Chicago PD – Called in Dead – Fall Finale

We’ve all heard of a Series Finale – we just had one yesterday for The Newsroom.  A series had its run and then the curtain comes down for the last time. Then there are Seasonal Finales which means see you later, as in next year.

Last Wednesday, I watched a Fall Season Finale. Now I hadn’t heard of this term before, or said differently, I hadn’t paid the strictest attention. What the Fall Season Finale means, in this case, is that we are taking a few weeks off, and don’t really want to collide with the Holiday season.

Case in point is Dick Wolf’s Chicago PD on NBC. The fall season finale aired on Wednesday, December 10th. Chicago PD will resume in January, 2015.

The episode, called Called in Dead centered around the squad taking down a vicious heroin ring. As the show aired five days ago, and is off the air for a while, I plan to discuss the cliff hangers which Wolf and co handed to us. So there will be some spoilers ahead; you’ve been warned.

We find out about the heroin as it arrives right in Lindsay’s apartment via a girl OD’ing. Nadia brought the girl to the apartment. This girl is able to tell Lindsay that she scored the H called Passion at a club. Right away we get the first mini-cliff hanger, as this club is soon robbed at gun point by a truly well-organized crew – all dressed completely in black with everything concealed – black jackets, pants, and shoes. Black balaclava masks with dark sunglasses.

Who did the robbery – why none other than Sgt. Voight and his merry band of coppers. Why? To squeeze the club manager. Who, once brought in for question on the basis of wire taps and security footage, is between a rock and hard place. Either he helps the cops by setting them up with a meet with the big boss, or they bust him for the H lab, or they’ll turn him loose, and the big boss will want answers or his 20 million worth of heroin back.

Worked like a charm – as the robbery went down we had no idea who it was. And getting the club manager to roll over was effective but not so brilliant. I mean, what choice did this guy have.

So the meet is set up and the cops take in this guy Blue, only Blue isn’t the very top – he’s just near the top. And not so easily intimidated. So the case is stalled.

With the case stalled, Olinsky heads home. He’s graduating from the garage to the main house, a sure sign that his estranged wife is ready to take him back. But he’s in for a surprise.

Chicago P.D. – Episode Six: Conventions – Recap/Review

Did you catch Chicago PD on Wednesday. It was nice to have the show back on the air replacing that mini-series from Sochi, Russia. Officially, this C.P.D. was Episode Six entitled Conventions. It was about a series of rape/murders that began in New York on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and now apparently had resurfaced in Chicago. Hence the crossover episode to Chicago PD. As you know, both shows are Dick Wolf productions.

On ‘the advice of his Commander’, Voight brought in a couple of detectives from the New York Special Victims Unit. Basically, Fin who is played by Ice-T and Rollins who is played by Kelli Giddish, made the crossover appearance. Their stay would be open-ended at least until the perp was caught.

That’s your set up.

What impressed me most about the episode wasn’t the stellar police work. It wasn’t the crossover aspect either. Nor was it the great performances by the series regulars. Instead of those, I was most impressed by the fact that the writers sat down and did make some changes to the story lines on Chicago PD that were getting stale.

Sgt. Platt and Officer Burgess

1) Officer Burgess and Desk Sgt. Platt – I’ve watched week after week as Platt threw her rank , experience, and age around and did her best to make Burgess and her fellow officer Atwater feel miserable. Yes, they made mistakes, but Platt overstepped more than a few times. Atwater did not appear in this episode.

This week, Burgess (played wonderfully by Marina Squerciati) took some time off from her patrol after telling the dour Platt (played by Amy Morton) that she would be out for a while on official business. She then came back with the information (actually a photo) that led to the case getting solved. After which, she got a compliment from Voight, and then when Platt made another snide remark, Burgess let it sail by, and wished the Sgt. a pleasant evening as she left.

2) Ruzek and Olinsky. For almost every one of the first five chapters, Ruzek (played by Patrick John Flueger) would make a mistake because he was impulsive, because he didn’t think things through, and because he didn’t play the situations according to the book. The consequences were that Olinsky, the veteran undercover played by Elias Koteas, was always pissed at him.

Chicago PD – 1 x 05 – Thirty Ballons

Thirty Balloons was the title of Episode Five of Chicago P.D. which aired on Wednesday, Feb. 5th. Looking ahead, the show will be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks due to NBC’s Olympics coverage. Although I hate it when shows get taken off the air for a bit – as you lose some interest and anticipation because the hook that a show has set into you, somehow comes out. But having said that, this was a strong and very fine episode.

I’m really liking the show’s grittiness. These guys aren’t working like those Miami Vice guys from nearly 30 years ago. Olinsky doesn’t cruise around in a Ferrari, and no one on the show wears flashy clothes. Rather than appearing somewhat attractive and heroic, our cops on Chicago PD do stakeouts laying out flat on a rooftop, or responding to a call about a shoplifting event in a local bodega. And all of them have to live their lives on their own time, while dealing with the worst life can toss at them while on the job.

It’s far from easy to be a cop, and as I watch them, I wonder what drew them to the job in the first place.

Back at Thirty Balloons – a case develops when a girl goes psychotic in the streets. There’s a reason of course. She was working as a mule, bringing in drugs from Mexico by ingesting thirty balloons filled with 89% pure drugs. The drugs were packed in inferior quality casings (condoms) and one ruptured inside of this girl – hence she was poisoned from within.

So Voight and team have to wait for the girl to come out of surgery. Find out who she was carrying for, then save her three girl friends who also were in it for the money – 5k a head.

I thought the episode was very effectively and smartly produced. I say this – and I can back it up. What follows are some strong highlights. Not so much for the writing per se, but more of the way the scenes played out and the way the director positioned his cameras. If you like testosterone, you’ll see plenty of it this week – and from both the men and the female cops.

Voight gets a call from a cop who has just busted Voight’s CI Maurice. This is the same Maurice who gives Voight money, and the same Maurice who Chicago PD Internal Affairs wants Voight to bust. Voight clears it with the uniformed patrolman and takes Maurice around the corner.

Maurice [offering up a roll of dead presidents]: Two grand.

Voight [slapping the money roll to the ground]:I didn’t come across town for no two grand.
Maurice: It was gonna be 5 until you chumped me in front of my crew. I don’t pay you to get disrespected. Know that.
Voight: Wanna go toe to toe with me Maurice? I’ll have five grand… in my mitt… by the end of the night… or the ground is going to open underneath you.

Now Maurice is way bigger than Voight. So the challenge was ballsy, especially since Voight needs Maurice for street intel. But the scene plays out well.

Ruzak’s gf drops him off at the office. Olinsky is outside waiting for Ruzak. He introduces himself to Wendy (the gf) as Ruzak’s partner. Only Ruzak had never mentioned Olinsky to Wendy. As they make their way in to the district office, Ruzak is rattling on and on about his wedding and the planning, and all that entails. Finally Olinsky has heard enough.

Olinsky [to Ruzak]: You through? ‘Cause when you’re here… you’re here. So don’t pass through that gate until you are.

Chicago PD – 1 x 04 – Now is Always Temporary

A bit of a review, a recap, and some thoughts about the latest episode. I’m announcing a Spoiler Warning for those of you who haven’t watched the episode yet.

Chicago PD‘s 4th Episode called Now Is Always Temporary had a little bit of everything. But mostly it was about families. Having said that, the opening scene is a dinner with Hank Voight, Erin, and Hank’s son Jay who has been recently released from prison. The phone interrupts and Hank and Erin head out on a hostage situation.

A desperate man is holding a woman as hostage. Erin and Hank try to get him to hand off the woman and work things out. Eventually the nut job agrees. But before he surrenders, he says, I’m a dead man anyway – then he blows his own brains out. We don’t see the brains but we do see the interesting upward blood spatter, a natural occurrence when a gun barrel is placed beneath the chin pointing up before squeezing the trigger.

Did I say this was a family episode? Well actually it really is. The above scene preceded the opening credits. In short this episode opened strongly before we moved on to Olinsky and his daughter, more of Voight and his son, and the problems Detective Halstead was having because of and with the Rodiger family.

And all of that was wrapped around the case of the week which would go on to be about a counterfeit ring, an underage hooker with a heroin problem, a church support group that fronted for a crew of guns for hire with a money laundering operation, and more.

Erin worked with the 17-year-old hooker named Nadia who provided some intel because Erin promised to fix her up with some drugs after they worked through the case.

Olinsky’s daughter was suspended from school because a few joints were found in her locker. She claimed they weren’t hers.

Chicago PD: Episode 1 x 03 – Chin Check

Chicago PD Episode 1 x 03 aired last night. They called it Chin Check. My initial reaction to the series based upon the first two episodes was very positive. I still like the action and the performers but I believe that the writers have put too much on our plates.

By that I mean that there’s a helluva lot of characters to keep track of besides the specific major case of the week. Do the math – There are 10 cops including the desk sergeant who goes back and forth between giving Burgess and Atwater tough love and jerking them around. The only Detective who hasn’t made an impact yet is Detective Sheldon Jin.

Then there’s Justin who is Voight’s son. He’s just been released from prison and Erin is there to meet him, Dawson’s wife Laura, Ruzak’s girl friend Wendy and his departmental shrink. There’s the kid D-Anthony who Voight helped. Voight’s C.I. Maurice, Dawson’s C.I. Jasmine, which adds up to six more. So that brings us to 16 characters

If we take out D’Anthony because Voight parked him with his Aunt who has an out-of-town address), we must add in the daughter of Olinsky who will appear in the next episode.

And I haven’t even mentioned the so far unnamed I.A. woman officer who Voight must answer to. The good about that is that so far, Voight has held his ground, and delayed giving this mystery woman what she’s asked for. The bad? She has appeared at the end of two straight shows. Hey writers – can you mix that up a bit?

Halstead on a stakeout

Okay moving on – there’s not enough lighter moments. Aside from Atwater and Burgess dueling with Desk Sergeant three weeks running, we have to look hard to find anything funny.

Yes, Olinsky had to buy a power saw to get the pawn shop guy to give him an in with the arms guys who were selling the long hardware and the cop-killer bullets. Not exactly laugh out loud material, but I do understand that bit of subtle humor. But a stinky squad car, from an earlier episode, wasn’t so funny. In fact it was weak.

I liked the way that Mrs. Dawson and Detective Dawson both danced around the truth when it came to Dawson’s Confidential Informant Jasmine. Again, while this wasn’t funny per se, because it wasn’t meant to be, it did work out in the end, and was satisfying.

I think Ruzak is heading for more issues. First he screwed up in the second episode with the collar, then he lied to his girl friend about his job, he had words with Halstead who used the old stand by response – What do you know? You’ve been on the job for what? Fifteen minutes? Then, not only was he was indifferent to the fact that he shot and killed someone in the line of duty, but he ignored the shrink’s advice to take a couple of weeks off.

According to what we’ve heard, from the other characters, and the girl friend, he should be experiencing some after-effects after taking a life. Even the Chicago PD had mandatory counseling as a requirement for any cop who killed. Ruzak gave the counselor nothing, and wanted out asap. After telling Wendy the facts, he was ready to waltz back into a party as if nothing had happened. Wendy is left with some serious doubts about Ruzak.

Chicago PD 1 x 02 – Wrong Side of the Bars

[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD] Chicago PD Episode 2 aired tonight. They called this one Wrong Side of the Bars. But whatever they called it, on the surface, it was about getting Diego Dawson home safe. As you recall from the pilot episode broadcast last week, the show ended with a cliff hanger as Detective Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) was notified by his wife that their son, the eight year Diego, had gone missing.

But below the surface, two other major story lines sprouted wings and flew into our midst. As the episode began, and it was one of the best opening segments that I’ve seen on a cop show in years. The squad had to run down leads which they culled from extensive pouring over case files. There was palpable tension. The level of intensity was high.

And even when things looked promising, like the location of a prime suspect became known, it was all undone by a mistake made by rookie Kyle Ruzak (Patrick John Flueger). So it was back to square one.

Meanwhile the heat was rising under Voight. In an aside with his Commander, Voight is told that a lot of people are unhappy with him and that he’s off to a very bad start with one his cops being killed, and the kidnapping of Detective Dawson’s son.

Voight absorbs this dressing down, and toughens up. He tells his crew, Until we get the kid back, nothing else matters. Nothing else.

Chicago PD – New Series on NBC

What do you get when you cross famed TV Producer Dick Wolf, best known for his Law & Order franchise, with Hill Street Blues?

Chicago PD is the answer. The brand new NBC-TV series, a spin-off of the Chicago Fire Series, and the chosen replacement for the short-lived Ironside which got yanked off the air after just three episodes, is a gritty police drama. Jason Beghe  stars as Sgt. Hank Voight, the head of an intelligence unit of the CPD.

Like Hill Street Blues, the series will focus both on uniformed police patrol and plain clothes detectives. Hopefully the show will be about the intersection of both the personal and professional lives of the characters, with the main thrust being the pursuit of those involved in major street crimes.

At the head of the cast list is Jason Beghe as Voight, Jon Seda (above) as Detective Antonio Dawson, and Elias Koteas (below) as Alvin Olinsky, an undercover detective.

There are two females listed in the main cast – Sophia Bush (above) as Detective Erin Lindsay, and Marina Squerciati  as Officer Kim Burgess.

The premiere episode was broadcast on the NBC network tonight  (Jan 8th, 2014). Chicago PD will seem familiar to you, which is to be expected. You could say they went by the numbers. Straight out of the cop show playbook. Well maybe they did. But to this viewer, when you have fresh faces , and the numbers , even if they’re old formulaic numbers, add up, you are going to watch a very worthwhile and effective show.