“Justice isn’t the only thing that’s blind.”
The hour kicks off with a rather pointless story involving a handful of snobby aldermen discussing the “bomb train” that many residents are against. The whole bomb train story doesn’t have anything to do with the case itself, which made for a pretty pointless opening. Alderman Chris Jones steps outside after an environmental rights activist dumps oil on the conference room table—but that’s the least of Chris’ worries. Moments after stepping outside, Chris is hit and killed by a red SUV that doesn’t even bother to stop. And so begins the case…
Antonio and Laura trace the car to a sweet, elderly lady who rented out her car to a Jane Reynolds. They track the car, now abandoned, to the train tracks, but they’re able to pull Jane’s cellphone number from Bluetooth. It doesn’t take long to locate Jane, who waits on a bench with cash…for whoever kidnapped her daughter. Jane was forced to rent a car, withdraw money from several banks across town, and drive to the designated meeting spot without stopping or daughter would pay the price. Here’s the twist—Jane’s daughter wasn’t actually kidnapped. It was a virtual kidnapping. I won’t take this opportunity to launch into a lengthy rant about the internet, but I will say this—for all the good the internet and social media has done, it has done just as much damage. Virtual kidnapping? Seriously? It’s sickening.
The Reynolds family dynamic isn’t a pretty one—Jane and Ted are divorced, because Jane thought Ted wasn’t involved enough. What she might not have realized was that Ted works four jobs to take care of his family. It’s easy to feel for Ted, and I found myself immediately on his “side”. Sympathy for Ted was made all the more complicated when the team discovered it was, in fact, Ted who virtually kidnapped his own daughter. What? Yes. Ted fake kidnapped his daughter Emma so that Jane would know what it’s like to “race against the clock” for money to support Emma.
The problem, though, is the lack of proof. Peter, being the creative rebel he his, decides to go after Ted for the homicide of Chris Jones, even though it was Jane driving the car. His argument that kidnapping serves as a predicate felony to then include murder might work, but only if they can prove kidnapping (or in this case, virtual kidnapping). Unfortunately, the recording on Jane’s answering machine doesn’t prove that, which leaves the jury deadlocked, which results in a mistrial. But we know Peter well enough to know he’s not letting this go.
Both parties meet to make a deal, but that complicated family dynamic kicks in and Ted ends up confessing everything so that Jane doesn’t end up in prison. How convenient. Yawn.
Though I enjoyed the personal moments for these characters (the callback to Antonio’s horror when Diego was kidnapped on Chicago Med, Laura’s tragic family history, Peter and Anna’s repartee), I have to admit—the episode itself was a bit of a dud for me. But hey, they can’t all be winners, right?
What did you think of the episode? Share your thoughts below!
