‘Chicago P.D.’ Season 9: Rick Eid, Jesse Lee Soffer Talk Upstead

By Keisha Hatchett / September 17 2021, 3:50 PM PDT

Chicago P.D. fans won't have to wait long to find out how Halstead will react to Upton's surprise proposal in the Season 8 finale.

As you’ll recall, Upton popped the big question after a rough day at work, and the scene ended before Halstead could give a verbal answer. Showrunner Rick Eid confirms to TVLine that Halstead will give his response in the Season 9 premiere, airing Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 10/9c on NBC.

"There's no doubt Upton loves him, but there's also quite a lot that played a part emotionally in that proposal — fear and the events of the finale being big pieces," Eid teases. "It puts them in quite a complicated place: two people that truly love each other and in many ways are kindred spirits, but who also have a lot of personal challenges to conquer."

Upton will be struggling with the fallout from the events of the finale, which saw her forced to shoot a suspect during a tussle with Voight over control of the gun. She seemed pretty shaken up during her surprise proposal to Halstead, and according to Jesse Lee Soffer, her actions in the premiere will raise suspicions about her intent behind the big question.

"Jay has loved Hailey for a long time, and when this happens, he's a little taken aback, like, ‘Where's this coming from? This feels a little out of the blue, but OK, great,'" Soffer says. "Then his Spidey sense starts to go, and he's a little suspicious of… she's acting strange. There's some heaviness, and he might have to do some snooping around to get to the bottom of what's going on and figure out whether or not this was motivated by genuine feelings or by something else."

The episode, titled "Closure," will see Intelligence search for the man they believe killed Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller's son and shot Burgess.

"Burgess was put through the wringer in the season finale, and she's at Med still fighting for her life," Eid explains. "All of Intelligence is on edge, most especially Ruzek, who's tasked with caring for Makayla, and making some difficult decisions as a guardian."

"We don't know if Burgess is going to make it," Soffer adds. "She's received what could be a mortal wound. It's pretty bad. Ruzek is a mess, he hasn't left her side, and the whole team is on high alert. We’re looking for Roy, but little do we know that Roy is dead, so it's a fun start."