Chicago PD boss teases crucial Upton episode ahead of her exit

Chicago PD likes to spread the wealth, and getting to see Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) get emotionally invested in a case again was well worth the sizable chunk of screen time he got in the recent episode "Survival." That said, Voight is going to stick around for the long haul, and other characters are nearing the end of their time on the show.

Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) is confirmed to be leaving Chicago PD at some point during season 11, and while she was the central focus of the premiere episode, the character has mostly served as a supporting player for the likes of Voight, Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), and Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins).

Upton will lead a strange episode 10 case

The show was eventually going to have to get back to Upton, and her central conflict as she prepares to leave her life in Chicago behind (at least, we hope that's what happens; the alternative is death but we're doubtful the PD writers would pull something like that).

Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan recently talked about the plans for Upton during an interview with TV Line. She confirmed that the character will be get more attention for the rest of the season, and will even spearhead a case that ranks among the show's most bizarre:

"“I’m very excited about an upcoming Upton episode (Episode 10 of this season)... it’s perhaps one of our strangest and darkest cases of the season."

The demarcation of episode 10 being the one focused on Upton makes sense, given that the synopsis for the next episode (aka episode 7) makes it appear as though the storyline Voight started in "Survival" will be carried over (and potentially resolved).

Upton will also be focus of episode 8

The good news is that fans will be getting Upton-focused material before the episode that Sigan alluded to. In fact, the synopsis for episode 8, titled "On Paper", seems as though its about Upton and a particularly daunting kidnapping case:

"Upton brings SVU detective Petrovic back into the fold to help with the investigation of a tender-age kidnapping."

We're all for spreading the wealth, but given that we only have so many episodes left with Upton, we're relieved to see that she will be playing a bigger part in the second half of season 11 than she did the first.