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What Happened Between Voight and Lt. Denny Woods on Chicago P.D.?
Voight's former partner became the Intelligence Unit's biggest enemy in P.D. Seasons 4 and 5.
Captain Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) has come face to face with some seriously sinister wrong-doers on Chicago P.D.. Still, few villains have thrown the Intelligence Unit commander through a loop more than Denny Woods, played by the talented Mykelti Williamson.
Voight's relationship with Woods, a former CPD lieutenant-turned-corrupt auditor, was fraught and tension-fueled from the moment they first reunited. Voight has made quite a few enemies during his lengthy tenure, but the decisions he made to piss off Woods haunted him in several ways in Season 4 and Season 5. Wood's arrival brought on a devastating domino effect that led to the death of one of the Intelligence Unit's finest.
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No one likes it when a P.D. fan favorite lands in trouble, but Woods delivered some replay-worthy heat. Look back on all of the drama that broke out surrounding Voight and Denny Woods on Chicago P.D., below.
When did Denny Woods appear on Chicago P.D.?
Mykelti Williamson's Denny Woods was first introduced in P.D. Season 4, Episode 20 ("Grasping for Salvation") when he was still a lieutenant with the CPD. Thirty years prior, Woods and Voight had been partners, with Woods even mentioning that he forged Voight into the rough and tough he became. However, their tumultuous reunion set the stage for some jaw-dropping drama after Voight realized Woods was involved in wrongfully convicting an innocent man to move up within the precinct.
After the Intelligence Unit found a murder weapon that altered the status of a case Voight and Woods closed decades ago, Voight, worried that he and his former partner had wrongfully convicted someone, and wished to reopen the investigation.
Sensing the case details would reveal his dark secret, Woods threatened Voight to drop the investigation, but this only emboldened Voight more. Fearing he'd eventually prove his corruption, Woods wielded his power to put Voight up for review on the grounds of insubordination. Luckily, the Intelligence Unit pulled through and gathered enough evidence to prove Woods deliberately imprisoned an innocent man to leverage a promotion. Following a full investigation into his case files, Woods was exposed and disgraced, stripped of all his police powers.
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Denny Woods and Hank Voight's cat-and-mouse game on Chicago P.D.
After the incident, Woods became an independent auditor, obsessed with getting revenge against his former partner, who took it all away in the blink of an eye. Woods sought to settle the score against Voight, returning in Season 5 to exploit his position as an auditor to gather any dirt he could dredge up about the Intelligence Unit to complicate Voight's standing in the CPD.
Viewers hoped the resentments were set aside in Season 5, Episode 14 ("Anthem") when the Intelligence Unit helped Woods when his daughter landed at the center of a case — but after she was shot and only narrowly survived the ordeal, Woods found himself with an even bigger bone to pick with the Intelligence Unit.
Later in Season 5, Woods met with Voight to assure his former partner they were not good. At the same time, CPD higher-ups called Voight's best friend and fellow Intelligence Unit member Alvin Olinksy (Elias Koteas) into their office to ask about his DNA being found on the murdered body of Kevin Bingham.
Who's Bingham, you ask? Oh, just the criminal who killed Voight's son in Season 3 of P.D. — and was later shot dead by Voight. Alvin helped hide the body and scrub evidence, and for years, viewers and the Intelligence Unit thought Voight was in the clear. That bubble popped when Woods got his revenge.
Needless to say, the timing of Bingham's body being found was a little too convenient. Woods later tried to manipulate Alvin into absolving himself by admitting Voight's more significant role in Bingham's murder, but Alvin refused to rat on his friend, enraging Woods further.
Woods then bribed a witness into lying and claiming they'd seen Alvin abduct Bingham, leading Alvin to be indicted and sent to prison. There, he continued to keep quiet about Voight's actions despite Woods' protest.
What ended up happening to Denny Woods on Chicago P.D.?
Alvin's arrest was particularly devastating because it indirectly led to his tragic murder after criminals in prison targeted the Intelligence Unit detective. Devastated by his best friend's murder — and privy to Woods' role in the pandemonium — Voight threw himself into proving his former partner was involved, all while dodging his own guilt in the crime.
Without Alvin to confess, Woods grew increasingly eager to implicate Voight in Bingham's murder. Woods resorted to fabricating details about the kidnapping, but this lie was ill-timed. Voight had already gotten to work turning Woods' associates against him and proving Woods framed Alvin. Woods' desperate attempts to prove Voight's murderous past backfired in the Season 5 finale ("Homecoming") when Voight gathered enough evidence against Woods to send info to Internal Affairs.
Woods was subsequently arrested for witness tampering, unlawful imprisonment, and the indirect murder of Alvin Olinsky.
Watch Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
