What will Chicago PD season 8 have in store for Hailey Upton?
With Chicago PD season 8 coming in just a few weeks, it’s time once again to preview the new season for each character and look ahead to fresh episodes.
Where did your favorite character leave off when we saw them last? What are the big facts that fans need to remember before the season premiere? Where should they go next in season 8 for the best outcome? And is that where they’ll actually end up, or what direction is the show likely to take them in based on what we know so far?
Check out our detailed character preview, and let us know your thoughts on where you’d like to see each character go and why in the comments.
In this article, we’re profiling Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos).
Where we left off
Upton was once again one of the busiest characters not only on Chicago PD, but in the entire One Chicago universe. During season 7, she contracted the virus going around in the “Infection” three-part crossover, making her one of the most prominent characters during that event.
When Vanessa Rojas (Lisseth Chavez) was introduced to the series, Upton got herself a roommate, opening up her home to the newbie. She also acted as somewhat of a mentor for her, while the two bonded over their experiences as undercover officers, and helped save Rojas’ bacon after the other woman stepped way over the line helping someone from her past.
Upton also continued growing closer to partner Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer). Though she stopped short of confessing any romantic feelings after Halstead was shot in the midseason finale, showrunner Rick Eid has confirmed in interviews that the two are falling in love with each other, so Upstead is definitely a thing in canon.
Hailey’s relationship with Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) was much more contentious, with Voight sending her to New York to avoid becoming him—but in reality to set up a crossover with Dick Wolf‘s other series FBI. Upton was the only Chicago PD character to participate in the cross-network, two-show event. As such, she had a minimal presence in the final episodes of season 7.
What should happen
By the end of Chicago PD season 8, Upton will have been a series regular on the show for as many seasons as the character she replaced, Erin Lindsay (played by Sophia Bush). How time flies—and how she’s grown into an incredibly prominent character over the last three seasons and counting.
That’s created a sort of love-hate relationship with certain fans, who have noticed that Upton has gotten a lot of screen time and some of the show’s biggest storylines, especially over the last two seasons. Season 8 would be a good time to address some of that criticism. It would be good to see Upton in more of a support role in certain episodes, helping other characters and developing her relationships with those characters further—remember the episode where she and Burgess were working together? That was great, and it allowed both characters to shine.
Plus, Upton’s mostly been portrayed as a tough but angsty heroine. We haven’t seen a lot of her lighter side, and Tracy Spiridakos definitely has one. Granted, Chicago PD is not the best show for humor, but there has to be more to Hailey than her terrible childhood and her burgeoning tension with Halstead. Even if it’s just a line or two in an episode, we could learn more about her and give the audience a deeper picture of who she is. Most of what we’ve picked up on her in the past two seasons has been who she’s sleeping with or about her upbringing.
Tracy Spiridakos has always done well in the role, but who is Hailey Upton these days? First she was presented as a kind of anti-Voight, now she’s become a sort of female Voight. For all the show has given the character to do, it’s basically been in one direction; reducing her screen time and then broadening it a bit could actually help her.
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.
For the latest Chicago PD season 8 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago PD category at One Chicago Center.