Chicago PD Is Destroying The Legacy Of Jay Halstead
Characters have come and gone in Chicago PD and Jay Halstead is just the latest one to make his departure. From Erin Lindsay to Antonio Dawson, Halstead’s departure may have hurt more. He was the glue to the Intelligence Unit. He was the one who challenged Hank Voight every chance he got. Halstead had the moral compass in the beginning but after the departure of Lindsey, she took a piece of him with her. Now, the writers of Chicago PD are doing ther best to tarnish his legacy at every turn.
Halstead and Upton were married in secrecy but even before then, the direction of his character was changing. Instead of being the anti-Voight, Halsted was turning into the mini-Voight. It was even at a point that the two became semi-partners in any off-the-book dirty dealings that were going on. Halsted tried to mask it as if he wanted to keep an eye on Voight but it was much deeper than that.
There is a strong connection between Halstead and Upton. No way we can say that the two were just faking it to make it, but why the sudden change? Hailey appeared to be all in while Halstead was just standing in place. The writers forgot about the character they built over 10 years and gave viewers a robot. There was no more structure to his personality and reasons for doing what he was doing. The focus shifted. It was the same with Antonio and Lindsay. One minute Antonio is a good cop and good father and the next, he’s missing from his kids’ lives and becoming an addict.
For Lindsay, it was trying to help her mother to her becoming an addict. In the end, she left the Unit and Halstead. Now, it’s Halstead’s turn and he just up and deserted his wife to serve back in ther military in one episode. There was never any mention prior to that about him looking to change careers, it was just so sudden. We get that actors want to purser other dreams but then the focus shifts to the writers on how they will write the character off.
Fans did not want Halstead to die but the way they’re treating his legacy, Chicago PD may have been better off just killing his character altogether. As it looks now, he’s just selfish and didn’t care for Upton. I mean, he won’t take her calls and even re-enlisted without talking it over with his wife. When did he get this cold?
There are rumors he may return but for what? Will he be there to tell Upton why he’s doing what he’s doing? What can he say? “Oh I really didn’t love you and wanted a divorce so I just decided to run away?” There is nothing that can change here. He was a decent guy before all this. Why not just have him die in ther line of duty and let him go out with some form of dignity instead of the way he’s being portrayed now?
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.
