Months after Chicago P.D. ended the first half of Season 13 on a major cliffhanger for the newest member of the Intelligence Unit, the One Chicago cop drama is returning in the 2026 TV schedule to pick off where the fall finale left off. According to showrunner Gwen Sigan, the way NBC's winter premiere picks up is something that they "rarely" do on the show, and this could be an interesting showcase for Voight to kick off the new year.
Chicago P.D.'s winter premiere is somewhat forebodingly titled "Born Screaming," and will feature Voight and the rest of the team working to close out the Bell case after more bodies started dropping in the fall finale and a young girl's fate was left in question. P.D. ended on "To Be Continued" in 2025 after Imani broke into the Bell house to try and protect Julie, but the little girl was nowhere to be seen and the credits rolled with the implication that the dangerous Raymond Bell had arrived.
When I spoke with showrunner Gwen Sigan ahead of the winter premiere on January 7 (which will be streaming next day with a Peacock subscription), she opened up about how "Born Screaming" will resolve the "To Be Continued" cliffhanger:
We pick up almost immediately, which we rarely do, so it's fun. It's kind of an old school cliffhanger where we get to pick right back up, and then it certainly becomes an adrenaline ride. It certainly becomes a ticking clock. We all have to work together to basically get on top of this thing and to figure out what's going on with the Bells as quickly as possible before there are more body drops.
Chicago P.D. can be the most procedural of the three One Chicago shows, with Season 13 not explaining Ruzek's absence with any kind of storyline. So, a "To Be Continued" is a rarity, especially in the middle of a season rather than at the very end. Fans can look forward to Imani in action, as teased by the preview, rather than the episode skipping over the aftermath of her break-in to find Julie.
The showrunner went on to explain why Imani was the Intelligence Unit officer who let got caught up in the Bell case to the point that she ended 2025 alone and in danger:
It was almost the perfect case that would trigger her and trigger a lot of her past. We get to learn more obviously when we come back from the break about why that's the case and why her impulses took over in this episode, but it felt to us in the room like we really wanted something that would get Voight going, but would also get her going.
Gwen Sigan had previously shared that Imani was "designed to in many ways become a bit like a partner for Voight," which created a dynamic for Voight that was arguably the most complicated since he started teaming up with Upon more frequently. So, how will Voight react to Imani chasing her impulses, when he's not exactly innocent of doing the same thing himself?
According to the showrunner, we're not going to see them taking entirely different paths, but more "parallel" approaches. Gwen Sigan elaborated:
We would see those instincts that they both have that are so parallel, but see the difference between Voight, who is someone who's been doing this so long, and her, who's only been on the police force two years. She's brand new to the unit, so to see that he has some control and can control those impulses, and she can't yet, [there's] obviously a mess that it's going to create.
I always enjoy seeing Hank "Tell Me The Truth So I Can Lie For You" Voight have to take the higher road when his officers need to be reined in, and that seems to be the case with Imani in Season 13. Sigan went on to describe the conflict between the sergeant and the Intelligence Unit newcomer:
The conflict between the two of them is really interesting and what we wanted to get into. So the Bell case was sort of perfect in just that there's this innocent child that is stuck in the middle of it, and I think Imani cannot let that go, and cannot just say that she'll wait for a warrant or she'll wait for the evidence when she knows this girl could be in trouble.
It should be interesting to see just how action-packed the premiere is when it comes to consequences for Imani not waiting for an official go-ahead. If the crisis is moving at a furious pace, perhaps there won't be time for a slap on the wrist. If there's a stall in the search for Julie... well, that could certainly lead to some of the conflict that the showrunner previewed. Check out the preview for the winter premiere:
Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 7 at 10 p.m. ET for the winter premiere of Chicago P.D. Season 13, following the Chicago Fire premiere with some "heartache" at 9 p.m. ET and the Chicago Med returns with a curious time jump at 8 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes via Peacock.
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