The behind-the-scenes reason for mourning ‘Chicago P.D’s’ Olinsky
Q: “Chicago P.D.” will never be the same with the departure of Erin and the killing of Al. Please explain the reasoning behind these changes. – P.A. North, Daytona Beach, Fla.
A: Sophia Bush hasn’t specified moreprecise reasons for leaving the NBC series last year than to say that she felt “trapped” and “miserable,” adding that she told those who ran the show at the start of her last season on it that “if something really drastic doesn’t change, I’m leaving at the end of the year.” And later, after her exit, she responded to an Instagram query by saying she left “because I wanted to. End of story.” Bush now has a deal with 20th Century Fox Television for future projects, including some she intends to produce and not necessarily star in. As for the more recent departure of Elias Koteas, alias the drama’s Alvin “Al” Olinsky, executive producer Rick Eid has said that came from a creative decision to make the character collateral damage for previous actions by Olinsky’s colleague and close friend Hank Voight (Jason Beghe). As suggested by the angry reaction of fellow detective Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) and Voight’s emotional meltdown on a rooftop in the season finale’s closing scene, the loss of Olinsky will continue to loom large when the series resumes. Eid also made a point of mentioning how beloved Koteas was on the “P.D.” set, and how professional the actor was about accepting his alter ego’s fate when he was informed of it.