Chicago P.D. returned to NBC after the Olympics with an intense episode for Hailey Upton, as a routine jog turned into a crisis situation that then turned into a tough investigation that involved more than one water rescue. Upton was leading the charge in the case, but Platt was on hand to help ground her… and remind her to celebrate when there are good kinds of milestones. Tracy Spiridakos spoke with CinemaBlend about her big Season 9 episode, and weighed in on wanting more scenes with Platt as well as Marina Squerciati's Burgess as the women of Chicago P.D.
As much as Upton’s relationship with Halstead is obviously the most well-developed for her character, her origin story as a cop ties back to Platt coming to the rescue as a child, and the latest episode showcased that. When I asked Tracy Spiridakos how her character’s dynamic with Platt compares to her dynamic with Voight as CPD sergeants, she explained why she wants to see more of Hailey and Platt:
I wish that we got to see more of Hailey and Platt to really kind of let that relationship grow even more and more. I think that with Platt, I think she's, as we got to see at the beginning of the story, and even when the character was introduced in Season 4, that Platt [is] the reason that Hailey is where she is. So she looks up to her in a way that I think nobody else can compete with that. You know, I think that Platt is somebody that she just respects immensely, and not that she doesn't [respect] Voight, but that relationship is so different and so much more complicated, whereas with Platt, I think she just has like a different bond with her.
Platt actually has a special bond with both of the women of the Intelligence Unit, and tends to play a more prominent role in the Upton- and Burgess-centric episodes. The latest story showed Platt standing by Upton in a situation where she wasn’t even leaning too much on Halstead, and without Platt, fans wouldn’t have gotten the scene at the end of the hour with everybody celebrating Upton’s ten-year anniversary! Who wouldn’t want more of those two?
Well, Tracy Spiridakos weighed in on that very question of whether she’d like to see more of Upton and Platt moving forward in Season 9, and gave a shout out to the other female cop of the unit in the process:
Yeah, I would love to see more of Hailey and Platt! And Hailey and Burgess, too. I feel like we don't get a lot of stuff together. So I would definitely love to hang out with the girls some more.
Upton and Burgess of course share plenty of group scenes together whenever the team assembles to talk over a case or hit the streets to pursue leads, but they don’t actually spend much time one-on-one. Back in 2021, Marina Squerciati shared that she thought there’s more to explore between the two characters, and later pitched an idea that there was “rich material” in Season 9 when they were both not opening up to their respective partners.
There have been some scenes here and there with them in Season 9, and Tracy Spiridakos is clearly game to share the screen with Marina Squerciati even more moving forward. When I noted that I’m always looking out for Burgess/Upton scenes, she responded:
Yeah, us too! We get really excited whenever we have them. We're like, 'Yes! Okay!'
Only time will tell if there is more on the way between the women of Chicago P.D. Based on the promo, the next episode on March 2 looks to be a big one for Burgess, picking up on the plot that could see Makayla taken away from her adoptive mom and breaking Burgess’ heart all over again. It will undoubtedly feature a lot of Ruzek as well. Find out what happens next with new episodes of Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC in the 2022 TV schedule, closing out a full night of One Chicago action.
And if you missed Tracy Spiridakos’ big episode with Upton’s underwater adventures, you can find it and the previous seasons of P.D. streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription now.
