The women of Chicago PD—and there are really only two of them, which is honestly kind of sad—have been through hell and back. I don’t think the men on the series have endured as much emotional and physical trauma as Hailey Upton and Kim Burgess.
Chicago PD Season 10 Episode 20 saw Upton fighting for her life after getting caught up in a situation with one of Jay Halstead’s former CIs.
It was a hard watch considering all of the abuse that Upton took while trying to figure out how to escape captivity.
Keeping fans in the dark only intensified the anxiety that Upton was feeling—it was as if we were all locked up right alongside her. Lee didn’t want to reveal what he did or why they were captured, though eventually, it was revealed that he stole 50K from a man who didn’t take kindly to being robbed.
When Mark Vicente pressed for information about his cash, Lee remained mum, which only made things worse and added even more stress. Without all of the pieces of the puzzle, Upton couldn’t figure out a plan that guaranteed their freedom or survival.
While most people would sing like a canary after being threatened, Lee’s determination to stay quiet—even getting his hand chopped off with an ax—meant that he was protecting someone else.
Things escalated pretty quickly when Upton failed to get any information out of Lee, and when push came to shove, Mark’s associate accidentally killed Lee ruining their chances of getting any answers.
In his final moments, Lee couldn’t even give Upton any ammo as he revealed that his girlfriend, the one he died protecting, spent all of it.
Upton was now in it alone, relying solely on her own training to get her out of this bind. Thankfully, she was pretty confident that her team was already aware of her disappearance and leading a search party for her whereabouts. She left a message for Voight in blood on the floor of the bathroom, which helped Intelligence pinpoint her location, but Upton also didn’t put all of her eggs in one basket; she didn’t sit back and wait to be saved, instead, she leaped into action.
In such an uncertain situation, Upton showed an immense amount of bravery. She fought back at every turn, eventually kicking out the backseat from the trunk and climbing over to choke out Mark which resulted in a car crash.
She managed to escape the vehicle, and though it looked like both Mark and his associate died in the accident, the former mustered up all the strength to take one last shot at Hailey.
Thankfully, he underestimated her, and she was able to free herself from his grasp just as Voight and the team pulled up.
CHICAGO P.D. — “Fight” Episode 1020 — Pictured: (l-r) LaRoyce Hawkins as Kevin Atwater, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess, Patrick John Flueger as Adam Ruzek, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)
If it wasn’t for Torres insisting that something was wrong because Upton never misses a training session, she likely wouldn’t have gotten help as quickly as she did. I’m glad that she has someone watching out for her because it clearly isn’t Jay Halstead anymore.
The episode kicked off with Upton chatting with Jay about his decision to extend his contract, but as things unfolded, it was evident that she was the only one still making an effort in this relationship. I know Jesse Lee Soffer wanted to leave the series of his own volition, but it’s unfortunate that they are making his character look like a grade-A asshole. The Halstead we know would never just turn his back on Upton, and he’d certainly be concerned about her disappearance.
But I understand that they have to find a way to write him out fully—he cannot be a ghost presence on the show and in her life for much longer—and there aren’t a lot of options.
While getting kidnapped had absolutely nothing to do with Upton’s relationship with Halstead, it did put her future into perspective as Lee was the only one fighting for his relationship while Jessica was simply using him. As Voight later revealed, she was the one who concocted the plan to rob Mark and even convinced Lee to go through with it, but when Lee was kidnapped and the cops begged her to help them find him, she pretended to have zero information on the situation or who was responsible. Lee’s blood is sort of on her hands; she didn’t seem to care what happened to him now that she got what she wanted.
Again, it’s not the exact same scenario as with Upton and Halstead, but it’s what made her really question her situation. And Voight’s heart-to-heart informing her that it’s okay to let go officially convinced her that it was time to say goodbye to this chapter of her life.
It’s a bummer we won’t get to see Jay’s perspective on all of this, but I’m glad that Upton is finally moving on and on her way to finding peace.
As for Upton and Burgess, well, I just hope these women can finally catch a break. They are fighters, no doubt, but that’s a lot of trauma to deal with and unpack! At the very least, I’d love to see them have a standing girl’s night where they just blow off some steam for their own sake and sanity. We have two women on the series—why aren’t they friends? Why can’t they be there for each other?!
What did you think of the episode?