Chicago P.D.: How Did Antonio Say Goodbye?

Antonio Dawson has officially left the building.

The two-hour fall finale of Chicago P.D. marked the departure of Antonio (Jon Seda) from the Intelligence Unit -- and the show, as Seda is heading to Chicago Justicein the new year. So how did Antonio's exit go down?

In the first of Wednesday's two episodes, Assistant State Attorney (and Chicago Justice lead character) Peter Stone (Philip Winchester) asks for Intelligence's assistance in investigating the murder of a key witness in a rape and murder trial. But Stone has a different request for Dawson in particular.

Chicago P.D.'s Jon Seda talks Antonio's departure

Stone offers Antonio the lead investigator job in the state attorney's office -- a prestigious title for a role that actually sounds pretty cushy, with better pay than Antonio's currently getting, holidays and weekends off, and more time to spend with his family. Stone's timing on the last point is impeccable, as Antonio earlier that day had a tense phone call with his ex-wife, whose duties taking care of their children are currently taking a backseat to traveling around the world with her new rich boyfriend. At first Antonio dismisses Stone's offer, but pauses after Stone tells him that Voight (Jason Beghe) has already signed off on his transfer.

This doesn't sit well with Antonio, who thinks Voight's trying to get rid of him because of their prickly history. Voight clarifies that not only did he sign off on Dawson's transfer, but he recommended him for the job because he believes Antonio's fully capable of running his own crew, and he doesn't want to hold him back professionally.

Meanwhile, Burgess (Marina Squerciati), who earlier stopped by the Intelligence Unit and looked around the room with an almost pitiful level of longing, overhears the whole exchange between Stone and Antonio, and we can practically see the wheels in her head immediately start turning. More pieces fall into place when her new partner Mike turns in his badge in the second episode after two cops are murdered.

Antonio goes to his sister Gabby (Monica Raymund) for advice, saying he's torn between wanting to work with a guy like Stone and giving up his childhood dream job of being a Chicago cop. Gabby offers a more personal perspective, pointing out how much time she's gotten to spend with Casey and Louie since going back to ambo. After talking to Gabby, Antonio meets Stone for a drink at Molly's and officially accepts the job offer.

However, he neglects to inform any of his Intelligence colleagues, who don't find out the news until Lindsay (Sophia Bush) blurts out that she's heard a rumor that Antonio's taken the job as lead investigator at the ASA's office.

Antonio gets his official sendoff at Molly's, where the mood is pretty somber thanks to the aforementioned cop killings. But at least one person gets a bit of good news -- Voight finally offers Burgess a spot on the Intelligence team, which she accepts before he can even get the complete sentence out of his mouth.

As Antonio tells Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) as he's packing up his locker for the last time: "It's time for the next chapter."

Will you miss seeing Antonio on Chicago P.D., and are you looking forward to seeing Burgess work with the Intelligence team?

Chicago P.D. returns Wednesday, Jan. 3.