Police procedural drama Chicago P.D. just ended its 11th season on NBC, with one fan-favorite character bringing her time on the squad to an end. Though the season may be over, the show is not and has already been greenlit for a 12th season. When will it return to our screens and who’s coming back for more?
**Spoilers ahead for the Chicago P.D. season 11 finale**
Chicago P.D. ended season 11 on May 22, with Detective Hailey Upton deciding to leave the force after a rather harrowing incident involving a serial killer and getting shot. The intense finale saw Sergeant Hank Voight kidnapped and tortured, almost to death, by a serial killer, but luckily Detective Upton arrived just in time to save him. Though she saved Voight she was shot in the process and ended up in hospital along with her Sergeant. The two shared a conversation about her future, with Voight letting her know that it was okay for her to move on and seek something better for herself, even if she felt she didn’t deserve it.
Moving on
By the end of the episode, Upton decides that she does deserve more and the last we see of her is taking a taxi to the airport, ready to move on with her life. Upton’s actress Tracy Spiridakos joined the show in season four, becoming a cast regular in season five, but has chosen to leave after six seasons, telling Variety:
“I decided at the end of my sixth season, which is when I had reached out to Gwen and to everyone at Wolf to let them know that I just wanted to do one more year. I wanted us to send out the character with one last season. It was a hard decision—very, very hard. I love everybody on the show—cast, crew, producers, writers, everybody. It’s such an incredible team. I was just curious what was out there for me and wanted to switch it up, and that was it.”
It is believed that Upton’s character could be replaced by Detective Jo Petrovik, played by Bojana Novakovic, who made her entrance in the last season. She is a detective for the CPD’s Special Victim’s Unit, and, like most characters in procedural shows, she has a hell of a lot of baggage that the series can dig into.
Other than Spiridakos, no other cast members have announced they are leaving the show, so Chicago P.D. season 12 should include the show’s regulars, like Jason Beghe (Sergeant Hank Voight), Patrick Fleuger (Officer Adam Ruzek), Marina Squerciati (Officer Kim Burgess), LaRoyce Hawkins (Officer Kevin Atwater), Amy Morton (Sergeant Trudy Platt), and Benjamin Levy Aguilar (Officer Dante Torres).
When is Chicago P.D. returning to our screens?
Whilst there has been no official release date offered yet, NBC has given Chicago P.D. season 12 a fall 2024 release window, with the series retaining its 10PM to 11PM time slot on Wednesday evenings. The series is likely to go back to a 20-23 episode season after season 11 was affected by the writer’s and actor’s strike, which resulted in only 13 episodes.
