Defending the Windy City: Inside the Intelligence Unit’s Fight Against Crime – A Chicago P.D. Special

Who Is Chicago PD’s Newest Officer Kiana Cook?

Episode 2 Offers Little Information About Her

Ruzek’s screen time is split with Kiana Cook, whom audiences already know will be the next new member of Intelligence, as actor Toya Turner’s casting was reported over the summer by various media outlets. There are stretches of Ruzek and Cook driving around in her patrol car, looking for the suspect, that feel designed solely for the two of them to talk. Despite that, very little is revealed about Cook except for the fact that she spent years on a tactical squad before being sent back to patrol. That on its own is fine given the premise of the episode — but it becomes an issue when Turner doesn’t make an engaging first impression.

Audiences are used to Chicago PD having a little bit of a revolving door ever since it decided to get rid of Alvin Olinsky. The show has gone through several short-term additions, including Lisseth Chavez as Vanessa Rojas and Bojana Novakovic as Josephine Petrovic, whom viewers thought would replace Hailey Upton… but instead disappeared into the void. The casting changes have been understandable, because some of these characters just haven’t been very good. Unfortunately, there’s nothing about Cook or about Turner’s performance that makes viewers want to see more of her. Cook has a typical “tough cop” personality and Turner never gins up the chemistry with Flueger that’s meant to pay off when the episode ends with them complimenting each other. She also notably mispronounces the suspect’s surname when Cook asks Ruzek if John Darrow has a rap sheet.

It’s admirable that after the exit of Tracy Spiridakos, the show’s creatives want to add another woman and they want that character to be a woman of color. Kevin Atwater shouldn’t be the only Black main character, no matter how fantastic LaRoyce Hawkins is. But it’s not just about adding a new face; it has to be the right character. As Martel proves, the writers can’t just expect fans to care about someone because they join Intelligence. Chicago PD still has to explain how Cook gets into the unit, so perhaps her character will develop more in the future, but it may have been better to focus on expanding Dante Torres’ underwritten role than throwing another officer into the mix.

Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 2 Gets This One Thing Absolutely Right

Amy Morton Gets Her Due as Trudy Platt

The most impressive thing about Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 2 is that it gives Amy Morton more screen time than she’s had in a long time. And to the surprise of no one, Morton is amazing with it; her line delivery as Trudy Platt orders about officers in the district lobby and sends out radio calls is one of the times the episode does feel urgent. Most of Morton’s scenes are with Jason Beghe, which also allows fans to remember that Voight and Platt go back a very long time in a friendship that’s kind of fallen out of focus. But just the looks between Beghe and Morton bring that back up again.

It’s been frustrating to see Morton’s role get smaller over the years as a consequence of CPD getting rid of its patrol officer stories. There have been Trudy-centric episodes, but they commonly involve her getting hurt or almost hurt in some way. While she doesn’t get out into the field or anything particularly exciting, getting to see more than one minute of her makes “Blood Bleeds Blue” worth the watch on its own. The same can’t be said for Shawn Hatosy; it’s wonderful to see him appear again as new Deputy Chief Reid, but did the show really need to bring him in for a single scene just so Reid could tell Voight he’s in charge and then walk out? If there’s a recurring character in an episode, they should have some significant purpose — but if this episode were structured more in a big-picture sense, maybe Reid would’ve had one.

“Blood Bleeds Blue” shows how much Chicago PD has fallen into its own patterns in recent years. This series can absolutely do big event episodes, like when Platt was left for dead in “All Cylinders Firing” or any of the times Burgess was in peril. Those episodes crackled with speed and tension and great performances. This one just doesn’t have enough energy. When the suspect’s car explodes near the end, it feels like that’s thrown in to give the episode a dramatic moment that it never achieves on its own.