Chicago PD season 8 character preview: Hank Voight

What should happen

Between current events and the fact that the storytelling has gotten more one-dimensional, it’s time for Chicago PD to change—and you can’t affect change on the show without changing Hank Voight.

Voight isn’t only the boss of the Intelligence Unit; he’s the end-all, be-all that everything goes through. As he told Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) last season, it’s his way or the highway. So if Chicago PD is serious about addressing police reform in season 8—which the show is planning to do with the casting of a new recurring character—then Voight has to start policing differently, and not just for an episode or two.

The problem is that what appeals to many viewers about Voight is the same thing that turns off other audience members: his use of force to bust the bad guys. It’s a lose-lose situation, in that sense. And especially since Voight just let an innocent man be scapegoated, the character seems to lack any canon interest in changing, either.

The writers could wring out a season-long arc about Voight’s metamorphosis. What will be big enough to make him look in the mirror? It wouldn’t just be pressure from above; he deals with that every season. There needs to be a moment where he sees the consequences of his actions or his unit’s actions, and then we can watch him try to adjust, and fail, and overcome that failure.

He can still be a compelling character, because not having him rough up suspects doesn’t change his personality or his dedication to the job. But the writers have to be honest about the character they’ve built for seven seasons, and give Jason Beghe something meaty to dig into that really shows Voight’s internal conflict and his vulnerability. Beghe’s a better actor than just the tough stuff, and he could do something amazing with some of these timely issues.