Warning! Spoilers ahead for Chicago PD season 10.Chicago PD season 10 has been struggling for a while, and Hank Voight explains why. The One Chicago franchise's police procedural is in its milestone year, celebrating reaching season 10 but also gearing up for its 200th episode. Unfortunately, instead of these causes of celebrations, Chicago PD season 10 is having a difficult year, losing a big cast member and grappling with some storytelling issues. Amid all this, Intelligence's very own leader, Voight lays out the root of its problems.
What was supposed to be a banner year for the police procedural became bittersweet after Jay Halstead's Chicago PD exit. Played by Jesse Lee Soffer, the veteran cast member officially left the show in the episode "A Good Man." Leading up to his send-off, the focus was on how he would be written out of the show. After that, however, it seems like Chicago PD has been struggling to find its footing again. While Halstead's absence definitely contributes to that, there is a bigger reason for this issue.
Like Voight, Chicago PD Is Having An Identity Crisis
In "The Ghost In You," Voight discovered ASA Nina Chapman's not-so-ideal past. Instead of judging her, the Intelligence sergeant was very understanding of her past misdemeanors. Chapman concluded that despite all the rumors, he's actually a decent man. Instead of being flattered Voight countered that some of the negative anecdotes about him are true, but he is unsure if he's still that old version of himself because he doesn't want to think about it in Chicago PD season 10. This reveals that Voight somehow has an identity crisis, and since he is the show's true protagonist, this personal issue spreads throughout its storytelling.
Right now, Chicago PD just doesn’t know what kind of series it wants to be. While it primarily maintains its police procedural storytelling, its weekly narratives are all over the place. For a while, focusing on a character per episode worked, but it quickly lost its appeal, especially since they tend to sideline the rest of Intelligence with minimal group interactions. A big reason why ensemble shows such as Chicago PD and many other Dick Wolf-produced projects works is because of the cast's chemistry — something that NBC has failed to capitalize on in the One Chicago show.
How Chicago PD Season 10 Can Solve Its Storytelling Problems
Luckily, it's easy to fix this problem. Instead of focusing on Law & Order: SVU's longevity. As interesting as it is to learn about the personal lives of Olivia Benson and her crew, the core of its storytelling has always been their cases. This was Chicago PD's narrative code in the past, but NBC dropped it for some reason. Additionally, diversifying its storytelling by involving the uniformed officers again not only makes for layered weekly arcs but also gives Trudy Platt something substantial to do again.
Chicago PD season 10 airs Thursdays on NBC.
