It’s Time to Get Rid of Voight on Chicago P.D.
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Chicago P.D. is returning with Season 12 in the fall, and the departure of Hailey Upton promises a brand-new dynamic for the Intelligence Unit, led by Sgt. Hank Voight. Or, at least, it should. But if there’s one constant in the One Chicago universe, is that things never change when it comes to Chicago P.D. or Sgt. Hank Voight. And at this point, the show that has been the same thing for over a decade could use a change. That’s why it’s probably time for Chicago P.D. to bid farewell to Voight, once and for all.
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Why Sergeant Hank Voight Should Leave Chicago P.D.
Chicago P.D. has seen its share of important characters leave, and they’ve all left, in one way or another, because of Voight. Erin Lindsay. Jay Halstead. Hailey Upton. And yet Hank Voight remains the same character at the center of Chicago P.D. going into Season 12. Is it because he’s the most interesting character the show has? Is it because his storyline is the most complex?
Or is it, perhaps, because the show refuses to let go of the idea of what Voight could have been?
Back when Chicago P.D. was introduced, Voight was a dirty cop who, nonetheless, had good intentions. But he was undoubtedly a dirty cop. The show didn’t beat around the bush. Hank Voight wasn’t exactly a good person, even if he was loyal to his team and he tried to help others. In the following seasons, the lines of what Chicago P.D. is trying to portray have become blurred. Is Hank Voight a good guy or not? It’s harder to tell.
More: Chicago P.D.’s Best and Worst Characters, Ranked
Perhaps, if this was clearer, it would be easier to see a path forward for Voight. As a dirty cop, there are interesting storylines for him. If the world has taught us anything, is that there are many ripped-from-the-headlines stories about when the police gets it wrong and Chicago P.D. could take advantage of that with an established character that has already always been more of an antihero than a hero. It would require the show to lean more into the dirty cop, but the possibilities there are intriguing.
As a man trying to atone for his mistakes, fully atone, there’s also a path forward, but this would require the type of emotional awareness that has eluded Voight, time and time again. In Season 11, the show even gave Voight a “surrogate son” of sorts for a few episodes, and that didn’t jumpstart any redemption arcs for Voight. Instead, it was another blink-if-you-miss-it moment of temporary sympathy before he was back to the same Voight.
That’s a problem. The middle ground Sgt. Hank Voight is in helps absolutely no one, much less Voight himself. And it hurts the other characters on the show, who end up continuously playing second fiddle to a character with no clear direction and no discernable growth.
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Long-running procedurals have survived big cast shakeups before. Chicago P.D. has survived big cast shakeups before. At this point, the best thing this show can do, if it wants Law & Order-type longevity is not to try to hold on with both hands to characters who add nothing to the show, but to cut their losses and try to build something new and hopefully better, with characters who can actually grow. It’s time to say goodbye to Hank Voight.
Chicago P.D. streams on Peacock.
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For more on Chicago P.D., check out Halstead and Upton’s relationship timeline.
