Chicago PD Season 5

[quesera1]

I know we likely won't see or hear anything until they start filming in July, but I'm curious what others are thinking will happen in season 5. Everything seems totally up in the air right now -- cast, producers, writers, etc.

It's weird, but I'm finding myself actually concerned about how this show is going to play out. It's probably my favourite show, so I'm REALLY hoping they don't mess it up!

[FnkyChkn34]

Season 5 will premiere on September 27, 2017.  I can't even begin to take a guess - all new showrunner, new writers, Derek Haas is out, Sophia Bush is out, we have no idea who is in to replace her (if anyone), and where is Jon Seda?  Maybe they can bring back Jon and Nick Weschler and just turn the show into an all-male revue.  ;-)  

All kidding aside, I have no idea, but all the changes do concern me a bit too.  I've come to really like this show just like you, so I don't want it to be ruined either.

[quesera1]

I keep going through scenarios in my mind on how they will possibly treat the Bush/Lindsay departure. It's going to be so weird, and that's what worries me the most. There are only a few ways I can imagine them handling it and honestly they are basically all going to throw a serious wrench into things.

• If she leaves without saying goodbye to Halstead, I don't know how he will be able to come back from that. I mean, the guy is planning to propose, how will he handle her just vanishing from the city, the unit, his life? (Could be some potential for his technically-nonexistant-because-it-was-only-mentioned-in-a-deleted-scene PTSD to flare up?) Aside from him, I think the entire team will be seriously impacted with no goodbye or anything. As they frequently say, their unit is a family. Look how upset everyone was when Antonio left the team -- not only did he say goodbye, but he wasn't even leaving the force!
• I sincerely hope Sophia Bush will make a guest appearance (at least in the premiere, but ideally maybe returning for an occasional spot -- hello 100th episode coming up!). But even still, it will be incredibly hard for her to "wrap up Lindsay’s storyline" (as all the articles are mentioning as a possibility). Unless there is talk of a Linstead reunion one day, again, I can't imagine Halstead just being like "okay cool, I'm over it, let's move on." (But hey, maybe season 5 will FINALLY be an opportunity to explore more of his history! I just hate that his inevitable heartbreak will be the means to that)
• Kill her off? As much as I hate to say this, part of me would almost prefer this. Yes, it would be absolutely devastating from a viewer perspective to lose such an important and powerful character (in my opinion, she's one of the best females on TV), but at least that would provide some actual closure to things. There would be some finality to that -- honestly if Sophia Bush has no interest or intention to ever return to the show at all, this would be the best option. (But also the worst!)
• And of course there's the "happy fairy joy joy" scenario: she stays and they/we all live happily ever after.... #notgoingtohappen

[quesera1]

Oops, hit submit too soon..... I can't quit this rambling apparently.

I hope Jon Seda returns. Aside from the Lindsay-Halstead bond, I think Halstead's connection with Antonio is probably his most significant on the show (aside from his brother I guess). If Lindsay's departure sends him into a tailspin, I could see this being the easiest way to move Antonio back to Intelligence. I know it would technically be a step down for his character, but given Antonio's commitments to his team (again, especially his relationship with Halstead... we witnessed a special goodbye between those two), if Halstead needs the support, I could definitely see Antonio returning as his partner. They're great together. (Still no Lindsay-Halstead though.... honestly all romantic goodness aside, that's going to be the hardest part about this show moving forward, losing their partnership.)

I think the team can absolutely work with all men (aside from Burgess). Technically that's how it started -- Lindsay and the guys. I'm all about diversity on a cast, but we do still have Platt (love her), and they can always re-introduce patrol or something? But I'm 99% certain that Upton will become a regular. Which I guess I'm okay with if they really need to bring in another female. It's just weird because physically she's practically a blonde Lindsay.

[dreamcatcher]

My only issue with Upton is that the few scenes we got with her were practically her being a tough ass like Lindsay. Maybe the new writers will be able to actually write different female characters, I don't know. But Upton was pretty much a replacement of Lindsay, which is something Criminal Minds tried to do and didn't work out either. 

 

And I'm so worried about how they are going to handle it. Love her or hate her, Lindsay was one of the most important characters on the show and her relationships with Bunny/Halstead/Voight took up most of the screentime. Going from this to making her leave with no closure is going to be too difficult.

[quesera1]

4 hours ago, dreamcatcher said:

My only issue with Upton is that the few scenes we got with her were practically her being a tough ass like Lindsay. Maybe the new writers will be able to actually write different female characters, I don't know. But Upton was pretty much a replacement of Lindsay, which is something Criminal Minds tried to do and didn't work out either. 

 

And I'm so worried about how they are going to handle it. Love her or hate her, Lindsay was one of the most important characters on the show and her relationships with Bunny/Halstead/Voight took up most of the screentime. Going from this to making her leave with no closure is going to be too difficult.

I'm so with you. What we've seen of Upton thus far is more or less Lindsay redux. I'm not opposed to her joining the unit, but I hope they can actually write something interesting for her. 

Actually to be honest maybe I am opposed to it. There are already so many things we don't know about most of the characters. It really doesn't make sense to bring in another new body, especially when there is already so much available to work with. I mean, aside from Voight and maybe Antonio (still hoping they bring him back to fill the Lindsay void. That's the only option that would make me even remotely happy).... tell me more about your EXISTING characters.

Halstead is my fave aside from Lindsay, and it's not just because I have a massive crush on JLS (but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of it). He will inevitably have a lot of focus, no matter how they handle Lindsay's departure (I've decided to try not to think about that right now). Aside from any of that, TELL US ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE GD MILITARY. They have been teasing us with bits and pieces of his backstory since day one (literally they hinted at his history in the freaking pilot). Tell us about his family -- don't just show that stuff on Med with Will's storylines. We (or at least I) care more about Jay than Will anyway.

I'm also dying to learn more about Atwater. He's absolutely the least-developed character on the show. We've been teased with bits and pieces of his family life, but not enough to give us any real information. I want to see some backstory from him! Tell us more about his parents and why he is taking care of his siblings.

Olinsky's personal life has had a lot of focus over the years (what with Lexi's death, his issues with his wife, his surprise daughter), but we really don't get to see a lot of him at work as we could (aside from being Voight's perp-bashing wing man). With his long career I feel like there must be something they could explore more. Maybe there's a case that connects to something he worked on years ago; a killer they couldn't catch, etc.

We don't really know much about Burgess. Why not let her be the new leading lady? I know she lacks the experience of Lindsay (on the force, in the unit, with Voight and the team), but she's already come so far. I think with the right partner (I'm not overly keen on the Burgess-Olinsky partnership) she could really come into her own and be a force to be reckoned with.

And Ruzek. I like PJF and all, but we haven't seen all that much from him. He's clearly not just the rookie anymore, so it would be cool to see him take the focus more on some cases. For me he's almost the comic relief of a lot of situations (which is nice given the dark nature of a lot of the plot lines), but he's certainly capable of a lot more than that!

I have to wonder how they will work out the partnerships this season.

I'm concerned they will put Halstead and Upton together. I don't mean romantically... I think that would serve to piss off WAY too many people, plus with everything going down with Lindsay and Halstead, I can't really imagine Voight letting yet another in-house romance slide. Not to mention this would be a complete and total re-hash of how Linstead started.

Halstead-Burgess would actually be really great to see, as I think he could be a great mentor to her. Atwater-Ruzek are amazing together, but Ruzek and O are an adorable (weird descriptor for a pair of detectives, but it's true) team too.

That might be my biggest qualm with adding Upton. At this point I can't see her being anyone's partner to be honest... I know we haven't see a lot of her/her interactions with the team, but thus far I'm having a hard time seeing how exactly she will fit in.

[FnkyChkn34]

In my opinion, they need to bring back Antonio instead of Upton.  Halstead and Antonio would be the ultimate bad-ass partners.  They both give 110% to the job, but also want to be above board and do things right.  The show doesn't need Upton; she can go.  If they can write Burgess better (smarter, less whiny), then they could turn her into the female lead.  Right now though, she's my least favorite.

[quesera1]

3 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

In my opinion, they need to bring back Antonio instead of Upton.  Halstead and Antonio would be the ultimate bad-ass partners.  They both give 110% to the job, but also want to be above board and do things right.  The show doesn't need Upton; she can go.  If they can write Burgess better (smarter, less whiny), then they could turn her into the female lead.  Right now though, she's my least favorite.

YES to this x45830258410. I neeeeeeeeeed Halstead and Antonio together. They are absolutely the perfect pair. Plus people love Antonio/Jon Seda, so bringing him back would make people (that are probably not going to be super happy with how things play out) much happier! These two have an amazing bromance and a lot of history together.

Also if they don't bring Jon Seda back it would be completely unfair to him. "Hey, you're amazing, people love you, you were a significant lead in Chicago PD, but we're going to use you as bait to get another spin-off started. Oh, it failed [not his fault, obviously], well too bad for you... see ya!" NOT COOL. If anything Seda is one of the most important to the One Chicago franchise.

BRING BACK ANTONIO!!!!!!!!!

[quesera1]

I have another thought (I would say "one last thought" but that would be a blatant lie given how much I have been thinking about this show lately...) -- if they really feel the need to bring in a new female character, it would be so nice to see someone different. I wish they hadn't killed off Jules in the pilot. Yes, she was just another white lady, but at least she was married, had children, etc. That's one of the demographics that is missing from this team. They are all either young and single, or old dudes (who are also single now that I think about it). 

If they keep Upton, maybe they can ret-con her background a bit and we learn she is a mom, married with kids, whatever. The show can't really handle another in-house romance (IMO), so why not remove that option? Technically I don't think there was ever any information given about Upton's past aside from her Greek heritage and her connection to Platt. (And given these writers, even if the info had been given they could just sweep it under the rug and forget about it). I know Upton is young, but she's not 22 or anything, so it would be more than plausible for her to have a family of her own.

[MakeMeLaugh]

If Mouch perishes in Fire, Trudy could have some awesome storylines recovering from her grief.

[Guildford]

5 hours ago, MakeMeLaugh said:

If Mouch perishes in Fire, Trudy could have some awesome storylines recovering from her grief.

Can you imagine how heartbreaking that would be.....and Amy Morton would absolutely kill those scenes. 

Hopefully (if they go down that path) the new writers/showrunner shows that rather than the blink & you'd miss it grief that Al showed when Lexie died.

[MakeMeLaugh]

2 hours ago, Guildford said:

Can you imagine how heartbreaking that would be.....and Amy Morton would absolutely kill those scenes. 

Hopefully (if they go down that path) the new writers/showrunner shows that rather than the blink & you'd miss it grief that Al showed when Lexie died.

OMG the great Amy Morton would own the show. The shared understated compassion she and Voight showed to Al in that single scene when Al's daughter was killed was just outstanding. 

[watcher1006]

I must admit I have a bias to get over regarding the idea of making Tracy Spiridakos as Haley Upton a regular. It comes from watching her in the short lived NBC series "Revolution" where they cast her as a teenager and it so didn't work. I'd like to see Jon Seda come back as Antonio, I do wonder if he wants to linger in Chicago. I'm not really looking forward to Marina Squerciati's return as Kim Burgess although yes, her role could be more interesting with Lindsey gone. Nothing wrong with having a non-white female in the unit. Burgess' partner at the beginning of the season worked well with the unit as a uniformed cop, even though she got written out.

[quesera1]

On 6/30/2017 at 11:05 PM, MakeMeLaugh said:

OMG the great Amy Morton would own the show. The shared understated compassion she and Voight showed to Al in that single scene when Al's daughter was killed was just outstanding. 

I really hope they don't kill Mouch. Not just because Mouch is awesome, but because that would be yet another CPD character losing a family member. Voight, Olinsky, Burgess (okay, so he sister didn't die but she was only brought on for something terrible to happen to her!)

But yes, Amy Morton is incredible! I wish they gave her more to do than just stand at her desk and be snarky (don't get me wrong though, I love that!)

[quesera1]

On 7/1/2017 at 4:41 PM, watcher1006 said:

I must admit I have a bias to get over regarding the idea of making Tracy Spiridakos as Haley Upton a regular. It comes from watching her in the short lived NBC series "Revolution" where they cast her as a teenager and it so didn't work. I'd like to see Jon Seda come back as Antonio, I do wonder if he wants to linger in Chicago. I'm not really looking forward to Marina Squerciati's return as Kim Burgess although yes, her role could be more interesting with Lindsey gone. Nothing wrong with having a non-white female in the unit. Burgess' partner at the beginning of the season worked well with the unit as a uniformed cop, even though she got written out.

I loved Li Jun Li on the show! They did leave her exit sort of up in the air -- it would be great to see Platt battle it out with that jerky guy who harassed Tay, bring her back. But I guess that would still involve patrol, and I get the feeling that the show is sort of done with that (which doesn't leave enough for Platt to do).

An older, non-white female would be a great addition. I think out of all of the Chicago shows, PD is the most lacking in diversity (but at the same time, I think they have the strongest cast)

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, quesera1 said:

I really hope they don't kill Mouch. Not just because Mouch is awesome, but because that would be yet another CPD character losing a family member. Voight, Olinsky, Burgess (okay, so he sister didn't die but she was only brought on for something terrible to happen to her!)

Platt also already lost her father and while they don't seem to plan to kill Lindsay, Halstead was about to propose and with her leaving town, he is losing her.

[quesera1]

50 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

Platt also already lost her father and while they don't seem to plan to kill Lindsay, Halstead was about to propose and with her leaving town, he is losing her.

I forgot about Platt's dad!! Honestly if Halstead's brother wasn't on Med I'm sure they would have killed him off too.

Now the one family member I wish they would have killed would be Bunny. (Oh yeah, and Teddy was literally only brought in to be a victim too)

Also, I feel devastated all over again when I imagine Halstead losing Lindsay :(

[dreamcatcher]

2 hours ago, quesera1 said:

I really hope they don't kill Mouch. Not just because Mouch is awesome, but because that would be yet another CPD character losing a family member. Voight, Olinsky, Burgess (okay, so he sister didn't die but she was only brought on for something terrible to happen to her!)

But yes, Amy Morton is incredible! I wish they gave her more to do than just stand at her desk and be snarky (don't get me wrong though, I love that!)

God no. Platt has lost pretty much everything and struggled to finally find love in Mouch. They can kill off Gabby if they need some angst :D

[quesera1]

21 hours ago, dreamcatcher said:

God no. Platt has lost pretty much everything and struggled to finally find love in Mouch. They can kill off Gabby if they need some angst :D

Haha yes. I'm not a fan of Gabby personally.

Platt doesn't deserve to lose anything/anyone else!

[Chas411]

I'm not completely opposed to Upton but as already said she's a Lindsay Lite so bringing her into the fold at a time when so many fans are frustrated may not be the best move. 

[quesera1]

They start filming on Friday, so we might start to get some tidbits of behind-the-scenes info (although it was Sophia that did that the most, so maybe not?).

I presume the premiere will pick up a few weeks/months after the finale -- that seems to be what they usually do, and with Lindsay's departure it's even more likely that they will jump ahead. Very curious what the dynamic will be though... time will tell.

 

Edited to add: looks like they're doing a table read today

Edited July 18, 2017 by quesera1

[Chas411]

I'm kind of past the dreading it stage and now in more of a cautiously optimistic phase. The return of Seda softened the blow. 

Thats subject to change if they add a new Erin Lite female though. I know it's very male orientated but I need half a season or so before I can digest a new female replacement.

[FnkyChkn34]

Totally agree, @Chas411.

Jesse Lee Soffer posted an Instagram story panning up from the cover page of episode 1's script to his name plate on the table.  Ruzek's name was in the background.  They are back at work and having their first table read.  I'm going to assume that they are in Chicago... and Sophia is clearly still in LA based on her Instagram posts.

[quesera1]

40 minutes ago, Chas411 said:

I'm kind of past the dreading it stage and now in more of a cautiously optimistic phase. The return of Seda softened the blow. 

Thats subject to change if they add a new Erin Lite female though. I know it's very male orientated but I need half a season or so before I can digest a new female replacement.

Agreed. Cautiously optimistic is exactly where I sit right now. I'm so glad they brought Jon Seda back into the fold. I can't even imagine what it would be like without him.

Yeah, I really don't care that the guys outnumber the ladies right now. Frankly I'd prefer they stick with this crew and not add anyone at all.

Honestly if they bring in a "replacement" female it would be so ridiculous. It's not as simple as saying "insert female character here" -- they're not just interchangeable!

[Raja]

On 7/18/2017 at 11:43 AM, quesera1 said:

Agreed. Cautiously optimistic is exactly where I sit right now. I'm so glad they brought Jon Seda back into the fold. I can't even imagine what it would be like without him.

Yeah, I really don't care that the guys outnumber the ladies right now. Frankly I'd prefer they stick with this crew and not add anyone at all.

Honestly if they bring in a "replacement" female it would be so ridiculous. It's not as simple as saying "insert female character here" -- they're not just interchangeable!

Bringing in another young blond woman who seems to young to have ever  been a patrol cop much less seemingly high in the rank structure of the force's premiere detective units does seem like just insert the female actor here. However if no woman was added to the squad in a regular role there would also be howls of protest.

[quesera1]

5 hours ago, Raja said:

Bringing in another young blond woman who seems to young to have ever  been a patrol cop much less seemingly high in the rank structure of the force's premiere detective units does seem like just insert the female actor here. However if no woman was added to the squad in a regular role there would also be howls of protest.

I consider myself a feminist, but honestly, if it's a choice between (A) the men outnumbering the women, or (B) the whole "insert female actor here" thing, I would choose (A) every time. Yes, diversity is important, but simply replacing one woman with another (especially in a super similar role) is even more disrespectful in my opinion.

Good point about their ages. I figure most of them are late 20s/early 30s (we know Ruzek, Atwater and Burgess are all fresh and new to the unit because we say that play out; and Halstead *just* joined the unit prior to the premiere). But yeah, it's weird that such an elite unit would be filled with primarily young cops. I know it's because they can use those young/attractive/single characters to attract a different audience and to play with "soapy" stories, but still... if they need to add someone else it would really make the most sense to add someone older, and more experienced.

(Can they bring Jules back from the dead?)

[WendyCR72]

I see a female coming for one reason only: Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1990, when Law & Order premiered, it was an all-male cast. Which I had no issue with. But the network must have gotten some push back because after Season 3, Richard Brooks' Paul Robinette and Dann Florek's Captain Cragen were tossed and in came Jill Hennessy and S. Epatha Merkerson in Season 4. (I believe the original contracts for the show, as with most, was 5 years, so something had to happen.)

But I guess there were no hard feelings since Brooks would pop up on L&O years later, having switched to a defense attorney (and also appeared on Chicago Justice), and Dann Florek's Cragen would move over to SVU as the precinct captain in '99, six years after leaving the Mothership.

If L&O couldn't sustain an all-male cast, I don't think that will happen here, either, since both are Wolf shows and both air(ed) on NBC.

[FnkyChkn34]

53 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

I see a female coming for one reason only: Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1990, when Law & Order premiered, it was an all-male cast. Which I had no issue with. But the network must have gotten some push back because after Season 3, Richard Brooks' Paul Robinette and Dann Florek's Captain Cragen were tossed and in came Jill Hennessy and S. Epatha Merkerson in Season 4. (I believe the original contracts for the show, as with most, was 5 years, so something had to happen.)

But we do have Burgess and Sergeant Platt, so it's not entirely male as it is.  I don't doubt that they'll bring in another female at some point, but I would hope it's not right away.  IMO, they need to let Dawson be Lindsay's "replacement."

[quesera1]

Well apparently there are photos kicking around of Tracy Spiridakos kicking around on set. So looks like she's sticking around for a least the time being

[Chas411]

Oh really? Ugh not the development I was hoping for but I guess we'll have to see how it plays out...

[FnkyChkn34]

Maybe there isn't an immediate time jump, so it wouldn't entirely make sense if all of a sudden she's gone and Burgess is back.  So maybe she's only around for one episode?  Let's hope...

[quesera1]

I'm pretty sure she'll be permanently added to the cast. If they're going to add another female it makes the most sense to add one that is already there.

Also: http://www.projectcasting.com/casting-calls-acting-auditions/need-job-chicago-pd-season-5-now-hiring-stand-ins

I wish we could get more Platt. Can she just join intelligence? (I worry we'll see even less of her without patrol...)

[FnkyChkn34]

Being a stand-in would be cool, but I don't think I look like anyone on the show.  I suppose I look most like Sophia, if anyone...

[quesera1]

47 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Being a stand-in would be cool, but I don't think I look like anyone on the show.  I suppose I look most like Sophia, if anyone...

Ha yeah, same. But mostly posted that because if you scroll down they have pics of the people they are looking for stand-ins for -- Tracy Spiridakos is one of them, Sophia Bush is not.

With all of these crystal clear messages that Sophia isn't coming back, I wish they would just officially acknowledge it. EVERYONE knows it's true at this point. Initially I was sad about this (I guess technically I still am because I love her), but this point I'm just mad. And I get more annoyed the longer they leave it unsaid.

[FnkyChkn34]

Ha, I didn't scroll the whole way down. :-)

Jon Seda's stand-in used to be his teenage son, and the other cast members said it was uncanny how much he looked like his dad.  I wonder if he's now off to college?

[quesera1]

http://tvline.com/2017/08/15/chicago-pd-spoilers-season-5-jon-seda-antonio-sylvie-lindsay/

An interview with Jon Seda about Antonio in season 5.

I am SO glad he's coming back! IMO he is critical to the One Chicago franchise.

[butterbody]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/chicago-pd-boss-sophia-bush-exit-season-5-1030978

[CheshireCat]

I'm not so sure if ripping stories from the headlines is such a good idea in the current political climate. The showrunner from Madam Secretary said that toward the end of the first half of last season, viewers were tired about the show's election drama. I, for one, don't need TV shows to tell me what reality looks like, I can turn on the news for that. I like TV shows to be fiction because they're my escape from reality and I think they're supposed to be fiction, too. That's why they're called TV show and not reality TV. (Even though I'm doubtful that reality TV is all that real ;-))

[Chas411]

They're sooo going there with Upton and Halstead - they're not even doing a good job of pretending they haven't thought about it. It'll either Be dropping anvils or going full throttle by end of the season.

[FnkyChkn34]

If you can gather anything from Instagram posts, then the probable pairings are:  Antonio-Burgess, Halstead-Upton, and Ruzek-Atwater.  Meh.  They probably make the most sense, but I could see Halstead-Atwater and Ruzek-Upton though - to pair detective experience with non-experienced officer.  (Upton has detective experience, I think?)

 

ETA: Ha, I just read the article.  It says that too.  I guess my "detective work" needs some improvement... :-) 

Edited August 23, 2017 by FnkyChkn34

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

If you can gather anything from Instagram posts, then the probable pairings are:  Antonio-Burgess, Halstead-Upton, and Ruzek-Atwater.  Meh.  They probably make the most sense, but I could see Halstead-Atwater and Ruzek-Upton though - to pair detective experience with non-experienced officer.  (Upton has detective experience, I think?)

 

ETA: Ha, I just read the article.  It says that too.  I guess my "detective work" needs some improvement... :-) 

If one has watched the show from the beginning then they don't make the most sense. Considering how Voight is strictly against relationships in his unit and had to deal with the fallout twice (Burgess and Ruzek and now Halstead and Lindsay) I think he'd make sure that Burgess stays partnered with Olinsky and Halstead doesn't get partnered with the "hot new chick". Or maybe he'd partner Halstead and Burgess (since I doubt there's a realistic risk they'd end up together) and then put Upton with Olinsky.

I think that Voight would have allowed the Burgess/Ruzek relationship and then allowed the Lindsay/Halstead one made sense. However, I also think that if he allows another relationship within his unit they'd be ruining the character they've established him to be.

Apart from hinting that they might put Halstead and Upton in a relationship, what put me off is the process Eid described of how he got the job. Does he even know the show and the characters? It's as if Dick Wolf looked at a book of who's available and picked out the next best name.

Also, the show was great. Until about mid-season four. But it didn't need to be made great, they just should have stopped creating drama where no drama was needed, done everything they could to keep Bush on the show, allowed her to take the next step in her growth process and move past Bunny and then continued the way they did before, with the focus on cases and the occasional personal story thrown in. Keeping Lindsay and Halstead in a happy relationship and Bunny out of the picture would even have allowed them to explore other characters.

[FnkyChkn34]

25 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

If one has watched the show from the beginning then they don't make the most sense. Considering how Voight is strictly against relationships in his unit and had to deal with the fallout twice (Burgess and Ruzek and now Halstead and Lindsay) I think he'd make sure that Burgess stays partnered with Olinsky and Halstead doesn't get partnered with the "hot new chick". Or maybe he'd partner Halstead and Burgess (since I doubt there's a realistic risk they'd end up together) and then put Upton with Olinsky.

I think that Voight would have allowed the Burgess/Ruzek relationship and then allowed the Lindsay/Halstead one made sense. However, I also think that if he allows another relationship within his unit they'd be ruining the character they've established him to be.

Apart from hinting that they might put Halstead and Upton in a relationship, what put me off is the process Eid described of how he got the job. Does he even know the show and the characters? It's as if Dick Wolf looked at a book of who's available and picked out the next best name.

Also, the show was great. Until about mid-season four. But it didn't need to be made great, they just should have stopped creating drama where no drama was needed, done everything they could to keep Bush on the show, allowed her to take the next step in her growth process and move past Bunny and then continued the way they did before, with the focus on cases and the occasional personal story thrown in. Keeping Lindsay and Halstead in a happy relationship and Bunny out of the picture would even have allowed them to explore other characters.

Maybe Voight will assume that Halstead "learned his lesson" and won't date his partner.  Also, Voight is in hot water, so all decisions might not be up to him anymore.  I think they make sense from a who-left-now-who-needs-to-be-replaced standpoint.  I prefer the alternative pairings I pointed out from an experience standpoint though.  Olinsky is a lone wolf and works best that way; he didn't want Burgess in the first place.  He was good with Ruzek though.

[CheshireCat]

51 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Maybe Voight will assume that Halstead "learned his lesson" and won't date his partner.  Also, Voight is in hot water, so all decisions might not be up to him anymore.  I think they make sense from a who-left-now-who-needs-to-be-replaced standpoint.  I prefer the alternative pairings I pointed out from an experience standpoint though.  Olinsky is a lone wolf and works best that way; he didn't want Burgess in the first place.  He was good with Ruzek though.

Except that there wasn't really a lesson to learn, was there? Everything that happened between Halstead and Lindsay would have happened one way or the other. It had nothing to do with the job.

I wouldn't mind if they paired Upton and Halstead if it didn't seem like it was heading toward a relationship.

[CheshireCat]

Another short article about Bush's exit. https://tvline.com/2017/08/23/chicago-pd-spoilers-season-5-lindsay-exit-halstead-voight/

[quesera1]

I actually love the Antonio-Burgess pairing -- it helps that the two actors are some of my faves. And it makes sense that Antonio, one of the most experienced, would be working with Burgess, the least experienced. But as much as I love the Atwater-Ruzek team, that one doesn't really make sense: neither of them are detectives (unless they take an exam at some point). And honestly I feel like Atwater and Ruzek are both guys that would make perfect partners for anyone! We've seen them shuffled around a lot, and it's always great. 

As for the Halstead-Upton of it all? I get that since she is replacing Lindsay in the unit, she makes the most sense to partner with him. But if they take the romance route there? Well, that's just ridiculous. It's not a matter of Halstead "learning his lesson" to me. It's a matter of recycling the saaaaaaaame storylines over and over. I would love to see this pair become really great friends. Because men and women can be friends. And I think there's a lot of fun things we could see there. Plus I feel like it would be foolish on their end to "go there" with Halstead and Upton romantically. Give Jay some much-needed time to work through his own issues -- he was already dealing with a lot, I'm sure he'll be in an even worse place now. He's a phenomenal character on his own, he doesn't need to be half of a relationship all the time.

TBH it's pretty frustrating in general that they already have plans for Upton to find romance in the unit. I get that romance is an interesting part of most TV dramas -- name one workplace drama without it? -- but it gets to a point where it's pretty messy. They don't ALL have to sleep with each other. Bring in recurring characters for that if you need to. Or pair them with people on other One Chicago shows. I know Voight's "rules" ultimately mean nothing, people can do whatever they want, but from the brief intro we've had to Upton, and the tidbits we've heard in interviews, I really don't see her as someone that would want to get involved with a colleague. She strikes me as "all business." But what the hell do I know, right? (At least if they pair her with someone, PLEASE let it be Atwater! Poor guy needs some love!)

As a huge fan of Sophia, it sucks to think of the show without her and her character, but I'm trying to be positive and get excited for the new season and the new stories they will tell (NEW STORIES! STOP REPEATING THEM ALL THE TIME). It seems like there's some bad blood there somewhere, so I would be surprised if we ever saw her back. But this is an amazing cast of characters, so hopefully they take this opportunity to delve a bit deeper into them. And develop some more complex story arcs: Give me a big bad! Give me some cases that span multiple episodes! Give me stories that leave a mark and have impact for whole seasons!

[dreamcatcher]

oookay so I decided that I will probably binge watch the episodes a few months in AFTER I make sure they won't pair Upton with Jay (as in a relationship, not at work). If they go there after what they did with Linstead and the way they handled Sophia's exit, yes I'm done. At least until they hire competent writers who can actually utilize the amazing cast they have (and I mean all of them) and write at least somewhat new storylines .

[jewel21]

On 8/24/2017 at 9:05 AM, quesera1 said:

But this is an amazing cast of characters, so hopefully they take this opportunity to delve a bit deeper into them. And develop some more complex story arcs: Give me a big bad! Give me some cases that span multiple episodes! Give me stories that leave a mark and have impact for whole seasons!

This. I used to watch "Third Watch" a show dealing with cops, paramedics and firemen and started to watch the Chicago shows in the hopes of finding something similar. But so far these shows have been lacking, and this is precisely why. Third Watch was great at doing long story arcs, like the Russian mob one which had serious consequences for the characters, including one cop's Russian wife being killed. This is what this show needs. Not a death, per say, but a story line that takes longer than an episode to resolve and leaves a mark until this day.

[CheshireCat]

Somehow, I don't think that the Chicago shows are long-arc material. Probably because of the way they are structured. The only arc they ever did was the Nadia and then Lindsay story and even that didn't feel like a real arc to me. Maybe Dick Wolf isn't an arc-fan? If you look at his shows, they're all strict procedurals.

I do like arcs, too, however, I've made my peace with the Chicago shows being the way they are and don't expect them to change. But an arc might even stop the repetitive stories (because it feels like Fire and PD tend to revisit old stories, only slightly different).

[Guildford]

On 8/31/2017 at 1:08 PM, CheshireCat said:

Somehow, I don't think that the Chicago shows are long-arc material. Probably because of the way they are structured. The only arc they ever did was the Nadia and then Lindsay story and even that didn't feel like a real arc to me. Maybe Dick Wolf isn't an arc-fan? If you look at his shows, they're all strict procedurals.

I do like arcs, too, however, I've made my peace with the Chicago shows being the way they are and don't expect them to change. But an arc might even stop the repetitive stories (because it feels like Fire and PD tend to revisit old stories, only slightly different).

At the very least I think some of the cases could span over two episodes because they feel awfully rushed sometimes and they try to shove in too many twists and turns in one episode. Stretching it over two weeks would allow things to develop more naturally. It can still be procedural just not so rushed.

We know they can't do arcs.....even the Greg Yates story became a joke when they bought him back at the end. He was such a great villan in the first crossover but when they bought him back I spent most of the time laughing at how ridiculous it was.

[FnkyChkn34]

Preview from the new showrunner.

I guess it actually looks promising?