Chicago PD season 11: How will Hailey Upton leave?
If you heard the stunning news earlier this week, it is worth repeating: Hailey Upton will be leaving Chicago PD after season 11. It is a hard thing to think about, mostly because it has been hard to think about the show that much at all over the past several weeks. The SAG-AFTRA strike is still not over and because of that, there is not necessarily a huge abundance of information out there about when production could start back up.
Yet, here we are still, having to think about having to say goodbye to another beloved cast member. While Spiridakos was not around from the very beginning, she has been a huge staple of the One Chicago world for quite some time and positioned as one of the leads.
How do you write someone like Upton out? We actually think there’s a built-in way to do this that is at least somewhat easier than we’ve seen for the last few characters. You can make it so that Jay Halstead returns home from being a part of the military again, and that the two are able to patch things up and decide to start a new life somewhere else. We have already seen Halstead note that Voight was serving as a tough influence on him, and he may not want to go back into law enforcement. After everything Upton has gone through, it would also make sense if she wants to walk away.
Like the rest of the One Chicago franchise, this series has seen its fair share of departures over the years. This is pretty standard with a lot of Dick Wolf shows, and it is not often that controversial. This is a hard job to do, but the thing we’d advise the writers of along the way here is pretty simple: The fandom loves these characters and wants to see Upton happy. Please, don’t kill her off, and leave the door open for some sort of return further on down the road.
For now, we would anticipate that the Chicago PD finale is going to air come the spring — but who knows for sure in this strike world?
Related – Get more news right now on Spiridakos’ impending Chicago PD exit
How do you think that Hailey Upton is going to be written out of Chicago PD?
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