Chicago P.D.is a thrilling police procedural that follows the Intelligence Unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department. StarringJason Begheas the fearless, will-do-anything-to-make-the-case Sergeant Hank Voight, this drama follows Intelligence’s work as they uncover some ofthe biggest criminals in Chicago, from drug dealers to organized crime bosses to murderers.
An episode of television can be disappointing for many reasons,from an anticlimactic or uncharacteristic ending to a beloved character’s arc, the inability of a character to grow or move on from something that has been holding them back, or an unsatisfying ending to an otherwise great storyline.Chicago P.D., while a show that consistently delivers great characters and interesting storylines, is not immune to delivering a disappointing episode every once in a while.
10"Looking Out for Stateville"
Season 3, Episode 12
One of Voight’s criminal informants, or CIs, is the focus of this episode. Eddie Little (Clancy Brown), Voight’s former cellmate at Stateville Prison, is brought in to help Intelligence make a case against a drug dealer named Rory Jensen (Peter Greene), which Eddie agrees to because the money he will make helping PD will allow him to move to Florida with his family. Despite Eddie’s missteps during the episode, Voight gives the money he made to his family so that they can start over.
The most disappointing part of this episode is not part of the main story, but an underlying story that has been building throughout the season.Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati)and Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) are engaged and starting to plan their wedding, but it becomes clear to Kim that Adam is dragging his feet to the altar. In “Looking Out for Stateville,” she finally decides to call off their engagement. For fans of Burzek,Adam’s continued issues with commitment presented an annoying and disappointing halt to their courtship.
9"The Right Thing"
Season 8, Episode 15
Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller (Nicole Ari Parker), a new addition to the Chicago Police Department, is committed to following the rules and reforming the police force. She continues this trend when her son, Darrell Miller (Branden Cook), is in trouble. Darrell has gotten involved with some serious drug dealers and asks Sergeant Voight for help. When he is kidnapped by these drug dealers, his mom decides not to call in special favors to help him, and this decision costs her son his life.
Fans watched Sam Miller come into the police force intent on changing things for the better. She worked well with the Intelligence Unit and Voight, and she had excellent intentions for making the police force work better for the people of Chicago.It felt inauthentic that her devotion to the police force would trump her devotion to her son, to the point of her not making decisions that would mean finding him faster. It was a very disappointing end to Darrell Miller’s life and an unfortunate storyline for Sam.
8"The Devil You Know"
Season 7, Episode 12
In this episode ofChicago P.D., Voight discovers that one of his CIs, Darius Walker (MichaelBeach), is working with dirty cops. Darius agrees to help Voight bust the dirty cops in exchange for this being the last time that he has to work with the police. Unfortunately, in order to make the case, Voight has to name Darius as his informant. Unwilling to have his name be used to make the case, Darius finds a way to get rid of the dirty cops involved, saving him from being named in court. Unfortunately for Darius,Detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos)won’t let him get away so easily.
The relationship between a CI and the police only works if the CI is kept safe and the promises made between the two are kept. Even though Voight does his best to protect Darius, he still gives his name up when he needs to make the case.And even after Darius finds a way to protect himself, Upton decides to release his name anyway, since Darius is the reason one of her own CIs was killed. This move results in the murder of Darius, as his peers discover that he is a snitch. This was a really disappointing ending for such an interesting supporting character who was so close to being home free, and only enforces future criminal informants' skepticism at the police’s ability to protect them.
7"A Good Man"
Season 10, Episode 3
Jesse Lee Soffer’s last episode inChicago P.D.as Detective Jay Halstead saw Jay struggling with his position in the Chicago Police Department. Hailey Upton, Jay’s wife and fellow Intelligence detective, had noticed that Jay had been having a hard time lately, but was waiting for Jay to come to her. When it became obvious that he wouldn’t ask for help, Upton enlists Voight to try and help Jay. By the time they do, Jay is too far gone. He has gotten involved in an armed robbery case that spiraled out of control, resulting in Jay killing a man.
Jay is no longer proud of what he is doing in the CPD and chooses to resign and take a work assignment in Bolivia, leaving the department and his wife behind.This was a very disappointing and abrupt exit forHalstead, a longtime favorite on the show, one who had always tried his best to help people and hold his fellow police officers to a high standard. Additionally, the events that led to Jay’s departure seemed uncharacteristic for him. He had never wanted to be like Voight, a cop who would do anything and everything to make a case, and had consistently called Voight out for his overstepping, but in the end, he tried to anyway.
6"Descent"
Season 6, Episode 9
Detective Antonio Dawson’s (Jon Seda) drug problem is what sets the events of this episode in motion. When Antonio is caught buying drugs at a stash house by his partner Kim Burgess, he lies and claims he was working undercover. No one on the team buys Antonio’s excuse, but it’s not until Voight discovers what is going on that Antonio’s drug problem comes to light. The team arrests Patrick Carter (Stephen Monroe Taylor), who is connected to the drugs that Antonio bought, but this decision results in the kidnapping of Antonio’s daughter Eva (Ariana Chantelle Cordero), who will only be released if Carter is let go.
After Eva is found and sent to the hospital, Voight allows Antonio to fight the man who held her captive, only for Antonio to push him out the side of a building where the man falls to his death. Antonio’s behavior not only puts his own life in danger, but it threatens his daughter’s life and the reputation of his unit.“Descent"featured a swift and intense downfallfor a longtime character on the show, one that resulted in the destruction of the trust Antonio had built with his partner, his unit and his family.
5"Protect and Serve”
Season 8, Episode 8
Adam Ruzek andKevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins)are tasked with bringing in a police officer who shot an innocent Black man at a traffic stop in this episode. Amidst widespread reform efforts within the police department, a video is leaked of Officer Dave Wheelan (Michael Rispoli) shooting Jeff Duncan (Shawn Roundtree Jr.) after he pulled him over for speeding. Due to the incriminating video, Deputy Superintendent Miller asks Voight for his team’s help bringing Wheelan in before the media and protests get out of control.
While this is a great episode that tackles important issues about how to address real issues in the American police force,the disappointment in this episode comes from Wheelan’s inability to change with the times and admit to any wrongdoing when it occurs.His mistakes cost a young man his life and, instead of facing the consequences of his actions in a trial and subsequent sentencing, he is killed by a vigilante who seeks revenge for Duncan.
4"The Other Side"
Season 8, Episode 16
When Kim is taken by Kent Darby (Anthony Goes)at the beginning ofthisChicago P.D.episode, Adam Ruzek soon discovers that his partner has been taken and starts to do anything and everything to try and find her. In Ruzek’s pursuit, he abandons all the rules that he is supposed to follow as a police officer, including waiting for warrants before searching property and not pulling his gun on innocent people. In the end, it’s Halstead and Atwater, the only two members of Intelligence who were doing their best to follow the rules, who find Kim.
It was disappointing for audiences to see Ruzek throw the tenants of being a good police officer out the window when they became inconvenient, and then get upset at his unit, specifically his good friend Atwater, for not deserting their values too. Ruzek and Atwater even come to blows over their disagreement about how to go about finding Kim. Ruzek’s inability to understand that rules should be followed all the time, regardless of whether he wants to or not, was a frustrating moment for fans of the character.
3"In the Dark"
Season 9, Episode 4
In the aftermath of the death of Roy Walton (Michael Maize), Hailey Upton is spiraling with the guilt she holds about killing him and her inability to share the secret with anyone but Voight. She is unable to sleep and starting to look very rundown. When she has a panic attack after a suspect in a different case slits his wrist in the interrogation room, Jay starts to realize that something is very wrong, and that that something involves Voight.
Voight has always been the type of cop to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. In this episode, he comes to blows with Jay when Jay discovers that Voight has something to do with Hailey’s recent behavior. Jay accuses Voight of being the reason for Hailey’s panic attack and blames him for going rogue and dragging Hailey down with him.It was disappointing to see Voight tell Jay that he should be the one fixing Hailey, when Voight is the one who decided to keep the whole ordeal a secret. Viewers have watchedVoight go from a truly rogue copto one that was willing to follow the rules, but this storyline and his speech to Jay felt like a step back.
2"False Positive"
Season 7, Episode 6
When a couple of young boys are killed,Detective Halstead takes it upon himselfto bring the killer to justice swiftly. It seems that the new facial recognition software that Superintendent Jason Crawford (Paul Adelstein) tells Voight about might be the perfect thing to help Intelligence find the killer quickly. But the new software is not all it’s cracked up to be and points the team to the wrong man, Marcus West (Sammi Rotibi), who Halstead puts in prison to convince him to confess, only for Marcus to be killed while inside.
This episode was disappointing not only because Intelligence knew that the software wasn’t ready yet and decided to use it anyway, but also because the police allowed Marcus West to take the fall for the crimes publicly, even after they discovered who the real killer was.West would not be exonerated even after his wrongful death, all to save the reputation of the police who had used faulty software that was not ready to be used.
1"You and Me"
Season 9, Episode 22
Anna Avalos (Carmela Zumbado), another one of Voight’s CIs, has been helping Voight build a case against Javier Escano (José Zúñiga) for a while now, but when she takes things into her own hands, things start to spiral out of control. When Voight finally gets a warrant for Escano’s property, he finds that Escano has been killed. As Anna was worried about her and her son’s safety, and she is in the wind, it seems obvious that Anna has gone rogue, and it’s up to Voight to find her before it’s too late.
Anna was a great supporting character; she was strong and hard-working, and she worked well with Voight and was able to do a lot for him as a CI. But when she started to get spooked about her and her son’s safety, she didn’t get the help that she felt she needed to stay safe.When Voight finally finds Anna, after she gets into a car accident, she pulls a gun on him and accidentally shoots him. Upton sees this happen and consequently shoots Anna, despite Voight’s wish to help her. Audiences watched Anna get into a good working rhythm with Voight, only for her to bekilled at the first real sign of trouble, and at the hands of a fellow Intelligence officer.
