‘Chicago P.D.’: Jason Beghe & Tracy Spiridakos Talk Upton & Voight’s Secret and Upstead

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Chicago P.D. Season 9 premiere “Closure.”]

Will Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and Detective Hailey Upton’s (Tracy Spiridakos) secret — that she shot a suspect to save her boss’ life and he then buried the body — come out? Well, they may have covered their tracks in the Chicago P.D. Season 9 premiere well enough that they don’t have to worry about that. How? The only person who could link them to what happened was shot in a standoff with the police.

Meanwhile, Upstead fans got the answer they’d been waiting all summer for: Detective Jay Halstead’s (Jesse Lee Soffer) response to Upton’s proposal. Not only did he say yes (after making sure it wasn’t just a reaction to Marina Squerciati’s Kim Burgess being shot), but he also proposed (he’s old-fashioned, he explained). They’re engaged!

TV Insider turned to Beghe and Spiridakos to find out what’s next.

Voight and Upton’s secret remains buried for now because the only other person who knows is also now dead. How are they both dealing with everything that’s happened going forward?

Tracy Spiridakos: Upton definitely struggles. The guilt of it all and keeping it a secret from Burgess, keeping it a secret from Halstead, is a struggle and we see her kind of unravel throughout — we’re only on episode 5 so far, but from what I understand, we see that struggle continue for her for a while.

Jason Beghe: Voight’s main concern is whether or not Upton can handle this. Because obviously it’s been personally distressing to her and that’s something that he doesn’t want her to have to experience, but also potentially her inability to hold onto this secret could adversely affect the entire unit and even the Chicago police department, so there’s a lot at stake and he tries to stay present and encourage her to weather the storm as best as she can.

Lori Allen/NBC

And especially because they have to rely on each other to not slip up. How does that affect how they look at each other going forward? Is there a difference in how they interact?

Spiridakos: There’s definitely tension, that’s for sure. And then Halstead starts to see that there’s some tension there and starts to think, why?

Beghe: It’s out of [Voight’s] hands. All he can do is encourage her and try to support her as best he can. But he’s also an extremely resourceful person, and if something happens, then he’s capable of making adjustments. Let’s face it, this is a guy who was put in prison for taking out a hit on a Chicago firefighter. Then he ended up finding a way not only out of prison, but leading the most elite unit in Chicago. So he’s a resourceful guy.

In happier news, Upton and Halstead are engaged! What are we going to see next? Telling the others? Wedding planning? The wedding itself?

Spiridakos: I’m not sure if there’s going to be an actual wedding this season or if that’ll come later. There was a scene where there was some ring picking out. And as a scene kind of unravels, everyone’s like, “yeah, we knew, whatever.” As far as the wedding goes, I’m not sure when that’s going to happen, if, who knows?

Lori Allen/NBC

But there’s still a matter of why she proposed — which he brings up — at least in the first place. Is that going to come up again or is that resolved?

Spiridakos: The why of it, I think, is resolved in that moment. I think Hailey meant it. I think she realized in that moment how he’s this great thing in her life and she was afraid to lose him and it came out of this really vulnerable place, but I think it was a truthful and honest place. They both deeply care for each other, but there’s some stuff that comes up that they have to figure out going forward.

What about Voight’s personal life?

Beghe: It’s a big secret. I believe Voight goes home, he eats food and sleeps occasionally. And he consumes beverages from time to time. That’s what I believe he does.

So there’s nothing in this love life coming up?

Beghe: He loves his unit. … The reality is that he has a deep love and care for the people of Chicago and the people that he’s particularly closest to. There’s certainly a deep connection. But I think perhaps if I was going to get psychological about it, sometimes if you allow yourself to feel this great responsibility for a group, it can be a way to prevent yourself from getting your heart broken. I think that he’s certainly not over the loss of his wife. He never cheated on his wife. He wasn’t that kind of a guy, and he still feels completely devoted to her, so it’s not like something that he’s white-knuckling. It’s not interesting to him. His heart is living elsewhere. I think it’s been quite a while and it may change.

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How is Intelligence doing as a unit? Burgess has to recover, so are we going to see a time jump so she’ll be back? Who does she lean on?

Spiridakos: She’s back right away. We see what her struggles are coming back, I think in the second episode. But there isn’t too much of a jump, right, Jason?

Beghe: It’s a question of whether or not she feels ready to go at it. But yeah, I think mostly in the second episode, she starts to deal with it. She’s eventually gonna heal from the physical wounds, but it’s still a journey to heal from the psychological ones and her ability, or even desire, and to what extent she’s going to be a police officer or not. And she’s got Makayla. There’s a lot going on with her.

Spiridakos: It’ll be interesting to see Hailey and Kim with what has happened with Roy and Hailey and that dynamic and not being able to tell Kim and what that will feel like. I would love to see some of that.

Beghe: Ultimately Burgess has got to rely on Burgess, and I think that that’s the journey, to feel confident enough to be able to feel safe. It takes a lot of cojones to be a cop like she is, and that’s something you have to rely on yourself ultimately.

Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC