‘Chicago P.D.’ Embraces Change in Season 4

Showrunner Matt Olmstead discusses the recent departures of series regular Jon Seda and recurring favorite Samuel Hunt as well as the addition of ‘Revenge’ alum Nick Wechsler.

For a series now in its fourth season, Chicago P.D. has undergone quite the makeover.

After saying goodbye to series regular Brian Geraghty in the season three finale, the series has since also parted ways with frequent recurring guest Samuel Hunt, series regular Jon Seda and now, at least temporarily, series regular Patrick John Flueger, whose character, Adam Ruzek, begins an undercover assignment in Wednesday’s episode.

“We didn’t start off at the beginning of this season with a big whiteboard like, who can we move out? Who can we move in? But we certainly wanted to be this season, as you do every season, ready for anything,” showrunner Matt Olmstead tells The Hollywood Reporter. “[We thought], ‘Let’s be light on our feet. If there is any change, whether long-term or short-term, let’s embrace it and use it as an opportunity for storytelling and conflict.’”

Those changes began in the fall when Hunt’s character, tech expert Mouse, decided to re-enlist with the army (in reality, Hunt moved just a few soundstages over to begin a recurring role on Empire.) Then, in November’s fall finale, Seda’s character, Antonio Dawson, decided to take a job with the State Attorney’s office (the actor will be a series regular on spinoff Chicago Justice when it launches in March). That cleared the way for Voight (Jason Beghe) to finally promote uniformed cop Burgess (Marina Squerciati) upstairs — a question that’s been looming since season one.

“The show’s here because of her as much as anybody else, so we want to keep her around, keep Platt around, but also honor the evolution of the show,” Olmstead explains. “To keep her down in uniform was essentially to reinforce this portrayal of a character who really is ambitious, who is saying she wants to move up, but doesn’t really mean it and is happy sulking in uniform. With the character — and the way Marina portrayed that character — that’s not the case. So it was an evolution of that character and the show.”