Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 7 Highlights The One Lesson It Refuses To Learn (Again)

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Chicago PD season 12, episode 7.After seven episodes, Chicago PD season 12 reinforces the continuously ignored lesson that could save the series. One Chicago’s police procedural series follows Hank Voight’s Intelligence, as they tackle especially sensitive cases. The team has been effective in its job despite the countless changes it has experienced in the last couple of years, including the disappointing exits of Jay Halstead and Hailey Upton. That said, while the group remains great in their job, it is no secret that Chicago PD has suffered from a significant drop in ratings in recent memory.




In the grand scheme of things, all One Chicago shows have experienced a dip in viewership in the last several years. All three core series, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med, however, remain popular, so the trend isn’t exactly that alarming yet. However, there’s something to be said about the police procedural’s situation, specifically, considering that, among its peers, Chicago PD has the lowest ratings. Admittedly, other factors contribute to this matter, but it’s frustrating when the show can easily fix one of its biggest flaws that could rejuvenate its fan base on the heels of consecutive cast shuffling.


Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 7 Gets All Members Of Intelligence Involved

Everyone Does Something In The Pursuit Of Gloria


In Chicago PD season 12, episode 7, “Contrition,” the team goes back and revisits one of their trickiest cases from last year. Dante Torres’ dalliance with Gloria, the wife of a cartel leader, is on the brink of coming out, as Intelligence gets a tip about a new movement on their drug smuggling business that she now runs. Because Gloria knows almost all veteran members of Voight’s team, they decide to send their newest recruit, Kiana Cook, undercover. While she is great on the job, she gets made, with the outing ending with a cliffhanger of her fate.

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At its core, “Contrition” is a Torres-centric episode. The original storyline from Chicago PD season 11 had him go undercover to infiltrate the cartel, which resulted in his entanglement with Gloria. The newly-promoted Kim Burgess is also heavily involved, considering that she knew about his colleague’s personal relationship with their informant. That said, Chicago PD season 12, episode 7 does a good job of giving everyone something to do, even Voight, who was still running point in terms of planning the operation.

Chicago PD Is At Its Best When It Utilizes Its Ensemble (But It Won’t Regularly Do It)

The Intelligence Unit Is A Team

Technically, Chicago PD is an ensemble series. While Voight is the leader of Intelligence, the show gives all of its characters their own respective time under the spotlight, which is actually a great thing. One of the big issues with shows that have multiple leads is that they tend to forget other players. This way, One Chicago ensures that all members of Voight’s team have their compelling storylines. The problem with this, however, is the way Chicago PD executes this approach.


Chicago PD season 12, episode 7 proves that it can balance things out by continuing to tackle character-centric outings without sidelining the rest of its characters.

Character-centric episodes in Chicago PD are typically isolating because they usually just focus on a single character with little to no involvement from the rest of the cast. Chicago PD season 12, episode 7 proves that it can balance things out by continuing to tackle character-centric outings without sidelining the rest of its characters. This is also a great way to rejuvenate its fan base, as it means that every week, Intelligence as a whole will be at play. Viewers won’t have to skip certain episodes if they aren’t particularly invested in one’s storyline.


Why Chicago PD Can’t Always Do Ensemble Storylines

It’s Part Of Wolf Entertainment’s Cost-Cutting Measures

Collage of characters from Chicago Fire, PD, and Med.

This character-centric approach to storytelling for Chicago PD likely has something to do with Wolf Entertainment’s cost-cutting measures. In a report from Deadline, Dick Wolf shows’ cast members have been asked to reduce the number of episodes they appear. This is why Chicago Fire has been missing a few characters for some weeks without any clear explanation, such as Christopher Hermann and Kylie Estevez. That said, because Chicago PD has a much smaller ensemble, missing even just 1 player is easy to notice and has a massive impact on its storytelling.

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Chicago PD Can No Longer Fix Its Worst Character Assassination After Upton’s Exit

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At this point, however, it’s arguably better for Chicago PD to just follow in Chicago Fire‘s footsteps when tackling character absences. This way, it ensures that all members of Intelligence (or those who are involved) are given something to do every week. It’s high time that the police procedural drops its limiting approach to storytelling and makes full use of its ensemble. It’s missing out on so many narratives without doing so.

Source: Deadline

chicagopd

A spinoff of Chicago Fire, this police procedural drama follows the detectives and the uniformed patrol officers of the Chicago Police Department as they work to crack cases and put criminals behind bars.

Cast
Jason Beghe , Marina Squerciati , Patrick John Flueger , LaRoyce Hawkins , Amy Morton , Jesse Lee Soffer , Tracy Spiridakos , Jon Seda

Release Date
January 8, 2014

Seasons
12