Voight (Jason Beghe<\/a>) isn\u2019t having it easy on\u00a0Chicago P.D.<\/a><\/em> right now. And it\u2019s probably only going to get worse.<\/p>\n Going into the January 7 midseason return<\/a>, Voight and Imani (Arienne Mandi<\/a>) are determined to catch serial killer Bell (Barry Del Sherman), to the point that the newest member of Intelligence went to his home and found his granddaughter missing. Meanwhile, Voight\u2019s being blackmailed about his past and told he must resign.<\/p>\n Below, showrunner Gwen Sigan<\/a> previews the trouble ahead for Voight, what to expect when Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger<\/a>) returns, a major Platt (Amy Morton<\/a>) episode, and more.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen how determined Voight and Imani are to catch Bell. How is it going to be affecting them as they try to get to the bottom of this, especially with his granddaughter missing now?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gwen Sigan:<\/strong> The nice thing about once we return, the adrenaline\u2019s still incredibly high because obviously how we\u2019ve left it, but it really comes to a head as well between Voight and Amani because we see that those impulses that they both have, as much as Voight can recognize it in her and knows that he\u2019s the same way, doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s going to be comfortable with her using those impulses. So it really comes to a head in the next episode and we see it is sort of becoming more articulated in their relationship that as much as they are alike that might not be something that they both appreciate and want. So, yeah, it\u2019s an adrenaline ride when we come back, but it\u2019s also, I think, pretty emotional and you learn a lot about both of them in the return. You learn a lot about their past and sort of where those impulses come from.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Sisson\/NBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Speaking of, because you have Voight being blackmailed and it looks like Devlin (Joel Murray<\/a>) is the one behind it. Can you confirm that is the case or is there something else going on there?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I probably shouldn\u2019t confirm anything, but it definitely is all going to come to a head when we get back in Episode 8. We learn obviously who\u2019s blackmailing, but also why and the deeper reasons behind it. And then we also see Voight\u2019s reaction, which is, I thought, really interesting, the way that we played it and that we wanted to use it \u2014 obviously blackmail is such a personal attack. It\u2019s something we haven\u2019t really seen Voight deal with too much on a personal level, something like this where it\u2019s about his past, it\u2019s about his family, it\u2019s about something that we never even hear him speak about. And so we get to hear him speak about it and we get to hear him sort of define all the ways in which maybe that story is not exactly what it seems. And so it teaches you a lot about him in the process of also being this person that he needs to take down, obviously.<\/p>\n Yeah, because it\u2019s his career on the line and we know what his career means to him, so how is he handling that \u201cresign\u201d threat?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I think in a Voight-like way, the \u201cresign\u201d threat is almost secondary to the threat of someone trying to use his personal past and his father and his family against him. I think that that is the thing that is making him angrier than just the stakes of, oh, you could lose your job. I think the audacity for someone to go after him in that way and for a guy that is so kind of guarded in certain ways, he doesn\u2019t present himself as vulnerable all the time, so for someone to be trying to use it as a weapon against him, I think that\u2019s the thing that\u2019s really making him go a little full-on Voight as we see once he comes back, get pretty angry.<\/p>\n When will we see Ruzek back on screen and will there be an explanation for where he\u2019s been before or then? Is there something going on with his dad that we\u2019re going to find out?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, we will have some explanation. We will touch base on it, but you just have to wait and see for all of it.<\/p>\n What can you say about Burgess (Marina Squerciati<\/a>) and Ruzek? Because so far, they\u2019ve been great this season, which is nice to see, but also this is a TV drama.<\/strong><\/p>\n Totally. I loved their episode together in the beginning of this season. Episode 3, \u201cCanaryville,\u201d I thought was a really beautiful episode, and it gave us an insight into how their relationship is going certainly. But also, again, with our theme of roots this year, it showed us a bit of what Makayla\u2019s life looks like, too, and sort of these big decisions that they had to make for their future and that we definitely come back to. We have a really nice Burgess episode coming up in the second half of the season where you get to learn a little bit about Burgess and her backstory and just the way that she kind of views herself and her path into policing, and we get to see how much she\u2019s changed and also how she wants to be an effective leader and mentor to other cops.<\/p>\n And through that story, we also touch a lot on what she wants from Makayla. And again, getting back to that decision of do they want to leave Canaryville? Do they want to go to a different community? And obviously with Ruzek\u2019s father in poor health, that community and that house that he grew up in, all of that, has such weight to him. And so how do you make a decision like that? How do you know what the right decision is? We get to see them go through it together, and we also get to see the reality of when your partner\u2019s going through something that emotionally is affecting how you\u2019re making these decisions, which is his father being ill, how do you support that, but also push them a bit and challenge them a bit to be able to make that decision for the good of their kid. So I think it\u2019s really emotional and we do get back into all of that. They\u2019re still in a good place, but they\u2019re certainly dealing with a lot, those two.<\/p>\n Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins<\/a>) continues to be unlucky in love earlier this season with Fox (Karen Obilom<\/a>), and she had invited him to Miami. So what is on his mind when it comes to his future and a personal life and figuring all of that out?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I loved that episode. I really liked Fox, the actress Karen, who plays her. We\u2019ll get to see a little bit more of Atwater dealing with his romantic entanglements, but also I think what she did for him was she asked him that question of, well, what do you want? She was so clear about what she wanted. She was wanting something new. She\u2019s going to Miami. And I think for Atwater, he\u2019s in this really interesting place where he\u2019s done a good job with all the people that he feels responsible for \u2014 the kids and his dad and his community and his apartment building and his team. He\u2019s in a solid place, but what she did was say, but if you could have more, which you can have more, what would it be? So when we see him again in his next full episode, that\u2019s the question he\u2019s asking repeatedly is like, what do I want? What do I want? What do I want? And is Tasha Fox a piece of that? Is something outside of the job a piece of that? If he could get whatever he wanted and be selfish for once in his life, what would it look like? It\u2019s been really fun to write his story this season. The next one is a wild ride for him.<\/p>\n