Chicago PD season 7 character review: Jay Halstead

How was Chicago PD season 7 for Jay Halstead? We’re looking back at how Chicago PD’s latest season went for Jesse Lee Soffer’s character.

As we continue to look back on Chicago PD season 7, we’re breaking down the season for each of the show’s characters.

Did your favorite character have a good season or a bad season? What were their strong points and were there any weaknesses? Was the character affected by the show’s writing, or vice versa? Where could they go from here?

Check out our detailed character breakdown, and let us know your thoughts on how this season was for each character in the comments.

In this article, we’re profiling Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer).

What happened

In the absence of Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), Jay Halstead became Chicago PD‘s new punching bag this season. Like Antonio last season, Halstead couldn’t catch a break, and there were some storylines that didn’t make him look that great either.

He opened the season by sort of but not really crossing Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) over how to handle the murder of Brian Kelton. He almost got infected in the “Infection” crossover. Then in the episode “False Positive” he was the character who carried all the blame over police department software falsely identifying a suspect and that man’s subsequent death, even though Jay only had one part to play in that entire controversy.

That situation got Halstead shot in the midseason finale, which if you’re keeping score, makes it twice in two Chicago PD seasons he’s been shot (he was also hit in the season 6 crossover episode “Endings”). In “Intimate Violence” we did see Jay have a big moment in rescuing a woman from her abuser, but that also sent a very questionable message to viewers.

Plus, on a personal note, the show still waffled on what exactly is going on between him and his partner Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos). From getting physically hurt to carrying more emotional guilt than he needed to, this wasn’t Jay Halstead’s best season.