'Chicago P.D.' Showrunner Teases What to Expect When Season 12 Returns
After a season of changes, Chicago P.D. is gearing up for even more drama, romance and crime solving action during the back half of season 12.
“We have quite a lot coming with our new deputy chief character, Shawn Hatosy’s Reid,” Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 7. “We saw in the midseason finale, he kind of makes this statement to Voight like, ‘We’re gonna be friends,’ but it’s clearly a friendship of ownership and, like, leverage.”
Sigan said it’s been “really fun to write” the face-off between Deputy Chief Charlie Reid (Hatosy), who joined the cast this season, and Intelligence Unit leader Hank Voight (Jason Beghe).
She teased that the pair’s leadership styles “changes the dynamics quite a lot in the unit” moving forward.
‘Chicago P.D.’ Showrunner Teases Burgess and Ruzek Season 12 Wedding Plans
Sigan noted that the second half of the season will also finally show Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and Adam Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) getting married after their third engagement during season 11.
The showrunner told Us that Dante Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) will continue to have an “existential crisis and a crisis of faith” in the upcoming episode, adding that Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) will get “some romance” once again.
“We’ve got a little bit of everything,” Sigan said. “Things will keep changing and evolving for the unit for sure.”
Scroll down for everything Us learned from Chicago P.D.’s showrunner about the remainder of season 12:
Cook’s Story Will Come to Light
After joining the Intelligence Unit earlier this season, fans will finally get a better picture of who Kiana Cook (Toya Turner) is and where she comes from.
“Episode 9 is a Cook episode,” Sigan told Us, referring to the midseason premiere, which airs on Wednesday, January 8. “You’re getting to meet a lot of her family members actually in this episode, which is fun. And you’re getting to learn about her past and her backgrounds and the different worlds that she belongs to and how vastly different those are from each other.”
Sigan said that Cook’s past will reveal why she is so focused on being present and doing “the job well.” She teased that the show’s return is an “action ride” for Cook and the remainder of the season will give more “background on her and who she is and why she’s really unique for the unit.”
Chief Reid Goes Toe to Toe With Voight
Throughout season 12, Reid has been aware of everything Voight’s team is doing — the good and the bad — and has looked the other way. However, Sigan told Us that his choice not to reprimand the team will come at a price.
“He’s a character that plays so many of his cards so close to the vest. And it’s difficult for Voight to really read him,” the showrunner said of Reid, noting, “We’ve always seen Voight kind of be a bit of the all-knowing. So to have it be somebody else is really fun.”
Chicago P.D.’s Jason Beghe Imagines Voight Officiating 'Fun' Burzek Wedding
She called Reid a “fun house mirror to Voight,” meaning that the chief “operates in a way that Voight used to” but is “enhanced and exaggerated.”
“We’ll get to learn more and more about him and his motivations throughout the season,” Sigan teased. “But it’s definitely a cat and mouse game and … it’s certainly a friendship that has a lot of strings attached.”
Burgess Is Doing It Her Way
In season 12, episode 6, Burgess made detective, and viewers will see her in action in the second half of the season.
“There’s this really easy transition of her just taking that leadership role of kind of being the one that sort of leads the charge,” Sigan explained. “You’ll see her giving commands more often and certainly being a bit, perhaps, overwhelmed or taken aback by just how much [paperwork and] more responsibility [she has].”
While Burgess will have a lot to juggle, she finds her “groove” and a style of leadership that Sigan said is “so different” than that of past detectives Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) and Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer).
“It feels like her own thing, which is much more, ‘I’m still your peer, but I am gonna give you orders now. I’m gonna now direct a bit more,’” Sigan continued. “Everybody, I think, is so supportive and just falling into those roles, too.”
Torres Is ‘Not Great’
During the midseason finale, which aired in November 2024, Torres’ past affair with informant Gloria Perez (Yara Martinez) came to light when she was found running a drug business in Chicago. Gloria died after helping the Intelligence Unit, and much to his surprise, Torres wasn’t reprimanded by the chief for his misconduct.
Torres, however, is not doing “great” when the show returns. “It triggered a lot for him,” Sigan said of the affair and Gloria’s death, noting that Torres’ background will continue to be explored.
“[We reveal] why he was ever attracted to this woman and why he got in this affair and sort of the trauma that leads all the way back to his childhood,” she told Us. “And then also how present events sort of trigger a bit of a crisis of faith.”
Atwater’s Love Story Isn’t Over
Atwater agreed to a no-strings-attached relationship with Valeria “Val” Soto (Natalee Linez) during season 12, episode 3, and according to Sigan, that arrangement might change when Val returns in upcoming episodes.
“The nice thing about that relationship was the way it starts is almost this, like, ‘We’re gonna do something for the pair of us that’s just for us,’” she said. “But then, obviously, as time has gone on, how has that morphed and grown?”
Chicago P.D.’s Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek's Romance Timeline
The showrunner explained that Atwater will have to “decide is this just a casual thing that we clearly both need in our lives or is it something more?”
Sigan added: “We get to explore the whys behind it for the pair of them and maybe why they’re not wanting something very serious. Is that a defense mechanism or is that because of the way they built up their lives?” She hinted the dynamic will become “more emotional and deeper.”
Burzek Will Get Hitched
Squerciati previously told Us that she wants “the white dress moment” for Burgess when she finally marries Ruzek. Flueger, however, told Us that he thinks their style is more “courthouse” wedding.
Sigan revealed that the onscreen nuptials are a “middle ground” between the two. “It’s been such a long time coming and they have this family — they have [daughter] Mikayla [and] she wants to have her say, and I think she wants a party,” Sigan told Us on Tuesday. “So it, to me, is going to be sort of a middle ground of finding what works for the both of them that isn’t a courthouse wedding, that they can have everyone they love there.”
She noted it should also be a “simple” and “grounded affair,” but the scenes have not been filmed yet. “I don’t know all the details,” Sigan confessed, adding that she “could see” Trudy Platt (Amy Morton) officiating.
Chicago P.D. airs on NBC Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
