Chicago PD season 8 character preview: Hailey Upton

What will happen

It’s clear that Hailey Upton will continue to be front and center in Chicago PD season 8. The show is full speed ahead on the Upstead romance, which it’s been teasing long enough so that probably is going to happen next season.

Plus, Upton will have obviously come back from her time with the FBI, so there should be some discussion of that and if she got the training that Voight so strongly felt she needed. And it would be odd if she doesn’t have any reaction to her colleague and roommate leaving—since Rojas is no longer part of the show. So there’s just too many different things about Upton’s story left to touch on, to think that she wouldn’t have a significant part to play next season, too.

Expect that Upstead will be the biggest part of this. Like all the One Chicago shows, romance is a fair part of Chicago PD, and this one in particular has so many things about it that are plot fodder. Will either of them bring up the fact that Jay also dated, and wanted to marry, his last partner? A woman that Upton worked with, albeit briefly? How will the writers make their relationship stand out from the Linstead years, since it looks like deja vu?

Will Upton ever hear about Jay’s ex-wife or was that just something the show brought up for one episode a few seasons ago and will never mention again? (We would hope the latter.) What about Hailey’s own relationship issues, since she also had feelings for a former partner at one point in time? It’s a whole minefield, but it could also be very interesting if the writers actually dig into the issues and don’t just focus on the romance part.

Plus, Upton seems to be Voight’s new sounding board, so that’ll likely continue as well. Look to see if the show continues to pursue that alliance and she becomes the new sort of de facto deputy of Intelligence.

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