Voight's Chicago PD case has tragic parallels to his own family

Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) stepped out of character in the Chicago PD episode "Survival", which is to say, he got personally invested. It's been a while since the veteran officer got involved with a case in a way that went above and beyond his duties, but that's exactly what happened when he met a troubled teen named Noah (Bobby Hogan).

Noah was rescued from a mysterious abductor, but Voight felt compelled to protect the teen in the aftermath of the abduction, as he determined that Noah's family was abusive. He even took Noah back to his home at the end of the episode, to ensure the teen wouldn't suffer any more abuse.

A troubled teen reminds Voight of his son

Those asking why this particular case is so important to Voight needn't look far. "Surival" makes repeated reference to Voight's late son, Justin (Josh Segarra). There's a photo of Justin shown early on, and mentions of his name as the IU looks further into the abduction case.

Related: Chicago PD boss teases new Voight direction

This was all purposeful on the part of the writers, according to Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan. She told NBC that the show wanted to harken back to Voight's troubled relationship with his son, and the feelings of guilt he has over Justin's untimely death:

"It was very intentional to have Justin come back up in this episode. You obviously see mirrors of that with this young boy Noah, and sort of what he represents to Voight."

Like Noah, Justin was a troubled person who got involved with the wrong people. The latter wound up shot and killed by a local gang, though Voight later found out that he was trying to protect a friend of his. The situations are not identical between the two characters, of course, but there is more than enough residual trauma on Voight's part to make the connection.

Voight will be reflecting on loss in season 11

It's a cagey decision, especially considering that Voight has been in such an emotionally reserved place over the last few seasons. He rarely lets his true feelings come to the surface, so it makes sense that it would take the memory of his son to finally break through, and bring about action.

Sigan has teased the development of this different side of Voight throughout season 11. She told NBC that the character will do a lot of reflecting in the remaining episodes:

"Accessing this part of Voight that has been dormant for a long time... making him think of some of these people and these loved ones that he's lost."

It's a perfect time for this reflectiveness, given the many changes going on within the IU. Voight is going to have to confront his demons head on, and we know it'll be compelling to watch.