Chicago Fire’s spinoff Chicago PD was confirmed to be renewed for a new season by NBC recently. While that sounds like good news for the fans of the show, they were left with a bitter taste in their mouths when crowd favorite Jay Halstead left the show in season 10.
However, Jesse Lee Soffer (the actor who plays Halstead) is set to make a return to the show, although he will do so in a different capacity—that of a prepping director. A recent Instagram update by Tracy Spiridakos (she plays Hailey Upton in the show) all but confirmed this news. He will be directing the 12th episode of the ongoing 11th season, following his decision to quit the show during the 10th. Showrunner Gwen Sigan had ruled out bringing Soffer back ahead of the season 11 premiere, albeit with a cheeky remark.
Halstead is a senior detective for the Chicago P.D., a brother of Chicago Med’s Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss). He is a former Army Ranger suffering from PTSD, and is known in the department for his cocky demeanor. Halstead dates Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush) from seasons 2–4 and later marries his colleague Hailey Upton in season 9. Incidentally, Spiridakos’ character will be leaving the show at the end of season 11.
It is safe to say Soffer’s character left the show in rather unceremonious circumstances, as the writers didn’t complete the character arc in a satisfactory manner. Halstead ends up leaving the police force after serving for years, signing up for a military assignment involving Bolivian drug cartels instead. The writers didn’t show Halstead having a moment with his colleagues before his farewell, a send-off that came across as extremely underwhelming and unnatural, to say the least.
(featured image: NBC)
