Although the three shows of One Chicago on NBC are taking the week off, there’s a lot for fans to look forward to thanks to FBI on CBS. Chicago P.D.’s Tracy Spiridakos is crossing over as Hailey Upton for the finale, effectively joining the One Chicago and FBI/FBI: Most Wanted universes in a way that's never been done before. Spiridakos chatted with CinemaBlend about her upcoming crossover from P.D. to FBI, and she shared what’s in store for fans of both shows, including Hailey’s partnership with somebody new rather than good old Jay Halstead.
Noting that television has “a great way of keeping us company” now that the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in social distancing across the world, Tracy Spiridakos explained how Hailey will adjust to her new environment when she jumps from Intelligence on P.D. to the FBI on FBI:
For Hailey, when she first gets into a situation, as we saw when she first joined Intelligence, she's very guarded and it takes her a second to warm up. Her guarded approach is very curt. She doesn't really let you in. We see that start to clash with OA when she first gets there. Her abrupt [approach], keeping her distance, and her way of handling her business and we start to see them clash at the very beginning, and then as they get to know each other and warm up, we see a really cool friendship by the end of it, which was really really fun to get to see the arc of those two characters coming together.
Chicago P.D. fans will discover that Hailey didn’t get a personality makeover on the plane from Chicago to New York. She didn’t actually choose to take this FBI assignment that takes her away from her job, her home, and her partner. While FBI fans know OA is an excellent agent who always has his partner’s back, Hailey doesn’t know that or know him. But hey, at least they’ll warm up by the end!
Of course, Hailey won’t be the only person in the P.D./FBI crossover operating without their usual partner. Maggie is still on an assignment that took her away from her unit, and OA has worked with others in her absence. Tracy Spiridakos previously described Jay Halstead as Hailey’s “anchor” and Chicago P.D. has been building the Upstead partnership in Season 7, so she weighed in on Hailey and OA’s dynamic as a duo without their regular partners:
That's going to be really fun for everyone to get to watch. I don't want to give too much away, but we definitely see them clash and see their approaches. They're very different, and they're both very close with their partners and have a really strong bond, so it's excellent to watch. Very very fun. I'm excited for everyone to see it.
Since Tracy Spiridakos is crossing over to FBI as Hailey Upton rather than Zeeko Zaki crossing over to Chicago P.D. as OA, the focus will naturally be on an FBI case. Still, Hailey is going to be Hailey, and the episode will see her usual investigative methods clashing with how the Bureau operates. Will this clash result in Hailey talking about the people she left behind in Chicago?
Tracy Spiridakos answered whether P.D. fans who might be checking out FBI for the first time should expect some nods to P.D. characters:
There aren't nods to the characters necessarily, but you see, Hailey is Hailey, so we get to see a lot of her coming in there with the force that we've seen her doing everything on P.D. That's what's kind of fun about it. She's very different than everybody and we don't see nods to some of the other characters. It's mainly just Hailey doing her thing.
Based on the latest episode of Chicago P.D., Hailey’s assignment with the FBI in New York was to last for a few weeks. While Tracy Spiridakos did reassure that Upton will be “coming back [to P.D.] when the show starts up again in the new season,” there was the question of whether Hailey would just be over on CBS for one episode of FBI.
Tracy Spiridakos shared that she was originally slated to complete more than just the one installment, and that there’s a tie to Chicago Fire in the crossover episode:
It's just going to be the one episode that's airing now, because we had started to shoot a second episode but it got cut early. We didn't complete it, so it'll just be the one episode, but I'm really excited for everyone to see that and really getting to see the dynamic with OA and Upton and the whole episode is great. And it was directed by Monica [Raymund], which is so cool! And it was really exciting to get to work with her, so I think everyone, it's going to be a ton of fun. I'm really excited for everyone to see it.
Yes, the actress who played Gabby Dawson on Chicago Fire directed the episode that turned out to be FBI’s Season 2 finale! Even if viewers won’t get to see the second episode of FBI with Tracy Spiridakos as originally planned and Hailey won’t be back on P.D. before the end of Season 7, the dynamic with OA and seeing Hailey clash with the FBI team should make this week’s episode of FBI must-see.
Fortunately, Tracy Spiridakos herself didn’t clash with the FBI team for the crossover, as she shared:
And then for me, I love people! I love meeting new people, so I'm the opposite of Hailey. [laughs] I was so excited and their whole crew and cast and everybody were so welcoming and lovely that it was instant. I got on with them right away. They're just a great group. So it was a ton of fun.
See Tracy Spiridakos bring Chicago P.D.’s Hailey Upton from NBC to CBS for FBI’s Season 2 finale, called “Emotional Rescue,” on Tuesday, March 31 at 9 p.m. ET. In addition to Hailey’s investigative methods clashing with the FBI when she joins for her temporary assignment, the team will investigate a drug deal gone wrong following the discovery of a college student’s body.
As for Chicago P.D., the next episode, called “Buried Secrets,” will see Ruzek witnessing a woman’s kidnapping, resulting in Intelligence racing to put the pieces together. Burgess will try to connect with Ruzek outside of their work, but he’ll mysteriously distance himself from her. See “Buried Secrets” on Wednesday, April 8 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
