Chicago PD season 6 midseason report: Jay Halstead

What it means

Chicago PD really screwed up Halstead last season, so it’s at least good to see that he’s back to a place of stability in this season. He’s not out dating more drug dealers, and at least as far as the show has mentioned, he’s no longer in therapy.

Killing off his father was a questionable decision and one that the franchise (because it happened on Chicago Med, not Chicago PD) will regret. Pat Halstead wasn’t fully utilized as a character, and having Jay fight with him just before he was declared braindead felt manipulative—because it was an obvious setup to kill off Pat and leave Jay with all that guilt.

(In general, what is it with having people’s fathers injured or killed this season? Pat was the first, but Bob Ruzek was shot and Benny Severide also died—all within the first nine episodes.)

The other eyebrow-arching thing is how Jay has been utilized on Chicago Med. That show hasn’t made any reference to the trauma that Halstead has gone through on Chicago PD, and Chicago PD hasn’t said a word about him working on the task force.

Obviously different series have different writers, and fans can’t expect the writers on both shows to know every detail of what’s happening on the others. But One Chicago is promoted as being a connected franchise. If that’s what it wants to be seen as then there should be some degree, even if it’s a small one, of people being aware of huge events.

Just one scene of Will asking Jay if he’s doing okay after being shot, or somebody in Intelligence making an offhand reference to this FBI task force that’s been operating in Chicago for weeks now, would go a long way.