Chicago P.D. is a police procedural drama that follows the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department. Jason Beghe plays Sergeant Hank Voight, the leader of the respected Intelligence Unit, a special team within the district who handles bigger cases involving large-scale robberies, drug cases, trafficking and more. Season 1 of Chicago P.D. set the tone for the rest of the series, establishing the extreme way that Sergeant Voight runs his unit, and how that can get him in trouble with higher-ups.
The season establishes relationships between the detectives and officers within the 21st District, from romantic to familial, and gives viewers insight into the personal lives of the police officers, helping audience members root for them. With story lines that range from informants within Intelligence to bad guys who kidnap the family members of the Intelligence unit, the first season of this long-running series was not afraid to deliver heavy material.
Chicago P.D.
TV-14
Action
Crime
Drama
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- January 8, 2014
- Cast
- Jason Beghe , Marina Squerciati , Patrick John Flueger , LaRoyce Hawkins , Amy Morton , Jesse Lee Soffer , Tracy Spiridakos , Jon Seda
- Seasons
- 12
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Creator(s)
- Michael Brandt , Derek Haas , Matt Olmstead
- Story By
- dick wolf
- Writers
- Dick Wolf
- Network
- NBC
- Streaming Service(s)
- Peacock , Prime Video
- Directors
- Dick Wolf
- Showrunner
- Dick Wolf
10 "The Price We Pay" (7.9)
Episode 7
Picking up right where the last episode ended, Justin Voight (Josh Segarra), Sergeant Hank Voight's son, is at Detective Erin Lindsay's (Sophia Bush) house with blood on his hands. It's unclear where the blood came from until Sergeant Voight questions a man about the murder case he is working on, and is told that his son may be involved. After keeping secrets from his team and complicating the case to protect his son, security footage reveals that Justin was the getaway driver for the actual murderer, Joe Catalano (Joe Reegan).
Fans get to learn about Voight's family in this episode as well as what Voight is willing to do to protect those closest to him. At the end of the episode, Voight sends his son off to the military to keep him out of trouble, and Detective Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas), Hank's good friend, finds Hank watching Catalano's corpse being retrieved from the river, leaving the audience to question if Voight took justice into his own hands, laying the groundwork for a common theme throughout the show.
9 "Stepping Stone" (7.9)
Episode 1
In the pilot episode of the series, The Intelligence Unit is investigating a series of beheadings that are linked to a Colombian gang. Once the team gets some intel from a boy they found in the house where the first beheading took place, they are able to track down the person responsible, a man that goes by the name Pulpo (Arturo Del Puerto). However, a dispute between Intelligence and Violent Crimes results in the death of one of their own, Detective Julia "Jules" Willhite (Melissa Sagemiller), and even more goes south when a phone call from Detective Antonio Dawon's (Jon Seda) wife informs the audience that their son Diego (Zach Garcia) has been kidnapped.
"Stepping Stone" really set the tone for the series, showcasing the gritty nature of the cases that the Intelligence Unit works, as well as the personal consequences that the work can have on the families of the detectives. Fans also get a glimpse at the lives of the detectives, with an insight into how Detective Lindsay came to know Voight and how he saved her life, as well as a glimpse at the soft side of Voight, as he offered the boy that helped them track down Pulpo help getting out of gang life, if he ever needs it. Establishing the basics of the people in the Intelligence Unit, the way the unit works, as well as ending on a cliffhanger clearly encouraged viewers to come back for more.
8 "Turn the Light Off" (8.0)
Episode 11
While working a robbery case, Intelligence takes a witness statement that asserts that the robbers were black, but upon watching the security footage, it is obvious that the robbers were white. As the team keeps digging through some false leads, they discover that the robbery was ordered by someone in prison, and the gang is making sure that no one speaks to the police about what they've done. Intelligence sends Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) undercover with the assistance of Lindsay's friend Nadia (Stella Maeve) to try and capture the man responsible.
Undercover work is always an interesting watch for fans, especially as Burgess is trying to prove to Voight that she can handle being in Intelligence if he chooses to promote her from her current beat cop status. Additionally, the case the team is working is an interesting one with the false lead, and made even more high-stakes with the undercover element involving members of the team that both fans and the characters care about.
7 "My Way" (8.0)
Episode 13
Intelligence sees the return of Pulpo in this episode, as Commander Ron Perry (Robert Wisdom) makes the decision to release Pulpo into their custody in order to help them solve a murder case involving cartel leader, Gustav Munoz (Gabriel Ellis). Intelligence is not very happy about this, as they lost one of their own to Pulpo in Episode 1, but they follow orders and consult Pulpo for help. However, it's not until Voight brings in Pulpo's girlfriend and starts making threats that he actually provides them with some information. The team is able to catch Munoz, and ends up killing him when he pulls a gun, and they allow Pulpo to have a moment with his girlfriend and son before he returns to prison. This turns out to be a mistake as Pulpo and his family escape, leaving an injured Antonio in their wake.
Not only does the audience get to see the continuation of a story line from earlier in the season, but the story line continues through the episode as it ends on a cliffhanger, ensuring those interested will come back to learn what happens next. There is also the discovery of an informant within Intelligence in this episode, as viewers see Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao), the communication specialist in the unit, giving information about Voight to Sergeant Edwin Stillwell (Ian Bohen), Voight's handler from Internal Affairs. This will surely come up again, as Voight asks Jin to keep an eye on Detective Mia Sumners (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) earlier in the episode, thinking that maybe she is the mole.
6 "At Least It's Justice" (8.0)
Episode 10
After Lonnie Rodiger (Matthew Sherbach), a murderer and pedophile, is found dead, Detective Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) is taken off duty while he is being investigated for the murder, as he had it out for Lonnie. While Jay stews over his frustration at being a suspect, the team works a case involving a murder and mutilation that is discovered at the scene of a car accident. When Antonio gives Jay the file on the Rodiger case, he finds an inconsistency in Phil (Don Forston), Lonnie's father's, story. Upon speaking to Phil, Jay discovers that he killed his own son after finding incriminating photos on his computer.
Audience members learn more about Detective Halstead in this episode, including his empathy for victims and how this desire to go the extra mile can sometimes land him in trouble. Jay's bleeding heart is a throughline for the whole series, so the establishment of that characteristic early and the juxtaposition of that disposition with the less-emotional bigger players in Intelligence, like Antonio and Voight, is interesting to see.
5 "The Docks" (8.1)
Episode 14
Tension is running high in the penultimate episode of the season as Jin is continuing to gather information on Voight for Sergeant Stillwell, Antonio is in the hospital after the altercation with Pulpo, and Pulpo and his family are still on the run. While Jin is being told his information isn't good enough and having his family threatened, Detective Sumners is transferred from Intelligence by Voight because he thinks she is feeding information to Stillwell. After tracking down Pulpo with the help of his attorney, Voight is taking matters into his own hands at the docks, until Jay shows up and convinces him that he should do the right thing and bring him in.
The dramatic irony of seeing another detective being punished for the behavior of another is an interesting wrench to throw in to Jin's character arc, especially as the audience learns that the safety of his family is on the line. This episode also lays the foundation for a consistent conflict between Jay and Voight about doing the right thing when it comes to handling criminals, especially ones who have hurt or killed members of their team. In the end, Jay convinces Voight and Olinsky to bring Pulpo in rather than killing him, but he won't always be so convincing.
4 "Conventions" (8.1)
Episode 6
In this crossover episode, detectives, Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice-T) and Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), travel to Chicago to help Intelligence solve a murder case that has a similar MO (modus operandi) to murders in New York. While Intelligence is interrogating a potential suspect named Jeffrey Baker (Brandon Dahlquist), another woman is attacked, so it must not be him. It turns out the killers are a team, and Baker was in custody while another attack took place because it was his partner who carried it out. Intelligence tracks down Baker's partner, but ends up killing him during a chase.
is a great way to attract the fan base of another show, and to show two different teams working together towards a common goal. The solving of the case is compelling as well, as the viewers' expectations are subverted when Baker is found out to still be involved, despite having a solid alibi for one of the attacks. Even more, the episode ends on a cliffhanger as Justin Voight shows up at Detective Lindsay's door with blood on his hands.
3 "Wrong Side of the Bars" (8.1)
Episode 2
Detective Antonio Dawson's son Diego has been kidnapped by Pulpo and the team is going to do anything and everything to find him. Intelligence is able to track down one of Pulpo's men to question him, but he refuses to speak without a lawyer present. That is until he is physically beaten by Antonio until he shares the name of who took Diego. When the team tracks the kidnapper down to Union Station and Detective Lindsay hops on board the bus to ensure they keep eyes on Diego, they organize a plan to stop and vacate the bus. The captor catches on to this plan and pulls a gun on Lindsay, but Intelligence is able to outmaneuver the captor and return Diego home safely.
The series of events in this episode does not disappoint viewers who tuned in after the cliffhanger of the pilot episode, surely hooking them in for the rest of the season. Keeping things personal to the detectives makes for a more emotionally compelling and high-stakes story, which is exactly what was accomplished through the kidnapping of Diego Dawson. This episode also gave Detective Lindsay a hero moment, cementing her as a major player in Intelligence for seasons to come.
2 "A Beautiful Friendship" (8.2)
Episode 15
In the season 1 finale, the story lines that have been building all season long come to a conclusion. Lindsay's old friend Charlie (Billy Wirth) wreaks havoc on Lindsay's life when he threatens to share information he has on her if she doesn't pay him off. This situation becomes worse when the murder case that Intelligence is working points to Charlie as a suspect. Even more, when Jin meets with Stillwell again to share information on Intelligence, Voight catches him and confronts him. By the end of the episode, Charlie is arrested, Jin is dead and Antonio's family has left him.
"A Beautiful Friendship" offers viewers a few satisfying conclusions, like the coupling up of Officer Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) and Kim Burgess, as well as a few cliffhanger moments, like the murder of Jin and Antonio losing his family. This episode shows the characters learning some of the information that the audience has known for a while, but still keeps the audience waiting to see how the characters will deal with the new revelations. Mixing lighter stories with heavier ones helps keep the show digestible, and gives the viewers more to root for than just the success of the team.
1 "8:30 PM" (8.3)
Episode 12
In the second half of a crossover event with Chicago Fire, Intelligence is being tasked with taking down the person who blew up a hospital. While the team starts working on the case, viewers see that Officer Burgess's young niece is a patient in the hospital and is waiting for a liver transplant. As she waits, Jin discovers that the bomb was meant to go off at 8:30pm, but something went wrong. As the team continues to work the case, they learn that the explosion was meant to target the Fire and Police Departments as a means of revenge for putting the culprit's father in prison.
This crossover episode featured a lot of appearances from favorites on Chicago Fire, such as Paramedic Leslie Shay (Lauren German) and Firefighter Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer). Additionally, the large set piece of a hospital explosion and the chaos that PD must wade through make for a very interesting episode for viewers, especially as the explosion was meant to target the police and firefighters, making it personal. With a happy ending in the apprehension of the man responsible, and the successful surgery of Burgess's niece, this episode is as uplifting as Chicago P.D. can be.
Keep Reading: 'Chicago P.D.' Is Back On the Case in Season 12 Premiere Images
