Chicago PD Fans Have Had Some Brutal Thoughts On Jay Halstead

With over 180 episodes and counting on NBC's hit police procedural "Chicago P.D.," Jesse Lee Soffer's Detective Jay Halstead has seen plenty of crime-busting action, often resulting in the kind of caustic emotional turmoil any big-city cop faces dealing with assault, murder, and other grisly offenses. In other words, Jay Halstead has a full plate, psychologically, and over the course of the series, this detective is becoming an increasingly complicated guy.

But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, "Chicago P.D." showrunner Rick Eid revealed that Halstead has a basically uncomplicated niche to fill as the show begins. "From the start of the series, Halstead was set up as a White Knight," Eid said. "He always had a strong moral compass ... he is such an honest cop and we know he plays by the rules." But as the show progresses, Halstead's experience turns him from Eid's white knight to someone who will bend rules left and right, including covering up for a fellow cop who murders a suspect in cold blood.

With all of the above impinging on a character who seems to be one thing as the show begins and something else entirely in later outings, it may be no surprise that some fans have less-than-positive feelings about how Halstead has turned out.

When a character endures for as long as Jay Halstead on "Chicago P.D.," the truth is they can end up transforming in ways that fans simply don't respond to. Posting on the "Chicago P.D." subreddit discussion tellingly titled, "Jay is getting on my nerves...," user u/oRiginal G773 complained in one reply. "Straight up. He's getting on my damn nerves. So self-righteous." The original poster, u/FlimsyManagement, concurred that Jay's apparent holier-than-thou attitude has gone over the top, writing, "Yes exactly! He's super self righteous and it's gotten out of hand." Likewise, u/bluedex chimed in that the Intelligence Unit is no place for someone who won't admit they've bent the rules as much as anyone else in the squad. "His hypocrisy is very annoying," they wrote. "You don't get to pretend to have the moral high ground whilst staying in this unit. Either leave or quit pretending you haven't been complicit in every broken law and every broken bone along the way." 

But in fairness, as noted above, Halstead does have reasons for being the way he is, and we can blame the writers for that. As detailed by One Chicago Center, the character had become the punching bag of sorts in Season 7. "Halstead couldn't catch a break, and there were some storylines that didn't make him look that great either," the site continued.