There are spoilers for this week's episode of Chicago P.D. "Fallen" all over this article. If you haven't watched it yet and don't want to be spoiled, we totally suggest you check out one of our other awesome articles.
If you have been keeping tabs on Chicago P.D. this season, the drama has a new showrunner and a whole new outlook. Recent episodes have focused on characters like Atwater and Ruzek facing challenges, but this week's episode "Fallen" focused squarely on newer character Hailey Upton having to make her own morally grey decision. Helping her to navigate this new frame of thinking is Hank Voight, who we already know is far less by the book than Upton. In "Fallen," the two have to decide between stripping a young cop's family of his benefits because he committed suicide, or keeping quiet on the information. It's a quandary that fits squarely into Chicago P.D.'s "grey area" bent this season, and we spoke to Tracy Spiridakos and her co-star Jason Beghe during One Chicago Day about the tough decision the two characters had to make at the end of "Fallen." According to Spiridakos, Upton clearly had trouble making a decision that was so convoluted.
I think she's feeling very, very conflicted. This is probably her first situation where she kind-of has to step outside of the lines. She's very much by the book and the show kind of lives in a grey area. I think this was a definite moment for Upton where she was in that conflicted situation. I think from what you saw too--I haven't seen the final product so I'm not sure what stayed in it--you know, she has her own issues with the Sergeant as well. So, I think conflicted is the one word that articulates what she is feeling.
The episode of Chicago P.D. in question features a lot of tensions. A family of three gets murdered and the main suspect is a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Upton works the case with a cop who isn't the greatest human and who is later revealed to have racked up gambling debts and is facing mounting pressure at work for money gone missing. He ends up committing suicide and framing the suspect (who committed the other murders) in the episode, and Upton has to decide whether to act morally upright or let the suicide slide so that the cop's family can still collect benefits, having done nothing wrong. The sides are laid out pretty clearly in the episode, so that you can see how some people could argue that choosing to tell the truth is always the right thing, and some would argue that punishing a family for the wrongs of its patriarch would also not be the right thing.
Jason Beghe, whose character Hank Voight has frequently dealt with what he calls a "grey area," also said that the scene between Upton and Voight is important because he wants different viewpoints to come to light within the Chicago P.D. team, noting,
Each scene is different. I think in that one you know Voight has the power to overpower but he decides not to. You know, the good thing about Voight is he's very strong and very opinionated, and he's very kind-of direct, and unequivocating. But he doesn't want everyone to be like him. He created this unit, he wants all these different viewpoints and everyone has to fight for theirs.
Presumably, during the next episode we won't dive quite as deeply into Hailey Upton's decision-making processes, but "Fallen" certainly highlighted that Upton is becoming an equally complicated character on the team. Co-star Jon Seda also teased what we can expect from the character moving forward:
We're adding someone like Upton, and she's a lot like Antonio in a sense. She wants to do things by the book. You know, she's a smart person, but what's making her tick? Where is she really coming from? So, we're diving into that.
You can catch Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET, only on NBC. In the meantime, take a look at what else is still coming up--including a new season of Chicago Med--with our full premiere schedule. In addition, stay tuned for more news related to One Chicago Day here at CinemaBlend.
