Chicago P.D. may be the place to be for some of the most intense procedural crime drama in primetime, but Chicago P.D. Season 7 was also a place to find some complex and intriguing relationships between the major characters. The One Chicago series with arguably the smallest cast of major characters yet a surprising amount of romantic entanglements between them, P.D. is always worth looking at following a season finale to see where Halstead, Ruzek, and the rest stand.
Now that Chicago P.D. Season 7 has come to an end, a few episodes early but not without some major developments on the relationship front for the members of Intelligence, let’s take a look at all the relationship statuses after Season 7.
Hank Voight
The central character of Chicago P.D. is surprisingly also the one with the fewest serious romantic entanglements. With his wife passing away before the beginning of the series and his disinclination for workplace romances, Voight hasn’t exactly been on the lookout for a love interest. Considering P.D. likes to pair its major characters with each other and there aren’t many age-appropriate women on the show, Voight’s most important relationships may continue to be platonic and/or familial, like with the cops in Intelligence, Olinksy (R.I.P), and Lindsay back in her days as P.D. leading lady.
Jay Halstead
Speaking of Lindsay, Halstead was pretty down after the abrupt end to their seasons-long relationship in the beginning of Season 5, but things are looking Up(ton) as of the end of Chicago P.D. Season 7. The only romantic relationship he’s participated in on-screen since Lindsay was a very ill-advised romance with a criminal who thought his name was Ryan. Now that Halstead has gotten closer to Upton, admitting to missing her in her absence, and is confirmed to be falling in love with her, Upstead is seemingly on the rise. The question here is whether they’d risk their partnership.
Hailey Upton
Upton brings a lot of romantic baggage to a potential Upstead relationship, even if most of her major relationships were off-screen. Her previous relationship with a partner ended with his death, her previous relationship with her sergeant tarnished her promotion, and her Season 6 relationship with Ruzek seems best forgotten. (The Chicago P.D. characters seem to agree.) Still, she confessed to loving Halstead and missed him while on FBI, and their relationship has a firm foundation as they fall in love with each other. Upstead seems to be P.D.’s flagship relationship heading into Season 8.
Adam Ruzek
Ruzek has had his share of romantic drama (and broken engagements) over the years, but his strongest attachment on Chicago P.D. has been to Burgess. After a post-”Infection” crossover hookup resulted in a Burgess pregnancy, Ruzek went so far as to propose. While they didn’t get back together during the pregnancy, Ruzek tried to be there for her after the miscarriage. Sure, he hooked up with a bartender when it was clear Burgess wasn’t in the same headspace, but more Burzek seems possible in Season 8, especially since Ruzek too seems to be ignoring the fling with Upton.
Kim Burgess
Burgess’ most notable romantic relationship over the years has been Ruzek, and their will-they-won’t-they dynamic is the longest-running of P.D. at this point. Her unexpected pregnancy and brutal miscarriage meant she had little time for romance and wasn’t interested in rekindling things with Ruzek, but she did begin opening up again by the end of Season 7, and her reunion with Roman wasn’t romantic. Again, Upstead seems to be what’s up for Season 8, but there’s hope on the Burzek front. Maybe they’ll just take a break from the will-they and go with the won’t-they for a while.
Kevin Atwater
Despite the rest of Intelligence hopping from relationship to relationship, Atwater hasn’t gotten much romance. That seemed likely to change in Season 7 thanks to some comments from the showrunner, when Upstead seemed like a dim possibility and Atwater was in for some love with newcomer Rojas. Other than some bonding on the job and hints of hanging out off-screen, however, no Atwater/Rojas romance has happened. With some upcoming Upstead, I have my doubts that P.D. would pair off all of Intelligence into couples, so I can see some RoWater if Burzek stays on the back burner in Season 8.
Vanessa Rojas
Rojas seemed bound for an Atwater romance before she even made her Chicago P.D. debut. Still, the only love for Rojas in Season 7 came from a former flame who wound up on the wrong side of the law. Rojas crossed some lines to hide his involvement, and Upton crossed some major lines to clear him, and any developments that may have been planned for RoWater didn’t happen before Season 7 had to wrap. I could see RoWater becoming the B couple in Season 8, although Upton and Rojas’ apartment could get a little awkward if coworkers start spending the night!
Trudy Platt
Congratulations to Trudy Platt for having the only stable and long-running romantic relationship of the major characters on Chicago P.D.! Of course, that’s probably mostly due to the fact that her husband is a series regular on Chicago Fire and Platt herself isn’t part of Intelligence proper, but she and Mouch have remained strong throughout the various crossover crises they’ve found themselves in. As long as Amy Morton’s Platt stays alive on P.D. and Christian Stolte’s Mouch stays alive on Fire, they could continue going strong in the long run! Or at least three more seasons.
P.D. is of course also home to some strong relationships that are strictly platonic. Atwater and Ruzek are always fun together, and the bond between Upton and Rojas impacted both of them a great deal throughout Season 7. Upton and Halstead flirted with the edges of friendship and something more before it became clear that P.D. was going for the “something more,” and Burgess and Ruzek are fun as friends when they’re taking a break from drama.
So, for fans who are into Chicago P.D. from the crime procedural aspect and aren’t necessarily hoping for Halstead and Atwater to awkwardly cross paths at Upton and Rojas’ place in Season 8, there will be some non-romance dynamics to enjoy. I do still think some awkwardness would be funny, and really only fair. If P.D. is going to pair off the cops within Intelligence, then it’s only right that there be a little weirdness.
Unfortunately, Chicago P.D. wasn’t able to finish Season 7 as planned, so fans will have to wait through hiatus until Season 8 on NBC to find out what was supposed to happen on the relationship front. That said, P.D. arguably had the strongest finale out of the three shows of One Chicago, even if Upton wasn’t back yet and there are some big questions to be answered. Atwater had a great cliffhanger, and he hasn’t had the potential for such a meaty ongoing arc in a long time.
For now, you can rewatch earlier seasons of Chicago P.D. streaming on Amazon Prime. Be sure to vote in our poll below about which Chicago P.D. relationship you’re most interested in heading into Season 8!
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