Chicago P.D.: Remember when we hated Hank Voight?
In the beginning, he was an ass. From the first moment he showed up harassing Matt we hated Hank Voight of Chicago P.D. How could we not? Matt was our favorite Chicago Firefighter and our first impression of Hank had us yearning to punch him in the face. I sort of understood where he was coming from after his son got in trouble but it was how Voight acted afterward that made him such a douche.
It was so bad that cops were trying to take him down as Gabby had to call in a favor to her brother Antonio. Once Matt learned how bad off Voight was, the war was on between him, Matt and us as well. No dirty cop was going to come in and mess with House #51.
Then it all changed.
Chicago P.D. was given their own show and the hate we carried for Voight turned into cheers and tears in one episode. We now understood him. Was he dirty? Slightly, but he did bend the rules just a tad to protect his city. And if you’re looking for a way to describe him– you can use– protector. When he was on Chicago Fire we only saw the side of him that the streets got to see. However, once we were introduced to his Intelligence Unit it all made sense.
The entire Police force tabbed Voight as dirty when it was Voight who was taking the money and handing it over to Internal Affairs. Did he keep some on the side– yes but with good reason. It was his neck on the line and I.A. was taking full advantage of it. But as time went on we saw the human side of him and got to know more about his past. He raised Erin Lindsay when her mother was strung out. He would go to the ends of hell to protect his son and when he became a grandfather– there was no one better.
The same cops that hated him grew to respect him, Antonio included. His relationship with Matt is still icy but Voight has gone out of his way to try to repair that. It’s Matt who refuses to let go of the past.
The first impression was all it took to hate Voight. However, I’m glad he was given a second chance to make it right. He loves his job, his friends and his team but most of all, he loves his city. It just took us a while to understand that.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
