The eighth season of Chicago P.D. returned with Voight and most of the Intelligence Unit facing a new era in the police department, but one member of the unit was absent. Lisseth Chavez's Vanessa Rojas was nowhere to be seen, and she didn't even get a mention in either of the two episodes that aired before One Chicago's winter hiatus kicked off. So, where is Rojas?
Well, Lisseth Chavez landed what sounds like a key role on a show set elsewhere than One Chicago, and it doesn't seem like she'll be back on Chicago P.D. any time soon... if at all. With the big Rojas reveal presumably coming in one of the first couple episodes of Season 8 in 2021, let's dig into four ways Chicago P.D. could say goodbye to her! Let's start with the darkest option.
Rojas Is Killed Off Chicago P.D.
Chicago P.D. is a dangerous place to be in One Chicago, although members of Intelligence usually manage to survive the deadly circumstances they find themselves in. Rojas may be an exception to the rule, since Chicago P.D. is actually continuing without the actress. I previously thought Chicago P.D. might kill her off as a casualty of the dirty cops' vendetta against Atwater, but it was Ruzek who was shot (in the vest).
Rojas was the newest member of Intelligence, so killing her off would arguably be less risky than killing off one of the longer-running characters with established fanbases. That said, unless Lisseth Chavez reprises her role in the very near future, Rojas would have to be killed off-screen or revealed to have died over the break between Season 7 and Season 8 without anybody mentioning it, and that would be awfully underwhelming.
Rojas Is Undercover For Chicago P.D.
Rojas made her Season 7 debut as an undercover officer, and she was skilled enough at the ruse that even Atwater didn't realize she was a cop until she made the reveal. She struggled with adjusting to work in Intelligence after spending so much of her time pretending to be somebody else and not working with a team. Perhaps an opportunity arose for her to go back undercover, and she decided to do it.
Going back undercover would make sense for her character, as she didn't put down many roots other than living with Upton in Season 7, and she was clearly good at what she did when she worked undercover. A return to undercover work would also enable Chicago P.D. to explain her absence without killing her off and without making it too strange that nobody mentioned her in the first two episodes of Season 8.
Rojas Was Fired From Intelligence
Considering how many lines the various members of Intelligence have crossed over the years, discovering that one of them did something bad enough to actually be fired would be pretty surprising. Still, the others seem to be a little savvier in how they break the rules, whereas Rojas would have been caught deleting surveillance footage in Season 7 if she hadn't gone to Upton.
With more scrutiny than ever on CPD due to the real-world events that the show incorporated, it's not impossible that Rojas was caught doing something and was fired for it. Even Voight might not be able to make something go away if she was caught in the act crossing a line. That said, Voight still seemed to have a fairly free rein up until Samantha Miller showed up, so Rojas being fired might not be the most likely option.
Rojas Quit The Chicago Police Department
Hey, work in the questionable Intelligence Unit isn't for everybody. Maybe Rojas just took stock of her life and decided that she didn't want to be a cop anymore, or at least not a cop working under Voight. Rojas quitting would mean that Chicago P.D. wouldn't have to kill her off, put her into a dangerous undercover operation, or fire her, but not necessarily the most realistic considering her dedication to her job in Season 7.
So, which is the most likely? Chicago P.D. showrunner Rick Eid teased what's in store for Rojas to Give Me My Remote ahead of the Season 8 premiere, saying:
The door is always open for Lisseth. We’ll most likely address her exit in one of the first three or four episodes, but it won’t be a major storyline.
Based on these comments, I'm going to guess that Chicago P.D. will reveal that Rojas went back undercover over hiatus. Rick Eid leaving the door open for Lisseth Chavez suggests that Rojas will still be alive after however her exit is addressed. His statement that her exit won't be a "major storyline" also makes me think that she'll survive her exit. Even if Rojas was the newest member of Intelligence, her death would deserve a major storyline for at least an episode!
That said, the Chicago P.D. showrunner probably wasn't going to give away all the Season 8 secrets early on, and I'm still going to consider Rojas being killed off as a very real possibility. Undercover work is my ideal ending, though! Weigh in our poll below about how you think Rojas is going to go from Chicago P.D., and check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule for when One Chicago and more viewing options will return in the new year.
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