Fans were heartbroken when actor Jesse Lee Soffer announced his retirement from his ever-popular role of detective Jay Halstead from NBC’s police procedural action drama ‘Chicago P.D’. The actor was part of the original crew and had been playing the role of detective Jay Halstead for the past ten years. As the series is running its tenth season, the news about the retirement of the actor from his iconic role was announced in August.
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Since then fans had been eagerly waiting to witness how such a prominent character will be written off from the show. With completing his final episode on the show on Wednesday night, actor Jesse Lee Soffer is officially no longer a part of the series. The tenth season which is the current running season of the show started to premiere on September 21, 2022. Fans were sure that the episode where Jesse leaves the show will be before the season finale and they were correct. In episode 3 titled “A Good Man” which premiered on Wednesday night, detective Jay Halstead is shown retiring from intelligence.
In the episode, the actor receives a well-built exit which gives him all the credit that he deserves for portraying that character for almost ten years. The production crew of the series has also said that the exit should be justifiable to the actor, the character, and all that he stands for in the series. In the episode “A Good Man”, detective Jay is shown retiring from the intelligence unit. The reason that drove him to make such a decision was the realization that he had about himself. He knew that he had changed a lot and that too, the changes were not for good.
In a case that he attended, detective Jay had to do things in an out-of-the-way manner to help someone. In a case that involved saving the reputation of an Army vet who was associated with and had helped in a robbery, Jay had to go out of law to capture the robbers. But the vet gets killed in his attempt to save other women. Even though the vet was involved in the crime, Jay did not turn him in. With a heavy feeling in his mind about breaking the law once again, he decides to put his career in the intelligence unit to an end.
In one of his final scenes with Hailey, Jay tells her that he had joined an Army group that tracks down cartel forces. He also mentions that he will be relocated to Bolivia for eight weeks for the same. In the last scene at the airport, Jay says goodbye to his boss Voight, played by Jason Beghe. Voight assured Jay that he could find any job that would make Jay stay back. With his high admiration for his boss, he respectfully declines the offer and says that all he wanted was Voight and as impossible as it is, it would be better for him to take leave. With a gentle shake and with his boss, Jay finally leaveS Chicago for good.
To play a character for about ten years can mean a lot. Just like the audience who tends to love and grow with the character, the actor playing that certain role can also develop a bond with the character. That was the case with Jesse Lee. Jesse was part of the original cast from the start of the show in 2014. He has also appeared in every episode of Chicago P.D. He has also starred in multiple episodes of ‘Chicago Med’ and ‘Chicago Fire’. With the void created by the character Jay in the series, the one who is most likely to be affected by it is his love interest, Hailey Upton.
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Though there were problems in their relationship, they were always there to look out for each other- both in their personal and professional life. That was the base of their relationship. Now with the absence of her partner, the changes and problems that Hailey will have to face will be a good focus. It will be interesting to see the changes that the creators would bring into the character to mark Jay’s absence.
The show which depicts the interesting events that are a part of the lives of uniformed patrol officers and intelligence units of the 21st district of the Chicago Police Department first premiered on NBC as a mid-season replacement on January 8, 2014. The show was a spin-off of the previous series ‘Chicago Fire’which was the first installment of Wolf Entertainment’s Chicago Franchise.
His show mainly focused on the personal and professional life of people who are associated with the Chicago Fire Department like firefighters, rescue personas, and paramedics. With success in almost every branch of the Chicago franchise, the series will continue with its popularity but, surely, the show will not be the same without Jesse Lee Soffer’s iconic Jay Halstead.