Chicago PD boss reveals why Halstead wasn’t killed off
Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) leaving was always going to be rough. The detective was a pillar of Chicago PD from before the show aired (he appeared in Fire first), and his dynamic with the rest of the cast was deceptively crucial to storylines.
As rough as it was to see him quit, it could have been much worse. During a recent interview with NBC Insider, PD showrunner Gwen Sigan revealed that there were initially talks about whether or not they should have killed Halstead off.
Did Jay Halstead get killed on Chicago PD?
Sigan, along with the writing team, floated the idea but ultimately felt that it was more powerful to have Halstead step away from the IU on his own terms. “We all really wanted to do justice for Halstead’s character as best we could,” she added. “We really wanted to make that decision to leave his own decision.”
The showrunner also pointed out how important the Army has been to the character over the years, and felt that his past experiences would ultimately lead him back there eventually. From a storytelling perspective, it was a full circle approach.
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“It felt important to keep him alive and keep him out in the world trying to do good”, Sigan noted. The notion that the Army could not only provide him with a fresh start in his personal life, but one in his professional life as well. “The Army’s always been integral to who he is”, she continued. “I think that time with the rangers shaped him and it was fitting that he’d want to get back to that; to some sort of simplicity and an idea of ‘right and wrong.’”
While not outright stated, we can assume that another perk of not killing Halstead off is that the writers will be able to bring him back if they so choose. Jesse Lee Soffer has remained close with the production and will be directing an upcoming episode, so the fact that his Halstead is still out there in Central America is a hopeful sign of the future.
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