The end of Chicago P.D. Season 9 isn’t too far off, and finale season approaching usually means the intensity ramping up on the crime procedural show in the One Chicago shared universe. While fans can only wonder at this point if something less harrowing than Burgess being shot and left for dead like what happened last season will close out Season 9, it’s worth looking ahead at what we know about the finale so far while P.D. is on a brief break. Showrunner Gwen Sigan has revealed how the upcoming episodes will be getting under Voight’s skin, and that can always trickle down to the rest of the Intelligence Unit.
So, while we wait for the return of Chicago P.D. in May (as well as Chicago Fire and Chicago Med), here’s some of what we should keep in mind for the final episodes of the season.
What's Getting Under Voight's Skin, According To The Showrunner
The person getting under Voight’s skin is none other than Anna Avalos, a.k.a. the C.I. who has become quite close to the Intelligence sergeant ever since her debut in the first half of Season 9. His attachment to her could complicate matters as she sinks deeper and deeper into her work to bring down a drug ring, and Voight getting close to somebody at all can be dangerous. Showrunner Gwen Sigan – who replaced FBI’s Rick Eid in the top job at P.D. – spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets for One Chicago Day earlier in April, and weighed in on the future of Voight and Anna:
We will definitely see more of the two of them. We're gearing up and as we get closer to the finale, you'll see Anna in the penultimate episode and you will see her in the final episode as well. And it's been so fun to write for her and to write for Jason [Beghe] with her. And so that connection, we'll continue to see it grow and see that this person's kind of gotten under Voight's skin a little bit. You know, he hasn't really let anybody in in a long time, probably since Olinsky.
Anna will appear in the final two episodes of Season 9, which means that she will return in the not-too-distant future. Although Chicago P.D. is on a break for a couple of weeks until returning on May 11, only three of the 22 episodes of the season are left. The comparison to Olinsky in terms of getting under Voight’s skin might not bode well for Anna, considering what happened to Voight’s old friend due to his unfailing loyalty, but that doesn’t have to mean that she’s not long for the world.
Her last appearance was in “New Guard,” which centered on Halstead somewhat reluctantly taking a young cop under his wing, and it’s still unclear whether that character will be back. Still, her strongest connection by far is to Voight, and he’s undoubtedly the one most invested in her safely completing her mission as a C.I. and moving on with her life. Jason Beghe had high praise for the character and her actress as One Chicago Day as well, saying:
For me, it starts with the person who plays the character, and Carmela Zumbado is just a fantastic actress, and a spectacular person. She's just game for anything, and [has a] wonderful attitude. It's just so much fun to work with her. So, you know, it's kind of like hitting a tennis ball back and forth. You never know where it's gonna go… It's fun. And I think Gwen has written it beautifully.
Chicago P.D. has already been renewed for Season 10, but there’s still not much to go on for the Season 9 finale beyond that Anna will appear after spending most of her appearances getting more and more under Voight’s skin. If she has a large role in the last two episodes of the season, then it stands to reason that it might be a Voight-centric finale event since she tends to feature in his stories.
Then again, it initially seemed like the Season 8 finale might have been almost entirely about finding and saving Burgess, but ended with Voight and Upton killing a man to kickstart the story that would drive the show for the first half of the 2021-2022 TV season. The finale may be more of an ensemble affair, which raises the question: what about the rest? For now, let’s look at where their Season 9 journeys have led them so far.
What's Been Happening For The Rest Of Intelligence
Halstead – who has had the most interactions with Anna other than Voight himself – worked his way up to an almost unofficial equal footing with his longtime boss after blackmailing an FBI agent into dropping the case against Voight and Upton, so he has had more of a position of power within the unit. He’s still a detective and therefore holds the same rank as his partner and wife, but there’s a new dynamic with Voight that has already resulted in some changes. More complications could arise when the stakes get higher, with Voight and the rest of the unit.
Upton spent most of the first half of Season 9 slowly melting down from the guilt of killing Roy and pressure to keep the secret, but has been doing better since the case was dropped and she married Halstead. Tracy Spiridakos previously spoke about how her character is “trying really hard to be the best version of herself” and move forward. Her dynamic with Voight is a little different too after everything that went down with Roy’s death, but not quite as noticeably as Halstead’s.
Atwater finally got a love interest to expand his personal life, but that fell apart when he lied to Celeste about being a cop. He held out hope that she would finally forgive him and want to get back together for weeks, only to finally realize that he needed to leave her alone and let both of them move on. P.D. gave him some closure in the most recent episode, but whether that’s the end of his story with Celeste remains to be seen.
Burgess and Ruzek have been on a similar journey to each other through much of the ninth season, with Ruzek stepping up for her and Makayla during her recovery period after being shot. Their co-parenting situation was going perfectly well… until the nanny was murdered, their daughter was kidnapped, and they exchanged some harsh words that they couldn’t take back. Ruzek moved out in what Marina Squerciati described as a “pretty selfless” decision.
Only time (and the last three episodes of the 2021-2022 TV season) will tell what’s next for these characters before heading into hiatus, but it’s clear that there’s a lot of material for all of them even if Anna is getting under Voight’s skin in particular ahead of the finale. Chicago P.D. returns with the next new episode on Wednesday, May 11 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, and the finale airs just a couple of weeks later, so be sure to tune in.
