Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 9.Over the course of its 13 seasons, Chicago P.D. has made its fair share of mistakes. Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) has never had to face the consequences of his outright villainous actions, for one, and the show blew the long-awaited Burzek wedding in the Season 2 finale by giving it a whopping three minutes in the background — on an episode called “Vows,” no less — and didn’t bring back any characters from previous seasons.
But Chicago P.D.’s greatest sin is its consistent failure to give Sergeant Trudy Platt (Amy Morton), the strongest — and arguably the most fascinating — character in the franchise, more screen time. However, that all changed with Season 13, Episode 9’s “Heroes,” which finally lets Trudy Platt loose, and in doing so, gives the series its most powerful, gut-wrenching episode.
Trudy Platt Faces Heartbreak in ‘Chicago P.D.’s “Heroes”
“Heroes” starts off innocently enough: one of Platt’s former recruits, Officer McKay (Matthew Sean Blumm) seeks Trudy’s experience on a case that he’d been working on for over two years. She meets him that night with her findings which, to McKay’s delight, allow him to close in on notorious gang leader Adrian Rodriguez (Mo Alfy). He invites Trudy to a raid on a stash house the next morning, but when the police gather that morning to move, there’s no McKay. Trudy goes to his home to find the back door open. Fearing the worst, Trudy moves in, with the tension building each step, and finds him dead.
Everything about the scene leads them to believe it’s a suicide, but that doesn’t sit right with Trudy. She’s adamant that there has to be another explanation, and, with the help of Burgess (Marina Squerciati), discovers that the body has been moved. Coupled with evidence that Rodriguez had been in the area at the time, it looks like Trudy was right to trust her instincts, and the Intelligence Unit pulls together to find the killer. But in interviewing McKay’s informant on the case, Burgess learns that McKay was almost always buzzed. Trudy, however, is unwilling to listen to it.
Burgess doesn’t press, but does start looking at things differently. Through GPS tracking, Burgess finds McKay’s phone, while Rodriguez is apprehended elsewhere, confronted by Trudy before being put in a squad car. Burgess speaks to Rodriguez alone, and confirms her suspicions: Rodriguez was at the home, but McKay was already dead, so the body was moved to find McKay’s cell phone, and he retreated, tossing the phone away after finding nothing. On the phone, Burgess finds a video message from McKay, an agonizing goodbye before dying by suicide. Burgess shares it with Trudy, who is shattered, blaming herself for not seeing it, and takes on the horrific duty of informing McKay’s family.
‘Chicago P.D.’s “Heroes” Has Everything We Love About Amy Morton’s Trudy Platt
Chicago P.D.’s “Heroes” episode gives Amy Morton a chance to shine, and she runs with it. Everything we love about Trudy comes to the fore — compassion, honor, grit — and more. She’s proud of those she tutored, showing off that caring side by assisting McKay with a case she had no prior knowledge of, simply because he asked. Everyone else deems McKay’s death a suicide, but she demands that his death be treated like any other downed officer, with police escorting the ambulance. Not because she doesn’t believe it was suicide, but because he deserves the same respect. The way she demands it is pure Trudy, telling the officer that she is the sergeant, quipping, “I bark once. Then I bite.”
When she’s confronted by the truth, Trudy shows off a side we rarely see: brokenness. She cries about how she should have seen the signs. Fittingly, it’s Burgess, another of Trudy’s favorite recruits, that is there for her — a strong woman ready to lift another strong woman when she crumbles. She comforts Trudy, telling her that no one could have known, and it doesn’t change who McKay was: a good cop who suffered in silence like so many before him.
McKay’s death is a reminder of how police work takes its toll on those who live through it, and Trudy’s response is a reminder that even those closest don’t know how close someone, anyone, is to making that decision. But Trudy takes it one step further, refusing to diminish McKay’s honor and bravery. “Heroes,” as a whole, is a reminder of just how good Trudy Platt is, and how much better the show is when she’s in it.
