Chicago P.D. Boss Talks ‘Upstead’ Closure and Tracy Spiridakos’ Upcoming Exit — Will Halstead Appear?
Tracy Spiridakos is leaving Chicago P.D. as Det. Hailey Upton in the upcoming Season 11 — premiering Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10/9c on NBC — and now we have a good idea of when.
Showrunner Gwen Sigan tells TVLine that the actress will make her exit much later than expected.
“[Tracy] gave us a lot of leeway, which is a very kind thing to do, so we have a full season with her,” the P.D. boss shares. “We’ll have plenty of time to come up with a very satisfying ending for her character.”
Spiridakos first recurred in Season 4 before joining Intelligence full-time in Season 5. Season 10, which wrapped up in May, saw Upton struggling with her husband Jay Halstead’s (played by Jesse Lee Soffer) departure in the season’s third episode. After heading to Bolivia to track the worst cartel targets, Halstead had stopped returning her calls and neglected to tell her that he extended his stay.
With Upton and Halstead’s marriage left uncertain, Sigan says that there will be a conclusion to that storyline this season.
“I do think there will be closure,” she says. “I do think that we’re going to see Upton deal with a lot of what happened last year with the fallout and find her way through it and find her way out to the other side — and to a better side for her character.”
The EP adds that Upton will find her way to a “healthy, better side, so there will be closure.”
As for a potential appearance from Jesse Lee Soffer’s Halstead, Sigan notes that currently, there are “no plans to bring him back at this point for anything, but I never say never.”
What do you hope to see when Chicago P.D. returns for Season 11 next week?
Yeah sounds like I won’t be watching this season. Upstead deserved to have a happy ever after.
The big bombshell was that Jesse and Tracy have been dating in real life ‘for years’. Knowing that now explains a lot.
This show is going to hell…. These great actors and actresses leaving that’s too bad I used to love Chicago PD I don’t think you can top anymore episodes like the ones you already have Haley and Jesse were my two favorites too bad used to be a great show
Looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Atwater, Ruzek, Burgess & hoping that one or more of them get promoted to Detective. It’s about time. I also want to learn more about Torres & get to see more of Trudy.
Hopefully they don’t gloss over the Ruzek cliffhanger either.
Particularly with a six month time jump…. don’t tell me they are going to follow some realistic recovery timeline, unlike Burgess’s 2 weeks.
That pissed me off most of all. That story should have Burgess was the one who actually got the bullet and they made it all about Entiled Upton before waiting a whole year to close it out for Burgess herself. Especially since Upton had no issue killing Darrius Walker the season prior.
I will not watch Chicago PD again until Spiridakos has exited. DESPISED the way the show made her superior.
Why are you writing her out of the series?I watched the show because of her and Jay.Now they are both gone.
They are writing her out because she requested to move on and try something new. That’s also why it says, “[Tracy] gave us a lot of leeway, which is a very kind thing to do”, to reference that rather than her asking to be gone asap, she was willing to work a longer term storyline to lead to a proper conclusion.
Chicago PD is an ensemble show. Everything doesn’t have to revolve around Felony Barbie. There are other interesting characters that deserve more screen time & better storylines. 🙄
Hope that Jay come back at least to pick her up to go live someplace else. That’ll be a satisfactory and healthy ending for her
Haley’s character is unique. I hate to see her leave. She and Jay were good partners. Both of them leaving will really change the dynamics. Didn’t know they really dated.
She is really talented and beautiful. Great choice of actresses. They all have done exceptional acting.
Hank is awesome. His mad/angry character is portrayed with immense conviction!!
Disappointed she’s leaving, especially after we just lost Jesse last season. I couldn’t care less about Torres, hopefully her replacement next season is better.
Keep All actors. Love them all. . C p d will not be as interesting or fun if Any are gone…