‘Chicago P.D.’: Major Character Exited in Wednesday Night’s Episode

The One Chicago universe just bid farewell to an original character. During Wednesday night’s new episode of NBC’s hit police procedural Chicago P.D., the Chicago Police Department was left one member short when one beloved officer turned in his badge and resigned. Warning: This post contains spoilers for Chicago P.D. Season 10, Episode 3, “A Good Man.”

After first announcing in August that he would be departing the series, Jesse Lee Soffer made his last appearance as Det. Jay Halstead, the character he has portrayed since his time on Chicago Fire, in “A Good Man.” Halstead’s resignation from the police force followed a tense and emotional episode, which opened with a stark distance between Halstead and his partner and wife, Det. Hailey Upton, who wakes up to realize her husband never made it home. It turns out that Halstead was with Sergeant Hank Voight, and the two responded to a robbery at a pharmacy, marking the first instance in a series of events that would lead to Halstead’s decision to set down his badge.

While responding to the robbery, Halstead meets good Samaritan Lenny, who helps him clear the scene and is shot in the process to save a pregnant bystander. As Lenny is hospitalized and Halstead and the team investigate the robbery, they discover that Lenny is part of the crew of criminals who are responsible for a string of robberies in an attempt to score pills. As Lenny lies on his deathbed, he begs Halstead not to tell his family what he did before he ultimately goes into cardiac arrest and dies. While Hailey wants to call Voight, Halstead stops her, instead wishing to clear Lenny’s name, saying, “He’s dying. We can’t take his name, too. One bad act doesn’t make you a bad person. You and I both know that.”

As Halstead continues his mission to clear Lenny’s connection to the crime, he encounters one of Lenny’s criminal associates at a warehouse, and in the ensuing fight, Halstead loses his gun and ends up stabbing him in self-defense, only to turn around to see his wife witnessed the entire thing. When Voight joins them, he and Hailey immediately come up with a cover story to protect Halstead, who says, “We’re doing it again.”

The episode ends with Halstead heading into Chief O’Neil’s office to “tell the truth” of what occurred. However, when he finds that he is unable to, and after O’Neil informs him that they’re going to make sure the Army knows about Lenny’s sacrifice and takes care of his family, Halstead thanks him, turns in his badge and resigns.

When he reunites with his heartbroken wife, he tells her, “You were right about me, I changed,” adding that he “had to” resign as “it was the right thing to do.” He reveals that he has taken a job with the Army and will be posted in Bolivia, where he will run a squad tracking down the worst drug cartels. He promises her that in 8 months, he will be back, though he says, “you have to let me go.” The episode ends with Halstead at the airport, heading towards his gate, leaving open the possibility of his eventual return to the series.