As Season 13 of Chicago P.D. continues to explore the idea of origins and beginnings in the midseason premiere’s Episode 8, “Born Screaming”, viewers got to learn the fascinating truth behind one of the most tight-lipped fan favorites of One Chicago: Sgt. Hank Voight (Jason Beghe).

After Voight received a parcel containing a photo of himself in a hospital bed as a child with a crude message written on top (“Resign or this goes public”), he received another threatening blackmailing package, this time with another photo: A headshot of his late father, Richard Voight, a police officer with the CPD who died in the line of duty. Scrawled on that photo was the scathing threat: “Your father, the abuser.”

For a while, viewers grew concerned that Voight had navigated an abusive childhood, shocked to learn that such a respected member of the CPD treated his son that way. But as Voight was so keen to reveal in P.D.‘s midseason premiere, his blackmailer, Internal Affairs District Commander Devlin, had the story entirely wrong.

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“[Voight’s] dealing with a personal attack on himself,” Sigan told NBC Insider. “So we get some heavy insights into him.”

Voight set the record straight with his blackmailer

After discovering the identity of his blackmailer in Season 13’s fall finale, Voight wasted little time in getting Devlin to visit his office at the Intelligence Unit in the midseason premiere. He was less than thrilled as Voight told him he wanted to set him “straight on something.”

“I was born screaming. Fighting. I mean, I went looking for it,” Voight told him sincerely. “Vicious fights from as early as I can remember. I mean, I dreamed about it; I would wake up with my fist clenched.”

Voight pointed to the photo of himself as a kid in the hospital, revealing the blood and bruises stemmed from picking a fight with two kids twice his age “over nothing.” His father was the one to take him to the hospital and tell him how wrong it was.

“That he would help me deal with… with who I am,” Voight added as he continued to clarify the truth. “My father never laid a hand on me; he was a good man. I mean, he taught me to do something worthwhile with my instincts. To not go looking for fights, to go looking for monsters.”

Voight emotionally concluded, “My father is the only reason there’s anything good in me. You got your story wrong.”

But this wasn’t enough for the scorned Devlin, who still held a grudge about Voight blackmailing Devlin into reinstating the Intelligence Unit in the Season 13 premiere.

“Won’t matter,” Devlin shrugged, telling Voight that with enough spinning, the public perception would be enough to condemn his father’s legacy. But if Voight turned in his badge, Devlin would drop the entire thing.

Voight remained stoic as he asked, “Why?”

Devlin snapped, berating Voight for making him for his transgression, which had led him to be seen as a weak-willed cop within the CPD. 

“You see this badge holder? It was my dad’s, I mean, he wore it every day of his life until he was killed in the line of duty,” Voight told him. “I’ve worn it every day since.”

Voight’s mood shifted as it became obvious he was doing everything he could to not unleash that aforementioned fury on Devlin. “Sometimes I slip-up, but a lot of the time, I can feel him with me,” Voight said with grave sincerity before adding, “If I didn’t feel my father near me right now, you wouldn’t live through this day.”

“Do what you want,” Voight concluded. “But right now? Right now, you should get the hell out of my office.”

Chicago P.D. showrunner breaks down Voight’s childhood

After burying the lead for audiences for weeks, Sigan spoke to NBC Insider about the process of shining a light on Voight’s childhood, a territory previously left unexplored throughout the show’s many years. Sigan said that when settling on the theme of “roots” for Season 13, Voight was top of mind.

“He’s not a very open person, so he wouldn’t be just sharing stories of what it was like for him when he was a kid with anyone,” Sigan told us. “So we wanted to create something that would force him to sort of get into that and talk about it and reflect on it. And for us as an audience to understand him in a new light and to get some of these stories that I think do explain a lot of why he is the way he is.”

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Sigan added that the blackmailing storyline has added a lot of depth to the esoteric Voight, which Beghe has enjoyed playing out throughout Season 13. It’s even led longtime showrunner Sigan to give Episode 8’s final scene a top honor.

“He has just such a beautiful scene in [“Born Screaming”] that may be one of my favorite scenes I’ve seen him do,” Sigan revealed.

Watch Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays on NBC and the next day on Peacock.

Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
 

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