The preview for “A Good Man” led us to believe that this would be the Chicago P.D. episode where we would say farewell to Jesse Lee Soffer and his character, Detective Jay Halstead.
Jesse Lee Soffer initially appeared in One Chicago on Fire, which debuted before this series. It now seems that we were right.
Jay and Detective Hailey Upton, his wife, and his partner, are separated at the start of the episode (Tracy Spiridakos).
He is either alone or with Sergeant Hank Voight when she is at home (Jason Beghe). Additionally, he responds to a drugstore heist while he is out driving by himself.
Lenny, a fellow veteran he encounters there, insists on helping and gets shot in the process. When Jay and Upton approach him at the hospital, he responds, “Let’s do it again sometime.”
It turns out that stealing is just one of several things the men are doing; they are seeking for cold medications to utilize in making meth. But as Intelligence looks into more things, it becomes increasingly obvious that there is more going on than they first believed.
They locate the owner of the getaway car, who has a lengthy criminal history and is dependent on meth, but he swears that he sold the car.
Jay gives up the identity of the new owner, Benjamin Watts, who is probably the one who shot Lenny, after making a promise he can’t keep.
But when Upton investigates his activities, she discovers a troubling fact: Benjamin sent Lenny $400 two hours before the pharmacy robbery. She believes Lenny was more likely involved in the robbery than merely a good Samaritan.
Lenny acknowledges that he was the watchman but didn’t anticipate any injuries. However, he suffers a heart collapse when Jay and Upton try to get him to reveal who hired him by showing him Benjamin’s picture.
Upton wants to call Voight after they leave his room, but Jay disallows her. “He’s gone. We can’t also steal his name, he says. You are not a bad person because of one bad deed. Each of us is aware of that.
At that point, Upton confronts her husband about his recent unusual conduct, which includes lying to her and drifting away from her. But he doesn’t respond to her question, and after she finds out Lenny passed away, Jay says they need to present their argument differently.
The sole issue? Nothing else is being discovered by intelligence. Then there was another heist that claimed the lives of two bystanders. Yet Jay chooses to go to Lenny’s rather than what Upton perceives as “the right thing.”
There, his pal Nolan reveals that he was aware of Lenny’s suffering. “I am conscious that oftentimes when they are in pain, people act in ways they might not typically do.”
It may sound familiar. Lenny couldn’t maintain a job or pay for the medications when he returned home in squalor, so Nolan believes he simply became desperate. Jay searches through Lenny’s computer and phone alone to protect his good name.
However, after seeing Benjamin pull up, Upton and Voight follow Jay to a warehouse, and she enters after they see him. However, the moment Jay discovers Benjamin’s lab, the man does too.
A scuffle ensues, in which Jay loses his gun and Benjamin puts his hands around Jay’s throat. Thankfully, Jay has a knife, so he repeatedly stabs Benjamin until he passes away. Jay looks back and sees Upton standing there. When Voight joins them, Upton and he right away conjure up a lie while Jay just stands there.
Then, refusing to give up the knife, he finally adds, “We’re doing it again.” How in the world am I doing this? He is going to be fine, according to Upton.
