Chicago PD season 5: Tracy Spiridakos talks promotion, Sophia Bush’s exit

We certainly don’t envy the position that Tracy Spiridakos is in as she approaches Chicago PD season 5. Even though she actually worked alongside Sophia Bush for a brief arc this past spring, the perception that she’ll face from many fans is that her Hailey Upton is “replacing” the Erin Lindsay character. That’s tough, given that character is so beloved and there really hasn’t been much in the way of closure to her arc.

As a matter of fact, it was only days ago that Chicago PD/One Chicago boss Dick Wolf made it clear that Bush was gone simply because she wanted to leave the show. That was it, and that’s the only information that we have about what happened.

It was inevitable that Spiridakos was asked about the subject of Bush leaving while at the TCA Summer Press Tour this week, but we have to say that she handled it with grace. Here’s what she had to say about her getting this series-regular promotion following Sophia’s departure, via The Hollywood Reporter:

“I don’t think of it as stepping into it, I think of it as stepping aside. Her presence is there, and she’s wonderful. I had so much fun working with her. And her character’s presence is involved in that. So it’s not that she’s just forgotten. And I also think that my character was there before she left and so they got to know each other a little bit beforehand. So I guess for me I just feel like Upton’s an addition to the team. I don’t think of it as a stepping-in sort of position.”

Alas, there is still no information regarding whether or not Bush will return to wrap up her storyline. Spiridakos does also note that Upton will be working alongside Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), but was not aware if there was going to be any sort of romance that came about as a result of that. If you recall, Halstead was preparing himself to propose to Lindsay at the end of this past season; we figure that he will have to be pretty rocked by some of that as he scrambles to figure out some of what his future looks like.

We did like the Hailey character when she was on Chicago PD this past season, and with that, we’re certainly curious to see what happens with her from here. While we definitely are sad over the departure of Sophia, we do think it’s only fair to try to separate our interest in seeing Upton from our sadness in losing Lindsay. We’ll see what happens when Chicago PD premieres on NBC this fall.

For now, feel free to share some of your expectations for the season in the comments, and be sure to head over to the link here to gather some additional news and insight on the series. (Photo: NBC.)