"I Always Wish That Nobody Left": 'Chicago P.D.' Showrunner Teases Antonio Dawson's Possible Return

With the Chicago P.D.'s Intelligence Unit facing increasing scrutiny from Deputy Chief Reid (Shawn Hatosy), now seems like a good time to increase its workforce. Reid looks to be gaining the upper hand in his dirty power play to control everyone and a return of a familiar face/faces within the team could work as an equalizing piece. Following the recent departures of fan-favorite characters, the unit does look undermanned, and bringing back personnel with experience with the unit does seem plausible. Fortunately, showrunner Gwen Sigan has been ruminating on a few ideas and it involves some fan favorites.

Chicago P.D. rarely completely shuts the door on departing characters and usually ensures adequate room is left open for a possible return in the future. This has been the case for some recently departed characters and in her recent interview with ScreenRant, Sigan has teased whom she's most likely to bring back to the fold. Explaining how she preferred that no characters had to exit the show, Sigan named Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos), and Sean Roman (Brian Geraghty, who departed way back in Season 3), as the characters she'd most love to bring back. Sigan expressed particular interest in Dawson, saying:

"Man, so many. I'm always curious [about] what happened to Antonio. Where is he now? I felt like he left in such a state—what was his character going through, and how did his character get out? I think it'd be really interesting to see where he is now and then see him with Voight again I think would be really nice. Who else? I mean, my God, so many. I always wish that nobody left and they just came back sparingly. [Laughs]"

An Upstead Reunion Is Also On The Cards

Besides desiring to see how Dawson's life turned out after he developed a drug addiction and eventually departed the show in Season 6, Chicago P.D. fans have also hoped that the show could reunite their beloved couple, Jay Halstead and Hailey Upton (fondly called Upstead) played by Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spirikados, respectively. The latter left the series in Season 11 following their divorce. A replacement for Upton has been teased severally, but it apparently doesn't rule out her possible return for a brief feature. Teasing an Upstead reunion, Gigan continued:

"They just come back when they want to. I think it'd be really fun to have Halstead or to have Upton back just for a one-off. There are so many. I mean, Roman is still out there. Remember the one when he came back and committed a murder? And so now he's out there. Anyone could come back and be in such a different place than they left, which would always be fun to see how our guys reacted to it."

"[Regarding an Upstead reunion] Of course! I know. I mean, maybe in some universe they're together someplace. Who knows?"

Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays on NBC at 10 p.m. with past episodes available to stream on Peacock. Stay tuned for more.

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