The best Chicago PD villains are the ones that take a bit to show their true villainy. Chief Deputy Reid (Shawn Hatosy) feels like one such case. The veteran officer presented himself as a friendly face, only to hint at more nefarious intentions as season 12 has worn on.
PD showrunner Gwen Sigan isn't denying it, either. She confirmed that Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and the rest of the IU want to get rid of Reid and quickly. Unfortunately, the process is going to take a bit. Chief Deputy Reid is in a cushy position, and he's smart, so the conflict between him and the IU is going to span the majority of the season.
Chief Reid poses a different kind of threat
"The way that Reid moves and the fact that he is someone that's very hard to read," Sigan told Hello Magazine. "He doesn't tell you what he's thinking and what he's planning – makes it difficult for Voight to navigate and makes it a slow burn and a long form takedown."
Reid knows that Voight is the key to controlling the IU, and as such, the Chief Deputy has targeted Voight. It's unclear what his plan is, given how close he plays things to the chest, but Voight knows that he is the one who is going to have to protect his team.
It's not an enviable position to be in. "A big part of [the season] is Reid and learning more about what he wants with our unit and what he hopes that he's going to get out of Voight specifically," Sigan told the outlet. The slow burn narrative is going to be particularly challenging for Voight, who usually has a better feel for his enemies.
Voight is unsure of how to read Chief Reid
This, according to the PD showrunner, is what will make the Reid arc stand out from other seasons in which corrupt cops infiltrated the ranks. "The way that Reid moves and the fact that he is someone that's very hard to read – and he doesn't tell you what he's thinking and what he's planning – makes it difficult for Voight to navigate and makes it a slow burn and a long form takedown," she concluded.
There are plenty of skeletons in the IU's closet, some of which have occurred during season 12. It wouldn't be hard for Reid to blackmail the various members of the team, so we're curious to see how Voight manages to find a solution to this mind field of a situation.