Spoilers ahead for Episode 20 of Chicago P.D. Season 10, called “Fight.”
Season 10 of Chicago P.D. has been rough on Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos), as most of these first twenty episodes have forced her to cope with the loss of her husband, who also happened to be her partner. “Fight” fortunately did acknowledge her absent husband for the first time in a while, and Upton was even able to speak over the phone with an off-screen Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer). It was a step up from when he decided to extend his time in the army without a word to her, but that was also an exceptionally low bar that he set. After the events of “Fight,” I found myself reflecting not on the glory days of Upstead, but on the classic era of Law & Order: SVU.
Was it because the episode’s leading lady crushed her performance? No, although Tracy Spiridakos took viewers on as emotional a ride like what SVU fans regularly get from Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson. Was it because P.D. put Upton through an SVU-worthy level of emotional trauma? No again! Was it even because NBC kept airing commercials for the then-upcoming crossover between SVU and Organized Crime during the P.D. episode’s broadcast to keep Benson and Chris Meloni's Elliot Stabler on my mind during One Chicago time? Nope!
It was because watching Upton struggle with Halstead’s absence reminded me of Benson dealing with Stabler’s departure way back in Season 13 of SVU, and let’s look at why.
Off-Screen Halstead Reminds Me Of Off-Screen Stabler
To get into why “Fight” had me flashing back to SVU, let’s first go on a blast to the past. As longtime SVU fans will remember, Benson and Stabler were extremely close as partners for twelve seasons, although without ever making the jump to romance. Back in the day, it was hard to imagine anything splitting the two detectives apart... and then contract negotiations fell apart between Seasons 12 and 13, leading Meloni to decide to leave the show and not return until Stabler was getting his own spinoff a decade later.
Stabler leaving brought an end to what I consider the classic era of SVU (which is available streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription), when the cast was comprised of Meloni as Stabler, Hargitay as Benson, Richard Belzer (who passed away earlier this year) as Munch, Ice-T as Fin, and Dann Florek as Captain Cragen. Now, looking back, P.D. giving the latest Halstead updates reminded me of nothing as much as how SVU handled Meloni's absence.
Like Stabler, Halstead decided to leave his unit of his own volition when the job became too much for him. Like Stabler, the partner he left behind didn't hear from him when she needed him. Also like Stabler, there’s not really any closure to Halstead's absence, even though the former Chicago detective did have an on-screen goodbye. He also claimed that he’d be back in eight months! SVU didn’t make Stabler look good in how he left, and P.D. isn’t doing Halstead’s character any favors with his off-screen actions.
And like Stabler, Halstead has been absent long enough in a frustrating way that I’m going to need a good, long apology to his partner if he returns! I'm still waiting on a satisfactory Stabler apology, even in light of the recent troubling reveal that had nothing to do with his departure or The Letter. (The crossover does have promising signs on the Benson/Stabler front, though.)
Of course, the SVU/P.D. parallels aren’t perfect. Jesse Lee Soffer returned for a few episodes of Season 10 so that P.D. could give him an on-screen goodbye, while SVU Season 13 had to write Chris Meloni out after his final appearance. Benson and Stabler never became romantic after twelve years as partners; Upstead got married after far fewer seasons. Still, the ghosting by off-screen Stabler in SVU Season 13 didn’t feel like the Stabler of Seasons 1-12, and off-screen Halstead in Season 10 doesn’t feel like the man, partner, or husband he was during Soffer’s time as a series regular.
Upton Has To Move On Alone Like Benson Did
Neither Upton nor Benson had any say in their partner’s decision to leave. Halstead decided to rejoin the army without so much as mentioning it to Upton until he was just hours away from leaving her behind. Stabler didn’t so much as leave Benson a post-it note that he was leaving Special Victims, with Cragen having to break the news to her! At least Upton got an on-screen goodbye from Halstead compared to Benson back in the day, but Stabler didn't exactly set a high bar.
While Upton has certainly been more self-destructive in P.D. Season 10 than Benson was in SVU Season 13 (and SVU doesn’t follow characters home as much as P.D. does), both detectives were in similar positions of losing their partner, trying to move on with their lives without closure, and having their colleagues know that they were deeply affected by it.
Also, Benson didn’t seem like she was angry at Stabler early on, with that coming later… and burning pretty hot by the time he came back for Law & Order: Organized Crime. On P.D., Upton spent much of Season 10 burying herself in work to avoid dwelling on Halstead’s decision to leave, and “Fight” was really the first time that she decided (with some prompting from Voight, of all people) to look after herself.
I’m usually the last person to say that Voight is a good influence on Upton, but he had an important message for her in this episode:
You know, it is okay to let go if you’re the only one fighting. It doesn’t mean you don’t love him. It just means you love you too.
Who knew that Voight could give Upton good advice without any ulterior motive?! SVU's Benson had to find ways to let go on her own, but she managed it. Upton took a step in that direction in “Fight” when she sat alone in what had been their apartment and tearfully removed her wedding ring. After the events of the first twenty episodes of Season 10 – not to mention the fact that Upton was still beaten and bruised from her ordeal with Halstead’s former C.I. – can anybody really blame her for deciding to love herself? Or be angry with her after watching Tracy Spiridakos’ performance?
On the whole, “Fight” making me flash back to classic SVU days left me in a familiar state of mind: mad at the character who had left the way he did on behalf of the partner who had to move on without the closure or communication they deserve. I’d love to see Halstead come back, and an Upstead reunion would ideally happen sooner than the ten years between Chris Meloni’s departure from and then return to SVU, but damage has been done.
If there’s any kind of future for Upstead, Halstead needs to be the one to make amends… and Jesse Lee Soffer’s comments back in March certainly don’t guarantee that fans will see him again before the end of Season 10. I haven’t been holding a grudge against Stabler off and on since 2011 on Benson's behalf to not want Upton to get what she deserves to heal, whether or not that truly means letting go!
On a slightly less melodramatic note, Chicago P.D. has already been renewed for Season 11. Barring Tracy Spiridakos’ departure from the show, we should get to see more of Upton after making her big choice, and at least get some relationship fun out of Burzek these days. For now, check out the promo for the next episode:
More Torres is on the way next week, for better or worse! New episodes of Chicago P.D. will continue airing on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, and it remains to be seen whether fans will agree with why LaRoyce Hawkins is so optimistic about what’s ahead. The Season 10 finale will debut on May 24.
