‘Chicago P.D.’ Boss on Voight & Jay’s ‘Battle for Hailey’s Soul’

Meredith Jacobs February 28, 2020

Chicago PD Season 7 Hailey Jay Voight Darius — Matt Dinerstein/NBC

Don’t worry, Chicago P.D. hasn’t forgotten about that big move from Hailey (Tracy Spiridakos) that resulted in Darius Walker’s (Michael Beach) death in Episode 12.

“The idea of what happened with Hailey and Darius will linger throughout the rest of the season,” showrunner Rick Eid told TV Insider.

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Darius had been serving as a criminal informant for the CPD, and Hailey was worried when he saw one of her CIs, Cameron, at the station. She warned Cameron that he was likely burned and had to leave town. Rather than listen to her, however, he tracked her down with another tip. “Your new CI, Darius — ” Cameron began before he was killed in front of her.

The shooter refused to name Darius as the person who told him Cameron was a snitch, but Hailey knew better — and she let both Voight (Jason Beghe) and Darius know it. “The truth is you’re the kind of man who has people killed just because they saw your face,” she told the dealer.

Then, Darius worked with Intelligence on a case involving dirty cops. After the cops and gang members ended up dead, Hailey mentioned to some of the latter’s friends that the person responsible for their deaths was working with the police. (Jay had followed her to remind her that they were supposed to stand down.) Soon after, Darius’ body was found, a dead rat hanging over him. The message was clear.

Voight found her after; he knew she had to know something like that would happen. “Someone misinterpreted one of my statements, I can’t help that,” she said. “And if it worked out that a bad thing happened to a bad person because of that misinterpretation, well, I learned from the best.” But he was able to do the things he did because he “turned” something “off” inside of himself. If you don’t, he warned her, “it will eat you alive.” And he was worried that she’d “get there” one day.

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“What Jay knows, what Voight knows, in a way, it’s a battle between Jay and Voight for Hailey’s soul, so to speak,” Eid explained. “There’s the two different versions of being a cop, and Hailey admires and respects Voight and Halstead very much. They do things differently, and she’s, in some way, trying to figure out exactly who she is and how she polices.”

The executive producer also revealed that Wendell Pierce will be returning as Ray Price, but he wouldn’t say what brings him back for what is “right now one episode, but it could be more.”

Pierce was last seen in Season 6 Episode 19, “What Could Have Been.” Ray confessed to two murders his wife committed (to try to protect his mayoral dreams) and made a deal for a seven-year sentence.