Chicago PD - Born Into Bad News - Review

In the final episode of the season, Commander Perry approaches Voight for his help with his nephew. I’ve missed Commander Perry; he’s a great guy and far less creepy than the current commander. Anyway, Carter (Perry’s nephew) is a cop working in a dirty unit in Jackson Park. The unit rips off drug dealers and now they’ve entered Chicago territory.

Voight has Lindsay approach the team to make an offer to partner up to bring down a drug ring in Chicago. This other Sergeant is under the impression that Voight is the dirty cop we first believed him to be. Knowing the dirty cop role could work to his advantage and help bring the unit down, Voight plays along and makes a deal.

The team puts Lindsay on the inside knowing she and Carter will need to be brought in with the unit to make it look legit. The bust doesn’t go quite as planned—Sergeant Roland threatens to shoot a little girl which doesn’t sit well with Lindsay (or anyone with a soul). She instead shoots Roland (he’s vested, so it just stuns him) and blows the mission. Now Roland knows Carter snitched.

Because Lindsay fired her weapon, she has to go through some sort of protocol which involves a drug test. But if you recall, she woke up that morning next to Not Halstead Landon and surprise! They did “everything” (drugs, booze, scrabble) the night before. So of course, she can’t take the test.

To make matters worse, Bunny shows up to leave a picture of Nadia and Erin on Erin’s desk. Worst. Mom. Ever. I wanted to root for Bunny and her road to recovery but she continues to act like a petulant child. For her, it’s not about helping Erin. It’s about beating Voight.

Voight can’t dwell on Bunny long—he receives a call from Perry and while on the phone, someone shoots at Carter and Perry. When the team arrives on scene, Perry is DOA. This was a surprising death and I didn’t expect it to affect me as much as it did. I really liked Perry and after 30 years as a cop, he lasts a few months in retirement before being killed. Talk about depressing.

When Carter confesses he took money he shouldn’t have from a job, he says to Voight, “But you of all people should understand, right?” Once again hinting at Voight’s dirty past. Voight’s response? “Wrong.”

Well for us Erin and Jay shippers we sure didn’t get much in this episode. What we did see was Jay, as usual, telling Erin he’s there for her. And Erin, as usual, shrugging him off. Lindsay tells Voight the truth but tries to justify what she did. Voight tells her that she sounds like her mother. Ouch. As if that weren’t enough, he takes her off the case and tells her to go home.

When the unit invades a club with the drug dealers working for Roland (who also killed Perry), they find out that not only did Roland have the dealers kill Perry (Carter was the target) but that Roland planned on taking out Lindsay. Switch scenes to Lindsay coming home finding Not Halstead Landon at her door. He talks his way in (I hate him) and before they can start anything, they’re greeted by Roland’s men.

Voight calls Atwater, who is closer to Erin’s, and tells him and Roman to get over there pronto. They arrive just in time and Atwater saves the day! When the unit arrives, it’s of course Voight and Halstead who run inside. Did anyone else see the look on Halstead’s face when he saw Landon there? Dang it.

It seems Roland has given up, as Voight finds him at his house with a ton of cash on the coffee table. He tries to talk Voight into keeping their deal by offering him half a million.
“I’m just taking a page from the Hank Voight playbook.”
“You have no idea who I am.”

What I loved most about this episode is that focused on Voight. His intriguing character is the whole reason we have a Chicago PD—the character that Roland thinks he is. But instead of the dirty cop we first saw on Chicago Fire, Voight has redeemed himself into a (mostly) law abiding cop. One thing that can never be questioned is his loyalty to the city and protecting it and those he loves. His character is still the most intriguing on the show.

In the end, Voight finds Erin at Bunny’s bar. She quits her job, and Bunny couldn’t look smugger about the whole thing. Because for Bunny, it’s just about beating Voight. She thinks she’s Erin’s family, but Voight is more family to Erin than Bunny could ever be. And don’t think that Erin chose her mother because she thought it was best; in fact, Erin chose her mother because she’s the worst. Erin blames herself for Nadia’s death and is now punishing herself for it. There is no one who makes Erin feel worse about herself than her mother.

Elsewhere…

Atwater is still working with Roman. While I really miss Roman and Burgess, I don’t mind the Atwater/ Roman partnership. But with the all-clear from the Ivory Tower, Atwater should be back in Intelligence soon enough. And sure enough, after he saves Erin, Atwater is brought back up to Intelligence…

…Which means Burgess is back to partnering up with Roman. I’m thrilled with the switch, but Burgess clearly isn’t. Can we just take a moment to appreciate Atwater and Ruzek’s bro moment? Loved it. Anyway, it’s not all bad news for Burgess as Ruzek proposes. I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. At the start of the series, these two had serious chemistry and I was rooting for them. But something’s been missing lately and while yes they are engaged, I can’t help but think they haven’t seen their last bump in the road.

Olinsky receives a call from a woman, Linda, he knew 16 years before while working undercover. They had an intimate relationship, even though Olinsky was married. After 16 years, you’d think she’d have more to say than a, “hey, remember that one time I saved you?” before walking off. Weird. But the weirdness is soon cleared up as Olinsky receives a call from a teenage girl in juvenile detention. And guess how old she is? Roughly 16.

Antonio is looking to save the boxing gym that saved him as a kid and approaches Halstead and Roman for help. As far as I’m concerned, saving the gym that allows us to see Antonio box is worth every penny. Even with their combined cash, it’s not enough to save the gym. But thanks to the cash from the case, Voight is able to give Antonio the money he needs to keep the gym going.


What did you think of the episode? With Lindsay gone, will Burgess move back up to Intelligence? How long will Lindsay stay away? What are you hoping to see next season?

About the Author - Meghan Reynolds

A Colorado native, Meghan was born a raised a Denver Broncos fan. Aside from football, she loves storytelling, whether it be movies, television, books, or music. Some of her favorite shows of the past and present include LOST, Friends, The Office, Scandal, Chicago PD, and Chicago Fire. She is excited to be reviewing two of those shows for SpoilerTV, Chicago PD and Chicago Fire.