There is some disappointing news for Chicago PD fans, as Intelligence is losing another team member. To make matters worse, we’ve only just come to meet her.
Toya Turner joined Chicago PD during season 12, filling the gap left by Upton’s exit. She quickly gained a following, proving herself to be loyal to the team and think on her feet. However, due to the usual reasons of budgeting issues, Turner is the one being written out of the series.
Why is Toya Turner leaving Chicago PD?
When Deadline announced the departure, it didn’t give an official reason. Sadly, it likely comes down to the budget. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of TV shows struggle with their budgets, leading to reduced episode counts and actors having to leave the series.
We had hoped that Chicago PD’s cast wouldn’t be touched this year, due to it already being small. However, Turner has ended up leaving, with The Night Agent star Arienne Mandi joining the series as a new officer to join the team instead.
It is disappointing to lose Cook, especially when Chicago PD season 12 seemed to set up that Torres was the one who would leave the team. There was a lot of potential with family drama for Cook’s character, especially when it came to her mom’s side of the family.
Kiana Cook deserves an exit storyline but probably won’t get it
Now for the disappointing news. Because this exit comes in the middle of the hiatus, we’re not likely to get an exit storyline. There is no hint that Turner will be back for even the premiere as a way to say goodbye, following the precedent set by the majority of Dick Wolf shows.
It’s not the first time Chicago PD has done this, either. Lisseth Chavez’s character, Rojas, was written out during the hiatus, and her character didn’t even get a one-line reasoning for the departure. With some hope, Cook’s character will at least get a reason for her departure, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was somehow linked to her family drama.
The only time a bigger storyline has been offered is when the characters have been around for some time and wanted to leave themselves. Halstead and Upton both got exit storylines, even though we’re not exactly happy with what happened to Upton and Halstead.
We’re getting ready for the one-liner to explain why Cook is gone. It’s time for Chicago PD and the rest of the Dick Wolf shows to do better when it comes to exiting characters.
Chicago PD season 13 will premiere on Wednesday, Oct. 1 on NBC.
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