The official premise for the Chicago PD season 11 finale offers an idea about how Hailey Upton will leave Intelligence. As if Hank Voight’s team hasn’t suffered enough losses in the last few years, it is once again facing a major departure when Tracy Spiridakos exits One Chicago. Just a year after Jesse Lee Soffer’s Jay Halstead walked away from Chicago PD, Upton’s upcoming arc will inform how she will decide to leave the tight-knit team.
Ahead of the Chicago PD season 11 finale, NBC (via TV Line) released the official synopsis for the episode titled “More.” The brief teases the end of the multi-episode arc about the serial killer who murdered Noah, meaning there will be a substantial focus on Voight. At the very end, however, a small revelation about Upton being at a crossroads hints at how she will leave the show. Read the release below:
As the months-long investigation into the serial killer reaches its close, Voight must outsmart the offender in a race against the clock. Upton must make a vital decision.
How Will Chicago PD Write Out Spiridakos’ Upton?
There’s One Easy Way To Explain Upton’s Exit.
One Chicago has been plagued with exits. Like the Dick Wolf franchise, Chicago PD is no stranger to losing major players, and every time, it has found a way to move forward because Intelligence’s work doesn’t stop. Still, there needs to be ample care when crafting a way to explain a departure, especially for a long-time cast member like Spiridakos. Luckily, Chicago PD doesn’t have to go to great lengths to do this because there’s already an existing plot that could pave the way for her to leave Voight’s team and perhaps even Chicago.
The easiest way to write Upton out of Chicago Fire is toresolve her ongoing marital issue with Halstead. At the start of season 10, her husband abruptly left Chicago for Bolivia, supposedly to find himself after a decade of working in Intelligence — as if it was the worst thing to happen to him. Despite the separation, he promised that it would just be temporary, but he still hasn’t returned. The pair is supposedly in the process of divorcing, but Halstead returning in time to reconcile with her would be the most straightforward way to explain Upton’s exit from Intelligence.
Soffer is already confirmed to be involved in the police procedural, albeit behind the scenes as a director. However, this increases the chances of Halstead appearing in Chicago PD season 11 and making that potential arc a reality. Regardless, hopefully, Spiridakos gets a better send-off than Soffer got.
Chicago PD season 11 airs every Wednesday, 10pm ET on NBC.
