trudy platt

Chicago P.D. 4×21 “Fagin” Recap

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“Fagin”: an acute reminder of just how compelling this series can be.

Case Summary: When a group of bank robbers turn out to be boys under the age of 15, it sends intelligence on a spiraling case to understand who’s controlling the operation. A new member temporary joins the team, Platt learns some inspiring information. Halstead celebrates his birthday, and Lindsay deals with the fallout of her actions, though in self-defense, killing a kid heavily impacts her.

Review | Analysis: When Chicago P.D. focuses on evolving its characters through realistic every day decisions as opposed to rash storylines, the series is at its finest delivering seamlessly balanced episodes. And “Fagin”, much like last week’s “Grasping for Salvation” was an episode that reminded me of why this show’s so incredible.

Chicago P.D. has tackled storylines regarding black kids/teens and the unfair police brutality they face, but in “Fagin” it was the boy’s age which made the killing that much more heart wrenching. Thereby, for Lindsay, this is something that she’ll carry to the end of time because it doesn’t matter that he had an automatic weapon, which was previously being fired and aimed towards her, he was 14. And to end the episode with that sentence lingering in the room left viewers with the haunting heartaches of all the kids who’ve unfairly lost their lives in the face of a gun. In potently powerful scenes, the episode showcased the true darkness in the world, the undeniable fact that sometimes, kids are being forced to do things beyond their desires and in return, they’re losing their lives for them.

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Chicago P.D. 4×19 “Last Minute Resistance” Recap

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No means NO! (Shout it from the rooftops. Write it on the skyline.)

Case Summary: When Kim’s sister Nicole (Jules Wilcox) is found sexually assaulted in a train station after a night out with friends, the Intelligence unit must do everything in their power to find the rapists.

Review | Analysis: “Last Minute Resistance” is a powerful example of the kind of remarkable story telling this show is easily capable of. And while Chicago P.D. has tackled assault and rape in the past, no episode has screamed louder than “Last Minute Resistance.” It’s 2017 and yet somehow, it’s still hard to process that no means no. Fun fact: no matter what theoretical method of analysis is used to analyze the word, the word “no” alone will never change its definition. And Chicago P.D.’s choice to tackle the subject when it’s evidently still an enormous problem in our world today was brilliant.

“Last Minute Resistance” left viewers with the kind of hourly balance that we’re always longing for. (Or at least that’s what it did for me.) Its mixture of a riveting, powerful case along with the exhibition of friendship and effortless character development made for a compelling hour of television.

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Chicago P.D. 4×03 “All Cylinders Firing” Recap

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Trudy Platt for President 2016.

Case Summary: After one of their own is shot and attacked, the unit must come together to find the attacker. And while there are no leads when Platt’s in the hospital, after her father’s murdered, it becomes easier to understand that this is was a plotted attack towards the family and not police officers.

Review | Analysis: “All Cylinders Firing” wasn’t the most thematically moving episode, but it was one that featured extraordinary performances and for this show, that’s always enough for me. At most, “All Cylinders Firing” was the perfect reminder of the fact that this team will always fight through hell and back for each other. And when it comes down to protecting each other, sometimes the best thing they can do is be there to remind them of who they are.

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Chicago P.D. 3×11 “Knock the Family Right Out” Recap

Spoilers Ahead

Never go into a case without backup.

Case Summary: When a local family’s home is invaded as they’re all drugged with ‘laughing gas’ to continue sleeping, their 14-year-old daughter is raped, and the Intelligence unit gets involved to find the culprit/s. And later when they find a man that could potentially be involved during an undercover night out, another female claims to have been raped in the same way, but it turns out she’s only trying to free her partner from Intelligence.

Review | Analysis: The series picked up its pace this week with an engaging case that had all of Intelligence at the top of their games, and perhaps even a bit too much. It’s never easy to listen to rape victims talk about what they’ve been through, and it’s even worse to know that a woman would be a part of the villain team. Women should love and support each other, not the other way around. Though as far as storytelling goes, Tawny’s involvement was a fine way to shock the audience. “Knock the Family Right Out” worked wonderfully as a whole because for what seems like the longest time, no one felt disconnected. Even Platt’s wedding plans fit in for it gave Kim the opportunity to open up her actual thoughts on the delay. And because Kim got to play around with Intelligence this week, it all correlated smoothly with the running theme of honesty throughout the episode.

Honesty is the act of telling the truth — it’s having the strength to confront what’s inside, and even the nobility to admit when you’re wrong. Within the case we were presented with two females: one who chose to reveal what really happened and another that deceitfully put the life of innocents at risk in order to carry on her dastardly duties. And with Lindsay, admitting that her rash decision wasn’t wise is yet another example which rings true to the theme of practicing rectitude. But perhaps when it comes to honesty, the truth about Kim’s feelings surfacing may have just been my favorite part of the episode. Continue reading →

Chicago P.D. 3×08 “Forget My Name” Recap

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Stakeouts are fun?

Episode Summary: When a friend of Antonio’s who now works for the NSA gives him a number that leads to a huge narcotics transport, Halstead and Lindsay go undercover in patrol only to find a dead body. The body then leads to a bigger case dealing with government products to which NSA agent wants no part of until he finally gives in. Mouch asks Burgess to figure out Platt’s ring size in order to propose to her. Atwater does Captain Whitaker a favor.

Review | Analysis: “Forget My Name” was a solid episode, but generally cases that don’t heavily involve one of our own don’t leave a lot of room for discussion. The episode was the perfect opportunity to involve Antonio in a bit more, but essentially, it felt as though he was a bit more sidelined when it should’ve been the exact opposite. In other words, let’s talk about the dynamics.

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Chicago P.D. 3×05 “Climbing Into Bed” | 3×06 “You Never Know Who’s Who” Recap

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Insert some cool one liner about the episode here.

Episode Summary: Ruzek accidentally gets involved in a wrong case, and because he forgot to run it by Voight, it threatens his place in Intelligence. Olinsky gets the test results. Erin and Jay take their relationship to the next level. Roman, Platt, and the entire team make Andrew’s last few days the best he’s ever had.

Review | Analysis: To be quite honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this week’s episodes — particularly the cases. While they normally always grip me, I found myself unable to focus on the story that was being told. Additionally, while I was moved to tears with the story of Roman, Andrew and the unit, it’s not something I can discuss. I wish I could talk about how beautiful it was, but I’ll cry through this entire review and while it’s okay to write through happy tears, sad ones like this aren’t easy. My heart hurts so bad when children lose their battle with cancer, there’s no way I could possibly write about it. Perhaps realizing the series will be killing him off is what made the episode so difficult to watch let alone write about. I hope you all understand. That said, this review will focus on dynamics and individual character storylines.

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Chicago P.D. 2×21 “There’s My Girl” Recap

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While I can’t find myself invested in the storyline that’s presented, I’m completely amazed with the performances it’s inspiring.

Episode Summary: Platt fights for a stone on the wall for Nadia. An innocent mistake made by Atwater gets him demoted. Lindsay’s dealing with the first stages of grief by diving into work. And a senseless bomber turns out to be the most unexpected suspect, but luckily with the help of a brave little girl and Mouse, the team gets ahold of him quickly.

Review | Analysis:  It’s difficult to dive back into this show after Nadia’s death. I almost wish the crossover occurred before the month long hiatus so we would’ve had a bit more time to come to terms with everything. As I stated in last week’s review, I felt it was unnecessary and I’m going to stand by my opinion. That said, the extent to which the Intelligence Unit respect and honor her floors me – and it’s why deaths on this show are so horrible. These characters are just too extraordinary.

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