Chicago P.D. Season 12 set up a new status quo in the final minutes of the fall finale last year, and Voight has a new nemesis in Deputy Chief Reid to start the 2025 TV schedule. After a few episodes of not showing his true motivations, Reid finally revealed the dirt he has on Voight and said that he'd like for them "to be friends." Ahead of the winter premiere on January 8, P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan opened up about Reid as Voight's nemesis and Animal Kingdom alum Shawn Hatosy going toe to toe with Jason Beghe in their scenes.
There were certainly clues ahead of the fall finale (which is available streaming now with a Peacock subscription) that Reid was happy to bend the rules to accumulate favors, after he promoted Burgess to detective without moving her from the Intelligence Unit. Marina Squerciati shared that Burgess getting a favor she didn't want left a "bad taste in her mouth," and Voight may well share that sentiment when P.D. picks up in the new year.
With Reid showing his true colors to end 2024, I took the opportunity during NBC's One Chicago winter premiere junket to ask the showrunner what she was looking for in an actor to play Voight's nemesis opposite Jason Beghe, and Gwen Sigan said:
I love that question. We were looking for a perfect blend of likeability and distrust. Somebody who could play both, which is hard to do. We wanted someone that had some easy charm and could be really casual and feel like police's police. You see that in the first few episodes, I think Shawn did a good job with that. He's out on the ground with everybody, and he's kind of connecting, and he feels a little bit like a young Voight, sort of swaggering around. [laughs] And then we also wanted that ability to have that shift that he showed at the end of Episode 8, where suddenly you see the gears turning, and you see this different side of him. A bit of a chameleon.
And what a shift it was! Given Chicago P.D.'s history with authority figures within the CPD, it was safe to guess that there was more to Reid than met the eye in Shawn Hatosy's first few episodes. I'm not sure many fans would have predicted him ending the fall finale by laying out all the leverage he has against the unit and then pitching friendship to the sergeant, though! The showrunner continued:
We were really looking for someone who could play a little bit of it all. Obviously now that we know he is manipulating Voight and has this leverage on him, it definitely [leans] in the direction more as a nemesis for Voight and someone to try to take down and to navigate around. We wanted that same weight and formidable energy that we have in Jason. And honestly, it's hard to act against Jason [Beghe] in that way. [laughs] Shawn was a perfect pick because he can hold his own. He's been really fun to write for.
Would Voight really be Voight if he'd responded to Reid listing all his pieces of leverage by immediately caving? Jason Beghe's character is undoubtedly facing some tricky decisions in 2025, set up well with Shawn Hatosy being able to – as Gwen Sigan said – "hold his own" opposite the longtime One Chicago lead.
Reid didn't drop details about what he pictures coming from a friendship with Voight, so I went ahead and asked the showrunner what that kind of dynamic looks like for the characters in 2025. She previewed:
Very uncomfortable for Voight, for sure. [laughs] I think Voight is not somebody who likes a friendship that he doesn't understand, and certainly not a friendship that is coded in leverage and ownership and all of these strings attached. We'll start to see those strings pretty quickly, and see the different things that Reid asks for, and start to understand his motivation.
Voight has unfortunately been low on bosom buddies in recent years, and even the dubious bond with Upton ended last year when Tracy Spiridakos said goodbye to One Chicago. According to Sigan for the second half of Season 13, there will be bonds of a sort between them despite Reid having dirt on Intelligence. She said:
But there's also this really interesting thing about the pair of them where they're getting to know each other, and what you'll see at the beginning is more of those similarities that they do have. And as you get to know Reid and his philosophy as police, it shines a light on Voight and his philosophy, and definitely this idea of, is Voight evolved? Is Voight changed? Or is Voight really a version of Reid, just dressed up differently now? It gets to some deep places, and it's been just really interesting to write for the two of them.
It sounds like this Reid conflict could be Voight's arc for the rest of the season, but it remains to be seen how much this arc will actually involve the rest of the unit. Burgess seems like a solid option, as she is a detective now and is one of the people who Reid has dirt on thanks to Torres' messy past with Gloria. I'm just not convinced anybody should wish that on her when the good ship Burzek has been sailing so smoothly! For now, check out the promo for the winter premiere:
Find out what Chief Reid has in mind for Voight with the winter premiere of Chicago P.D. Season 12 on Wednesday, January 8 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire's "fully ridiculous" revival of a Cruz storyline at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med getting "down and dirty" to resolve its bloody cliffhanger at 8 p.m. ET. One Chicago fans can also look forward to the long-awaited three-part crossover event coming up before the end of the month!
