Chicago PD boss’s comments about Jesse Lee Soffer’s exit have fans concerned

From the moment word broke that Jesse Lee Soffer would be leaving Chicago PD in the show’s upcoming tenth season, fans have had a lot of questions but very few answers have been provided.

It remains unclear when exactly Soffer will be leaving the series other than that his exit will come this fall and no explanation has been given as to why the actor is leaving. Then there is the biggest mystery of them all: how will the show choose to write Halstead off the show as Soffer prepares to exit the series?

As fans continue to speculate about Soffer’s looming exit, Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan has finally spoken out… and fans aren’t sure how to feel about her comments.

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In a new interview with TVLine, Sigan revealed that the episodes leading up to Soffer’s exit will be building toward the storyline which she described as “grounded” and doing “justice” to Soffer.

"“Hopefully, it all makes sense when everyone sees the episode that he’s departing in, and we did build to it, and we did have a chance to do that,” Sigan tells TVLine. “We tried to keep it as grounded [as possible] and do justice to Jesse and how great he is. He puts in a very good performance in all of it. It’s going to be really impactful.”"

While that’s all well and good, it was her promise of the exit being described as “really impactful” paired with comments about how Halstead’s exit will affect Upton that threw up some major red flags.

Discussing the fallout of his exit on Upton, Sigan noted that seeing Upton without that relationship will be “really interesting and something new for her character to have to combat,” adding that “It’s a challenge, and she’s going to have to get through it.”

Although she did not address what challenges Upton will face or how the relationship will end, it’s clear Upstead will soon be dead and fans are worried their relationship might not be the only thing to die in the episodes ahead.

Will Chicago PD kill Halstead?

At this time, it has not yet been confirmed whether or not Jesse Lee Soffer’s exit from Chicago PD will result in the death of his character Detective Jay Halstead; however, it is a possibility for the show and it’s one that fans are quite afraid might be happening.

While there are a variety of ways that Halstead’s exit storyline could have an impact on the show and its core characters, there’s no denying how impactful killing the character off the show would be.

The death of Olinsky is still felt all these years later, and there’s no denying that the death of a character such as Halstead — who has long been the glue keeping the team together and on the straight and narrow — would be incredibly impactful as Sigan has teased the character’s exit to be.

Killing Halstead also would allow the writers to avoid tarnishing Upstead’s legacy as we’ve seen happen on other One Chicago shows when one half of a beloved couple had opted to leave — such as when Dawon and Casey divorced unexpectedly after Monica Raymund left the series.

Still, we’re hoping the writers might be able to find a way to write Halstead out of the show in a way that would allow for Soffer to return in the future and not tarnish the special relationship they’ve built between him and Upton, though that’s going to be a tall order.

For the latest Chicago PD season 10 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago PD category at One Chicago Center.