Chicago P.D.’s Jay Halstead and Hailey Upton returned to the Windy City in the course of the high-stakes One Chicago crossover — but did they leave a pair?
Jesse Lee Soffer, who plays Halstead, and Tracy Spiridakos, who portrays Upton, exclusively told Us Weekly all about their “unfinished business” and the TV reunion that will certainly leave fans talking.
Warning: Spoilers below from season 13, episode 13 of Chicago P.D. and the One Chicago crossover.
Soffer, 41, explained to Us that in the course of the Wednesday, March 4, crossover event, Halstead finds himself back in Chicago after traveling to Bolivia to work drug interdiction and chase cartel members.
When a case that Upton is working on, now as an FBI agent, “intersects” with Halstead’s work, it’s a “really big deal” for Halstead, who’s “pleased to see her and work side by side together with her for a minute.”
Soffer told Us that before Halstead left during season 10 in 2022 of Chicago P.D. amid his marriage to Upton, he told her, “I’m coming back. I got to go do that. I gotta go, like, find myself, but I really like you, and I’m coming back.”
Nevertheless, he left “so abruptly that there was all this unfinished business” and it left a “void” in each of their lives.
“There’s a variety of like story to be mined from that,” the actor said, noting that the crossover gave Halstead a possibility to see Upton face-to-face for the primary time in years. (Spiridakos’ Upton left Chicago P.D. after season 11 in 2024 as a divorced woman.)
Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide, Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton, Dermot Mulroney as Chief Dom Pascal. Peter Gordon/NBC
Throughout the three-hour crossover episode, Upton crossed paths with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. members as all of them work to determine what caused passengers of a plane headed for Chicago to die mysteriously.
Upton revealed to her former boss Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) that a drug trafficking case she was working on was tied to Halstead, which is why she decided to return to Chicago and never blow his cover in case he’d been compromised.
Halstead, meanwhile, showed up to assist the team just in time to avoid wasting Upton’s life from one in all the assailants, who purchased drugs to make a toxin that may infect first responders he held chargeable for the death of his family in a fireplace 25 years prior.
Maarten de Boer/NBCUniversal Tracy Spiridakos addressed her Chicago P.D. exit for the primary time ahead of her farewell episode and the season 11 finale. “I made a decision at the top of my sixth season (a.k.a. season 10 of the series),” Spiridakos, 36, told Variety on Tuesday, May 21, of her departure timeline. “Which is after I […]
“There have been so over and over I wanted to achieve out,” Halstead told Upton after they were out of harm’s way, but he just brushed him off.
At the top of the episode, Halstead and Upton — together with their former Intelligence Unit squad — eliminate the bad guy and save town from an attack that may have killed much more people. Additionally they manage to get an antidote to avoid wasting the firefighters and paramedics who were exposed in the course of the investigation.
Before Upton leaves the squad room, Halstead tries another time to apologize for leaving her and seemingly giving up on them.
“I stayed to work this case since you were here,” he told her. Upton confessed, “I got here here since you were here.”
Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead. George Burns Jr/NBC
Halstead then apologized for “all of it,” saying he was “sorry” he couldn’t find his way back to Chicago. “I’m sorry that I lost you.”
Upton replied, “I’m sorry too,” before inviting him out for a drink ahead of their respective departing flights. They exchanged a cheeky glance before leaving the office together.
“I feel the bond that they’d was a extremely, really strong one to start with,” Spiridakos, 38, told Us of the TV duo. “They were partners for therefore long [and] had been through a lot. The romantic a part of their relationship got here a lot later.”
She noted that Upton was “hurt by how things ended between them” and that pain wouldn’t be “easily forgotten.”
After bringing Upstead’s romance to life on Chicago P.D., Tracy Spiridakos and Jesse Lee Soffer formed a connection off screen. Soffer was previously linked to Sophia Bush and Torrey DeVitto before sparking romance rumors with Spiridakos. Soffer and Spiridakos met on the set of the Dick Wolf police drama while playing Hailey Upton and Jay […]
Upton gave Halstead an olive branch with the drinks offer, with Spiridakos teasing that might eventually result in more between them.
“I don’t know if it’s a brand new starting, but I feel it’s opened the door to have further conversations,” Spiridakos told Us. “That the top moment between them is like, ‘OK, I’ll accept a conversation.’ And that’s about so far as she will be able to go.”
Spiridakos and Soffer each agreed that it’s not the top of Upton and Halstead’s story, assuming the One Chicago writers agree.
“I do know we each would love to return back and play some more. If there’s more story available, we’re here for it,” Spiridakos confirmed, with Soffer adding that he’s greater than open to the opportunity of more episodes for the previous TV couple.
“Hell yeah,” Soffer said.
Only time will tell if fans will see the pair back together.
Chicago P.D. airs on NBC Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.