The Chicago P.D. episode from Wednesday night focused a lot on Detective Hailey Upton as she was forced to face some of the traumas from her past. It all came about due to a new case that Intelligence was working on, centered around a family with a little girl who had gone missing.
The episode started innocently enough, with Upton and Halstead relaxing in bed on their day off. They planned out a busy day, right before Halstead said “I love you” to her. She didn’t know how to react and excused herself from the room. She then made an excuse to leave the house, but Halstead knew something was wrong.
On the last episode of Chicago P.D., we were left on a cliffhanger of Ruzek and Burgess having troubles in their relationship. With the way that this new installment started, it seemed pretty clear that we weren’t going to get any resolution on that particular storyline.
Chicago P.D. Season 8, Episode 11 recap
Almost as soon as Upton was in her vehicle, she heard a call come through on a wellness check needed for possible missing persons. She volunteered to head over.
A man, a woman, and their 12-year-old daughter were reported missing by their neighbors, and they seemed worried. When Upton went into the house, she smelled bleach and started finding evidence that something happened.
The case got even more mysterious when a quick search revealed the man was using the name of a dead man, the woman had no records, and the kid wasn’t enrolled in school. Camera footage at an ATM revealed that the man and child were likely being held against their will as a man was watching them and then took control of them again after they withdrew money.
The case got even more personal for Upton as she became invested and started to realize how much trauma the lost little girl was going through. That included their abductor killing her mother in front of her and her father abusing her.
Mid-case, Upton tried to talk to Halstead and apologize for running out on him, and he seemed very understanding and wanted to talk about it after they found the girl.
Later, when the leads started drying up about where the little girl might be, Upton started cracking a bit. She lashed out at Halstead for trying to be there for her, possibly putting a big dent in their relationship. After he walked away, she was visibly upset and angry at herself for the way the conversation went.
Upton wasn’t going to give up on this case, though, and she figured out that the suspect caught on the ATM camera had buried the father and kid underground. The man was found dead, but Upton saved the little girl and ended the episode with a long heart-to-heart with Voight.
On a down day for Upton, Voight gave her a lot of compliments for how well she does this job. It was exactly what she needed to hear. He also warned her about getting too emotionally attached to the job on cases like this one because it could end up costing her.
The episode ended with Upton apologizing to Halstead and saying that she wanted to be better, wanted to be with him, and that she wanted to re-learn how to love someone. She talked about her rough family dynamic and Halstead said a lot of supportive things back to her. And then she said it, she told him that she loved him.
A week off at One Chicago
There is no new episode of Chicago P.D. next week, which meant no NBC promo about what’s coming next. There is a new episode of the show on April 21, though, and Chicago P.D. Season 8, Episode 12 is called Due Process.
We are also coming up quickly on the Chicago P.D. season finale, with the show ending its current run in May. Then, in fall 2021, Chicago P.D. Season 9 will debut on NBC.
Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.