Chicago PD season 8, episode 14 recap: Safe

Halstead spots a white van, and while Voight wants to wait until the license plate is run, Upton sides with her partner and decides to stop the vehicle in case Tolan is being targeted. Unfortunately, they’re wrong; the van is not involved and the meet is blown. When they get back to base, Voight seems okay with Halstead’s apology… but then still wants to question Upton. He asks her if she and Jay are involved, adding “If it affects how you police, it matters.” Upton’s only answer is that they made the right call.

That night, though, she brings the conversation up with Jay and admits that having a work relationship is a bit “confusing” for her. She wants to set firm boundaries between their work life and their home life, and apologizes for doing it. Halstead assures her that he’s fine with that, and the next day the two arrive separately.

Upton has used her morning to realize all the victims are members of the Riverside Athletic Club. But before they can dig too deeply into that idea, there’s another home invasion. They arrive on the scene while it’s still in progress but the offenders get away and this time, a young boy is murdered. “It should’ve never gone this far,” Upton muses out loud, and we see Jay look on pensively afterward as she goes to speak with Voight about their next moves.

That night, Upton is obsessed with the case, ignoring numerous messages on her phone while she goes over tons of paperwork. She’s finally able to identify both of the suspects: Miguel Almonte and RJ Riggs. What’s a career criminal doing with a wayward foster kid? And can they pick the former up at the animal shelter he goes to?

While trying to do the latter, Halstead asks Upton what she spoke to Voight about. Hailey assures her partner it was about the case and says she doesn’t want to “do this right now” with good reason. Miguel has arrived and takes off running when Jay approaches him. They catch him hiding under a car, however, and take him into custody. He refuses to roll on RJ, even when Halstead tells him he’s not the first kid that RJ has used.

Upton works late again that night, leading Platt to come upstairs and tell her that she knows Hailey is in the doghouse with Voight and that she needs to go home. But their conversation about food makes Upton think about the first scene of the episode. What if RJ is a valet and that’s how he met the victims? She makes a phone call and gets an address that belongs to a vacant house.

Halstead goes with her, but also confronts her about her recent behavior, saying that her obsession is because of Voight and that “getting too close” to their boss can be a problem. Hailey is unbothered and decides to go into the vacant house without a warrant. Instead, the two of them find all the stolen oods they need to make a case. But that’s when RJ arrives home and a car chase ensues, followed by a foot chase and a hostage situation at a nearby gas station.

In another tension-packed Chicago PD scene, Jay shoots and kills RJ in order to save the hostage. Voight arrives on the scene and tells them they did good, but also asks what happened. Specifically, did they go into the house? Jay says no. Voight seems to sense the lie, telling them that eyes will be all over the situation. Halstead repeats that it was by the book, after which he tells his partner that she “jammed me up.”

Chicago PD’s final five minutes see Upton talking to Voight alone some time later. She finally tells him that she and Halstead are dating and concedes that “maybe it is affecting things.” But she doesn’t want it to mess up “the best job I’ve ever had” either because the intensity of the job is what makes her feel safe (hence the title). Does she need to get a new partner? Voight balks, saying she and Halstead are a good team, but warns her to be careful.

“We need Jay just the way he is,” he tells her. The implication is very clear as she gets into her car to go home.

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