Spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of Chicago P.D. Season 11, called “The Living and the Dead.”
One Chicago was on a break for a few weeks of the 2024 TV schedule, but Chicago P.D. picked up right where it left off with “The Living and the Dead.” In the previous episode, Voight decided to invite the victim of a crime to stay with him. The case still wasn’t closed, and the Intelligence Unit had the chance to catch the bad guy in the newest episode. Unfortunately, instead of finding closure for poor Noah, the young man was murdered, and the grisly reveal of his body hit Voight hard. Jason Beghe spoke with CinemaBlend about the episode and his character’s “problem” in Season 11.
The death was bound to hit close to home for Voight as soon as he started relating Noah to his late son Justin, and the sergeant wasn’t really opening up to any of his coworkers. This is a difference from how he tends to anchor the cops in his unit, particularly in becoming Upton’s confidant this season. Whether or not his approaches are healthy for the Intelligence Unit are up for debate, but does he have somebody who he can rely on and confide in? I asked Jason Beghe that very question, and he shared what Voight’s “problem” is at this point:
I think he does. I just don’t think that he does [confide]. I think that they would all open their hearts and their homes and their time should Voight ask. The problem is Voight doesn’t know how to ask for help. You know, he’s not receptive, and I think that part of what’s happening is he’s becoming a little bit more receptive. That’s part of how he’s becoming more vulnerable. For whatever reason, and it’s probably because of all the losses, the ground is somehow getting softened a little that these other plants can grow. That’s my take on it.
Voight certainly has gone through his shares of losses, ranging from his son to Olinsky’s prison stabbing to even Anna back in Season 9. His conversation with Noah in “The Living and the Dead” suggested that he wants to improve this problem of his; whether that will happen after Noah was murdered, stuffed into a barrel with the man he loved, and dumped in a lake remains to be seen. Beghe previewed what the tragic ending means for Voight as Season 11 continues:
I think it’ll motivate him going forward. He’s that much more determined to exact justice.
For better or worse, Voight does tend to get things done when he’s personally invested, and the serial killer who murdered Noah just gave him some serious personal motivation. It’s clear that some losses still hit Voight deeply even after eleven seasons, so does he still carry the losses of people like Noah, Olinsky, and Anna with him? Jason Beghe shared:
I think he does, yeah. He’s a human being. I lost my parents. I don’t sit around crying every day about it, but I know that reality affects every breath I take. I think it’s the same for Hank. We function, we move on, we don’t dwell in it, but these are the things. I mean, like just on your body, you get hurt and you end up with a scar. You know, you live. To continue that metaphor, there’s some kind of a psychological limp, but he’s still walking.
Despite the unhappy ending to “The Living and the Dead,” the Intelligence Unit got a major assist with the introduction of Chicago Special Victims Unit Detective Josephine Petrovic, played by Instinct‘s Bojana Novakovic. Jason Beghe previously explained why Voight would reach out to her when he has a unit full of skilled cops already, and the preview for the next episode proves that her story on Chicago P.D. isn’t over yet. Take a look:
Keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of Chicago P.D., following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. If you want to revisit earlier days of One Chicago, you can find all three series streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription now.