Sophia Bush’s Detective Erin Lindsay was a favorite amongst Chicago PD fans, and it’s not hard to see why.
She’s the point of view character for the audience—the character that we can easily identify with and see things through the eyes of. She’s somebody who always stands up, whether it was for her colleagues or a victim in need. And her relationship with Jay Halstead became a major reason why many viewers tuned in to the series.
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After 84 episodes on the show, every fan probably has a favorite Lindsay moment for any number of reasons. This list is our way of paying tribute to an actress and a character who helped make PD what it is today, and who will always be part of the One Chicago family.
Sophia Bush’s best moments on Chicago PD
5. The wheels finally come off (from Season 4)
As much as we still miss Erin Lindsay, the way that her exit was written was actually a great pair of episodes for Sophia Bush. It made a lot of sense that she would step over the line for a victim, particularly a child, because Lindsay had always been incredibly sympathetic to those who had been hurt by crime. It’s her greatest strength, and in “Army of One” it also became her biggest weakness.
But if she had to go out this was a way that you think she’d have wanted to leave. As she says in “Fork in the Road,” she’s not apologetic. She did what she felt she had to do (and what many fans watching this scene probably wanted to do). She stood for what she believed in even as it would have taken her badge. Bush is excellent in this scene as she conveys all the rage in Lindsay that finally boils over. This isn’t one rough moment; this is a lot of emotion finally coming out.
And this sequence also gives us another great moment between Lindsay and Hank Voight (Jason Beghe), as he reminds her that he’s always got her back.
4. The Linstead relationship (pick any episode, really)
So many fans were heartbroken because Sophia Bush’s departure meant the end of the romantic pairing we all affectionately dubbed “Linstead.”
Erin and Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) started as just partners but it wasn’t that long before Chicago PD made them a couple, and fans immediately fell in love with what became the central pairing of the show.
Lindsay and Halstead went through a lot in their time together, some of it because of Lindsay and her history. Just recently, Halstead was there for her as she searched for her father and was the person to tell her that Jimmy wasn’t her dad (even though she told him not to run that DNA test). We got to see him get a little bit jealous when they had to investigate her ex-boyfriend Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) in the midseason crossover. And they were so adorably awkward when they finally moved in together.
It’s just a downer that Season 4 had to spoil the party by giving Jay a suddenly appearing ex-wife and having Lindsay leave just as he was getting ready to propose.
3. Lindsay saves Voight’s life, metaphorically (from Season 3)
One of our favorite scenes in the entire history of Chicago PD comes from Season 3, when Voight realizes that Erin Lindsay has not only saved his job but also saved his life. He shows up at her place to see her, and they don’t even exchange words for a good 20 seconds. They don’t need to; that’s how good the relationship between Voight and Lindsay is.
That relationship was the cornerstone of Chicago PD. As much as we’re Linstead fans, there was so much in the familial bond between Erin Lindsay and Hank Voight, and the unexpectedly brilliant teamwork of Sophia Bush and Jason Beghe. Going into the series we didn’t think we’d enjoy watching them so much, but every scene between them was always memorable, enhanced by the years of history between their characters. Just the expressions between them in this moment make the scene.
This scene is one of our favorites because the tables are turned. We get to see the normally tough Voight being utterly broken, and Lindsay being the one to comfort and support him. She’s the one who just protected him for once, and what’s more, she knows it. She tells him that she’s “always looked forward” to saving his life and now she has. In this one scene, they’re family but they’re also equals, and it’s beautiful with very little needed to say at all.
2. Lindsay has a “chat” with Gregory Yates (from Season 2)
Sophia Bush demonstrated over her run on Chicago PD that Erin Lindsay was a great detective for several reasons, not just because she was tough. This was one of the moments where we saw how good she is when she’s not kicking down doors, while at the same time it was painful because she had no idea what was about to happen.
Lindsay comes face to face with serial killer Gregory Yates, whom she’s agreed to meet, which is dangerous enough. Dallas Roberts, who amusingly would play a good guy in another procedural called Unforgettable, may be the most genial murderer ever. But you never forget that he’s a murderer, and yet here’s Erin Lindsay just walking along with him trying to figure him out and not having any way of knowing who his next victim will be.
Sophia Bush is phenomenal here because the only tools she’s using are her words. The dialogue between Lindsay and Yates is so tense because we all know what’s really at stake here, just how he’s become fixated on her, and yet it’s supposed to be this casual middle of the evening stroll. You can tell, even as Lindsay pretends to be totally okay with this, how she’s still not going to let this guy get to her. She doesn’t give an inch, even when they finally cut the small talk. It shows Erin Lindsay’s nerves of steel and Sophia Bush’s remarkable screen presence.
1. Lindsay speaks at Nadia’s memorial (from Season 2)
Speaking of the Yates story arc, the most powerful moment in the history of Erin Lindsay, and our favorite moment from Sophia Bush, is when Lindsay addresses her colleagues in front of the memorial for their fallen colleague Nadia DeCotis. All of Chicago PD‘s fans know how much Nadia meant to Lindsay, as she helped her get off the streets, get clean and get a desk job at the district before the poor girl wound up in the trunk of a car.
This is the kind of big dramatic moment actors dream of. It’s where they get to have an emotional and hopefully powerful scene and show off their talent. But not every actor can make a big scene as emotional or powerful as it needs to be. In this particular scene, Sophia Bush broke the hearts of every Chicago PD fan. Lindsay reveals that Nadia had been accepted into the CPD Academy to be trained as a police officer, and her reaction to the news is all of our reaction.
These are so few lines but Sophia Bush, again, makes them so impactful. Like the moment with Voight earlier on our list, she demonstrates that she doesn’t need much dialogue to convey what Erin Lindsay is going through. She says a lot simply with her expressions and her body language.
This scene was the tipping point on what was quite possibly her best storyline ever in the role, one in which she shined throughout and reminded us why we’ll miss Erin Lindsay most of all: because she had a heart of gold, and while it may have been a little tarnished and scuffed from all she’d experienced, it always shone through.
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