Chicago PD's plans for its newest character make the task of replacing Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) more difficult. Upton has been a central character since season 4 and is the only character in the One Chicago universe who has appeared on CBS' FBI as well as on all of the Chicago shows. However, after a harrowing experience rescuing Voight (Jason Beghe) from a serial killer, Upton decided it was time to move on and left the unit in search of more fulfilling work at a bigger agency.
Chicago PD season 12 will introduce a new character to beef up the show's cast, which has gotten smaller in recent years. Kiana Cook (Toya Turner) will be the first patrol officer featured in the main cast since Kim Burgess became an Intelligence officer in season 4. This promises an exciting new direction for the aging police procedural, as there have not been stories about patrol officers in a long time. However, including a patrol officer in the cast also presents some unique challenges, especially when that officer is meant to replace a character who was a detective.
Toya Turner's Kiana Cool Is Missing A Partner In Chicago PD Season 12
Patrol Officers Always Work In Teams Of Two On The Police Procedural
Chicago PD patrol officers always work in teams of two. When the series first began, Burgess and Kevin Atwater were uniformed personnel who were often the first to respond on a scene. After Atwater joined Intelligence, Burgess was partnered with Sean Roman until her promotion in season 4. Since then, Chicago PD has only shown random patrol officers, but they also work in teams, with more than one briefing the Intelligence officers about the case.
Aside from Cook, no other patrol officer character has been announced. Thus, it appears she is currently without a partner. This does not fit with the way that Chicago PD has traditionally handled stories involving patrol officers and thus, it is a problem that the show will likely have to address for the sake of consistency. Adding another officer would also ensure Chicago PD's stories are as realistic as possible, as it would hurt the show's credibility if Cook were constantly jumping into dangerous situations without backup.
Casting Another Patrol Officer Makes Replacing Upton Trickier
Chicago PD Will Need To Cast Two More Characters
Chicago PD season 12's return to using patrol officers offers new storytelling opportunities but also makes it trickier to replace Upton. Now, NBC and Wolf Entertainment will need to cast two more characters instead of one. Currently, there has been no mention so far of Upton's true replacement in Intelligence, as well as Cook's potential patrol partner.
Chicago PD could use rotating guest stars as the partner of the week or have the partner appear on-screen only in some episodes while having them be mentioned but not seen in others. This would allow the police procedural to hire someone on a recurring or guest basis instead of hiring two full-time actors. Regardless of how One Chicago wants to handle this, Chicago PD season 12 must get some additional personnel in the District for them to do their jobs effectively.
