Upton’s childhood trauma bubbled up to the surface on Chicago PD Season 8 Episode 11.

This isn’t the first time the series has touched upon Upton’s past, but audiences were able to get a better grasp at the hell she went through while growing up in a household of domestic abuse.

Up until now, she never fully confronted how it affected her into adulthood.

On Chicago PD Season 8 Episode 3, Upton couldn’t even bring herself to visit her father after he suffered a heart attack. 

The truth is, she’s been running from her past for her whole life, but the trauma has finally caught up with her and it’s significantly affecting every aspect of her life including her career and her promising, new relationship.

And she’s beginning to realize that if she lets this bruised part of herself continue to get in the way, it could jeopardize everything she’s ever cared about.

The case was solid with or without an anchor to Upton’s personal life as the outcome wasn’t obvious. Also, how gruesome was that scene of the mother with her teeth pulled out and her fingertips burnt off?

Upton responded to a call that involved a young child who has endured a lifetime of emotional and physical abuse. 

She immediately felt drawn to the little girl, Becca, as she saw herself in her pained yet hopeful face.

And Upton went to great lengths to help her. On one hand, her determination played a key role in solving the case, but on the other hand, it was dangerous because she was willing to break the rules and go against Voight’s orders. 

Since she was fueled by emotion, she wasn’t thinking clearly, which made it easy for her to misstep and cross a line.

Throughout the episode, I wanted to shake Upton and tell her to snap out of it, but she was so focused. It almost felt like she thought she could save herself by saving Becca.

Coming from a dysfunctional family gives Upton good instincts. Her personal involvement in the case is largely the reason Intelligence found Becca in time.

However, it also forced her to reassess her approach. 

After her heart-to-heart with Voight, Upton realized that she couldn’t go on like this and pretend that her past wasn’t seeping into her present. 

A childhood fueled by control, manipulation, betrayal, and abuse also made it hard for Upton to form a real connection with another person.

Even before she took on the case, Upton bolted right after Halstead said the L-word.

While it’s a huge moment in their relationship, for Upton, it was a trigger because she’s only ever known a dysfunctional level of love.

CHICAGO P.D. — “Signs Of Violence” Episode 811 — Pictured: (l-r) Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)

Whenever someone would say “I love you,” there was always a catch. So, when Halstead said it, she was waiting for the other foot to drop.

Instead of allowing herself to get hurt, she wanted to beat him to the punch and run the other way.

That’s why her eventual decision to open up to Halstead and be vulnerable and transparent about her fears and insecurities was a huge step. 

I love that Halstead didn’t try to “fix” Upton; He simply listened to what she needed while promising to be patient and stay by her side. 

I wasn’t completely sold on #TeamUpstead prior to this episode because I’m used to the relationships on this series crumbling for one reason or another, but I’m digging the direction that this is going in. 

Not every relationship starts in the honeymoon phase, and it’s clear Halstead cares enough about her to support her and help her get to a good point. 

Hopefully, the series continues with the storyline and doesn’t drop Upton’s emotional turmoil.

We don’t need a whole episode dedicated to her working through her issues, but it would be nice to see some continuity whenever #Upstead’s relationship gets future screen time.

We got to chat with Tracy Spiridakos, who plays Hailey Upton, about the game-changing episode! 

Check out our post-mortem interview at TV Fanatic Now! 

Disco Bob made quite a mess for himself on Chicago PD Season 8 Episode 10.

The Ruzek-focused episode was a nice welcome back following a brief hiatus. And it let our boy Patrick Flueger shine. But that’s not really surprising, is it?

Bob Ruzek’s 30-year career with the CPD has been a bit strained, as has his relationship with his son, Adam.

The two haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but that’s the thing about parents and kids — there’s always a level of love there no matter what happens.

And Adam was in full-on protective mode when Bob was kidnapped. 

He was willing to do anything to save Bob because, at the end of the day, that’s his father. 

However, Adam wasn’t naive either. He knew Bob’s vices, so he immediately went to Benny the bar owner thinking that his father was targeted because of his gambling problem.

When it was revealed that Bob paid off his whopping $80,000 debt, it was evident that his situation was much more serious. 

Ruzek had low expectations for his father based on his past mistakes, but he never considered that his father could have been borrowing money for a gang leader to pay back his dues. 

CHICAGO P.D. — “The Radical Truth” Episode 810 — Pictured: (l-r) Jack Coleman as Bob Ruzek, Patrick John Flueger as Adam Ruzek — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)

You’d think a cop would know better, but Bob was desperate.

When he couldn’t pay back the money, he was forced to use his badge to find the name of a snitch and sell them out to the gang leader, Barela.

Bob’s situation was bad, but it was salvageable. That is until he did the unthinkable and sold out his son! 

Honestly, there’s no coming back from that, and my guess is that Ruzek and Bob’s relationship will remain fractured from here on out. 

But even so, Ruzek tried to rally behind his father. 

He knew his father made a mistake and didn’t have the best opinion around town, but he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. 

It’s understandable that Bob wanted them to cut Barela loose as he threatened his whole legacy. He didn’t want his mistakes getting out as it would cost him his pension, his benefits, and most importantly, it would taint the Ruzek name. 

His life’s work was imploding just days before his retirement.

But it wasn’t fair of Ruzek to ask Voight to turn a blind eye. As Voight pointed out, this wasn’t just an attack on Bob, it was an attack on the CPD. 

Looking the other way was the equivalent of telling criminals that you can buy the police with enough dirt on them.

Read the full review at TV Fanatic now! 

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost finale time for the #OneChicago shows on NBC.

Due to production delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, and Chicago Fire got off to a late start in mid-November (instead of the usual mid-September premiere), but that pandemic hasn’t made a huge impact on the quality of the episodes. 

In fact, the shows have been delivering some of their strongest episodes to date! (You can check out Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD reviews now!)

However, with shorter seasons on tap, the schedule has been pretty wonky and consisted of several breaks in between, so we don’t blame you if you’re having trouble keeping up. That’s why we’re here to clue you in. 

New episodes of the trio of shows return on March 31, 2021. 

As for the finales, NBC hasn’t announced any official finale dates.

However, according to TVLine, the current seasons will wrap up on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, which would align with their pre-COVID finales even if the episode count is a bit shorter than in the year’s prior. 

Once NBC confirms to official finale date, we’ll update this post, but at least you can find comfort in knowing that we still have a solid several weeks with Chicago’s bravest and boldest!