient or was it was a surprise to him I sure enjoyed it!
Amazing episode. Felt like the old days of CPD. I wasn’t that surprised Al was killed, he hasn’t had any real storylines since his daughter’s death. However I do wish that Voight had arrested the guy instead of killing him but I guess they need a some drama for next season. I am going to miss Olinsky so much and I wish we could’ve gotten one last scene between him and Ruzek since Al was the one to take a chance on him.
That scene between Woods and Voight was fantastic and I am really happy that Voight finally addressed the issue about him being dirty. Agree 100% with what he said, I’ve never seen Voight as dirty. I know I may be in the minority, when I say this, but I think the world need people like him.
Can’t wait for season 6 and I do hope that Platt gets a decent story next season.
Thanks Elias for a great character. Will be looking for your next project. This should set up an interesting sixth season. How will the team deal with the loss of Al and Voight’s involvement? Keep turning their heads and pretending nothing was done improperly? Antonio is only one with balls to ask the questions they all must be thinking but I’m sure he will take a lot of heat for it. What is up with Ruzek? His character has been all over the place this season, fixing dui’s for his sister and getting played by Woods, unfairly profiling blacks until called out by Atwater and yes, refusing to lie for another cop but then expecting others to lie when it affects him. He has also shown anger management issues. Burgess needs to look for a more mature man :-)