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'Chicago PD' Season 8 Episode 6: Is Halstead turning into the new Voight? Worried fans ask him to 'be careful'

Halstead pulls off something that may be considered 'great' if we take race out of it, but on more careful inspection it only looks like they pulled off a 'Halstead helped a Black man' angle

Spoilers for 'Chicago PD' Season 8 Episode 6 'Equal Justice'

Season 8 Episode 6 of 'Chicago PD' titled 'Equal Justice' was a bit of a boring episode, to say the least. While we loved that the episode centered around Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), we wanted more on Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and her adopting Mikayla, and of course more on Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) aka #Upstead.

The episode instead focused on the cast that sees a case that involves a father trying to bring the man that gunned down his son to justice while the PD teams try to find themselves a suspect. The case although isn't as easy as "catch the killer and brings justice" because the father of the young man who was killed was determined to make sure he finds his son's killer by going undercover himself.

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What stood out the most in this episode though, was the fact that the series seems to be overcompensating for the fact that that many fans had demanded the Black Lives Matter angle - since the show is fully based on cops. Here though, Halstead pulls off something that may be considered "great" if we take race out of it (which never happens), but on more careful inspection only looks like they pulled off a "Halstead helped a Black man" angle.

Should Halstead be fired?

The episode sees Halstead trying to help the father who in turn is trying to find out who killed his son. Unfortunately, the father decides to not depend on the police and decides to carry out his justice by shooting the man he thought killed his son and fleeing the crime scene. Of course, Halstead swoops in and easily figures out that the father had shot a man, but at the same time, all the cop wants to do is help the father.

Now, it's important the father is Black only because racial injustice and cops have taken a front seat in world matters as of late. Halstead is hesitant to arrest the father because all he was trying to do was find his son's killer and was inherently "good".

Of course, the man is eventually arrested because he did commit the crime, but when Halstead asks him where the gun he used was — the father admits that he had thrown it into the river to which Halstead replies "good" asking him to be quiet and hire a good lawyer.

While this seemingly looked like Halstead was helping a Black man in trouble, it also glorified cops that seem to get away with unethical and unlawful ways of handling cases. Fans of course got on to this. If Halstead was a Black cop doing what he did, the matter would be a whole different story, now wouldn't it? There is a reason why Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins), the only Black cop on the team has never been involved in situations as such.

"#ChicagoPD this is the second time jay has tried to b*ue lives matter something...," wrote one fan. Another added, "Despite all Jay had been through all these seasons, one of these days he’s going to get into a situation that he won’t come out of. Jay halstead you better be careful, we need you! #OneChicago #ChicagoPD." 

Another added, "I do not want to play the race card but if he was white. That lady would have soon been contacting in a heartbeat. #ChicagoPD". Another even brought up Hank Voight (Jason Beghe). As many remember, Voight was the center of attention when it comes to cops bending the law to make sure things go their way.

"Jay is like the version of what Voight might have been before the streets corrupted him. #ChicagoPD@NBCChicagoPD @NBCOneChicago #OneChicagoDay", said one fan. One even said, "can't wait for voight to go to jail so jay can be the sargeant #chicagopd@NBCOneChicago."

While we can't help but address the issue, some fans just stuck to enjoying the episode, leaving the politics behind. We consider that a bit of a glitch in the plot, but other than that Halstead does have a huge character arc. "This episode shows the growth in Halstead #ChicagoPD," wrote one fan. Another added, "#ChicagoPD and there you have it folks, Jay Halstead is the the cop who wears his heart on his sleeve."

'Chicago PD' airs on Wednesday at 10/9c on NBC.