Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) never has it easy on Chicago PD. He was forged in trauma, based on what happened to his father, but season 11 was particularly rough on everyone’s favorite lieutenant. He not only suffered the death of a victim he developed a friendship with, but he was forced to say goodbye to one of his closest friends: Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos).
That’s not even getting into the fact that he was kidnapped and very nearly killed by a serial killer. Somehow, Voight’s near-death experience is going to be the thing he reflects on the least. That said, Chicago PD showrunner confirmed that the character is going to be going through an evolution of sorts in the new season.
Gwen Sigan claims Voight will be more “open” in season 12
Sigan told Parade that she’s exciting to push all the characters forward in season 12, but Voight has the most possibilities in terms of drama. “I think the thing I’m most excited about right now is all of our characters are set up to go one of two ways,” she noted, before shifting focus to the lieutenant:
“Especially Voight, we’ve got Voight to this place where he’s lost Upton, Upton’s left and we’ve seen that he’s become a lot more vulnerable; he’s become a lot more open.”
Evolution will be a major theme for the IU
The loss of Upton makes sense as a catalyst for Voight’s evolution. The two characters were bound by their shared sense of loss, particularly when Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) decided to leave the show in season 10. Upton’s absence is going to force the character to go it alone in some ways, and confront his demons.
The cases on Chicago PD will always be compelling, but the character arc of Hank Voight over the last decade and a half is the sort of thing Sigan attributes the show’s success to. “The show lives in the cost of what this job does,” she told the outlet “In the dilemmas, and the moral-ethical quandaries that the show brings up.”
We just hope the changes Voight makes are for the better.
