'Chicago P.D.' Season 7: Now that Upton and Rojas will be partners, how will the rest of the team be partnered up?
Many fans of 'Chicago P.D.' were disappointed when they learned that Jon Seda would be leaving his role as Antonio Dawson. In the few episodes of Season 7 that have aired, his absence was first explained by a stint at an off-the-books rehab and later on by stating that Dawson left to be with family in Puerto Rico -- the family clearly being Gabby Dawson, his sister who left 'Chicago Fire' last year.
In last week's episode, we see the new character Vanessa Rojas (Lisseth Chavez) working with the Intelligence Unit. Rojas follows her instincts which have been good so far, but Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) both wonder whether those instincts might prove dangerous for either Rojas or those around eventually. However, Voight gives the approval for Rojas joining the team and it looks like Upton could be partnering with Rojas to give the rookie proper guidance. Up until now, Upton was Jay Halstead's (Jesse Lee Soffer) partner but with the two being the only detectives on Voight's team, it's no wonder that some reshuffling is necessary.
Halstead and Upton worked really well together and by the end of the previous season, the two were beginning to understand more about each other and work seamlessly. With new partners, both of them will have to build up to having partners they can trust. For Upton, it will be more about mentoring Rojas. We think that Halstead could be partnered with Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and this would prove to be an interesting dynamic. We have not seen these two interact that much and it would be cool to see Halstead also take on a mentor kind of persona, now that he's the most senior person on the team after Voight.
But Burgess could also be partnered with her old flame, Adam Ruzek (Patrick Flueger). It has been teased that Ruzek's and Burgess's relationship might start back up again in this season and this could be prompted by working together -- Ruzek did do this before when he hooked up with Upton, though if he keeps doing it, we might start to think that Ruzek is not being as professional as he should be.
Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) worked really well with Rojas when they were both undercover and while they may not be partners, we could see them spend a significant amount of screen time together. Again, a romance of sorts has been teased for Atwater -- as well as between Upton and Halstead -- but the writers should figure out a way to dial down on whatever's been teased.
'Chicago P.D.' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights. The 'One Chicago' crossover event, titled 'Infection' will air this Wednesday.
