Reviewer Rating: 4/5.0
4
The intelligence team is in trouble!
Seriously, in the closing moments of Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 8, I really needed to know what Chief Reed’s deal was and what his newfound “friendship” with Voight was!
But first, we need to pour a glass of wine for Gloria Perez. What are the ground rules of the Chicago Police Department? Oh, and by the way – CI always dies!
Something tells me this hour wasn’t intended to be as funny as it could have been, but there were plenty of moments that elicited laughs and somehow managed to be a humorous moment despite the high level of drama and action .
When you have someone like Torres sitting in Voight’s office like he’s reporting to the principal, or hearing an annoyed Voight tell poor Dante that he’s not his father and then rant like he’s , it’s hard not to laugh.
Or just have fun live-tweeting with Chicago PD fanatics as we live out this adrenaline-fueled moment together.
However, this was a challenging time for Torres, who felt overwhelming guilt about so many things that at times it was almost impossible to concentrate on the case.
Humor and sarcasm aside, I felt for him, especially since he often turned to God and prayed during some of his toughest moments, while often blaming himself for everything that had happened.
Torres carries a lot of guilt.
A tense moment in the opener when he and Burgess frantically search for Kiana is the starting point for Torres’s descent into layered emotions of guilt and anxiety.
It tore him inside that Kiana could be hurt because of him. After pinging her phone and finding it to be stationary, the pair feared the worst.
But thankfully Kiana was fine, pissed off but okay.
Kiana is in such a mood, she’s really cute and a great addition to the series. When she lets Torres know how she feels about him, she doesn’t hesitate, withholding important information from him.
By the end, you can tell that it’s not so much that he slept with Gloria, but that he didn’t forewarn her before he put her in the deep end, and as a result, her life hangs in the balance.
It’s refreshing to see her angry at a breach of trust and unwilling to brush off the fact that she has reason to be upset. The ripple effect spread throughout the team.
It’s easy for Kiana to understand her position as someone directly affected, especially considering the special bond she and Torres formed on Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 5.
However, some of the other unit members’ reactions are more interesting, as we’re now retelling a storyline involving a unit member sleeping with a CI for the third or fourth time.
Oh my gosh, this is actually a rite of passage.
Ruzek, in particular, put his protective streak into full play as he was furious that Burgess had been involved in a situation that could have cost her her job. After all, she had just become a detective.
I like Ruzek a lot, but Ruzek is horrible. First of all, Burgess makes her own decisions and you can never ask her to make other decisions, so it’s unfair to blame Torres for covering him for King.
King is willing and ready for all of that, and Ruzek, God bless his heart, has had his fair share of dangerous moments and missteps over the past decade. Spouse-protection stuff aside, my guy Ruzek is rich for trying to maintain any sense of moral superiority in a situation like this.
Sleeping with a confidential informant was one thing he didn’t do.
Atwater’s anger feels more subdued, and we miss a moment between him and Torres that could have led to him expressing some disappointment, especially since he’s been Torres’ main mentor since Halstead’s departure.
Voight talks about how Torres screwed them up and jeopardized all their jobs in a knee-slapping, belly-laughing way because it makes Hank Voight weird. Among the long list of things he had to cover up for his troops, this was child’s play.
When we become desensitized to how much each group member has done and can get away with, intimidating an already guilt-ridden Torres is an option.
The atmosphere was very tense and gave the impression of a puppy peeing on the carpet. However, Voight was always more focused on getting things done and ultimately solving the problem.
He keeps stressing that he doesn’t have the time or need to make Torres feel guilty about the situation; he needs him to go to work so they can find a way to take down the entire drug operation.
It’s a great moment that shows how important Torres’ faith is to him, that it’s part of his life and actions, not just an occasional ritual he participates in on and off screen.
All those little moments that Torres prays about, whether it’s on the field when things get tough or in the locker room when he’s trying to get his footing, Torres’ faith is so important to who he is.
This is refreshing because there are few consistent depictions of religious figures on television, whether Christian or otherwise.
But Torres and Gloria’s relationship is toxic and not always pleasant to watch, and this one, it’s enough to drive you crazy.
It’s really annoying that Torres still rushed to her house to confront her after everything went down like this. It was this kind of non-compliance that got him into trouble in the first place.
Torres also spends a lot of time trying to save Gloria’s life as her rivals hunt her while convincing her that she should cooperate with the police so she can get the best deal.
Ridiculously, Torres had to beg for a chance to save her and give her some kind of lifeline. It’s hard to understand where Gloria comes from, because even if she can’t wholeheartedly trust Torres or whatever, it’s better than dying at the hands of an enemy.
There’s certainly a special kind of absurdity about the two having a full-on lovers’ quarrel amid a hail of gunfire, but some of you might be happy to know that the action, full-scale appearances, performances, etc. are all a lot more interesting than Chicago at least It is PD Season 12 Episode 7.
Plus, we get official confirmation that Gloria won’t be coming back and won’t be a problem anymore, as she died protecting Torres. Through all the bickering, back and forth, trust games, etc., by the end, Gloria truly loved Torres and sacrificed herself for him.
Her last words were meant to remind him that they were actually the same, a stark contrast to what she had said earlier when she was trying to push him away.
The truth is, Gloria was right, she repeatedly told Torres who she was and what she would do, but he was so obsessed with the “broken” part of her that he felt in need of saving that he ignored everything else .
He’s the only one who’s delusional when it comes to Gloria, which is probably why it’s so frustrating to see him get so involved and endanger everything for her.
Gloria’s death isn’t as devastating as losing Anna because, unfortunately, she turned into such a hateful character that death seemed like the only way to stay connected to her.
But it’s still shocking to see Torres’ reaction to this, him crying while holding her and begging her to live, even though it’s obvious that a GSW with no exit wound (a bullet could have ricocheted off her body) would prove This is fatal.
Torres begging God and apologizing as if God would change his mind and take her back is a tough scene and one of many that Benjamin Levy Aguilar absolutely kills.
It’s a long hour for him, probably his heaviest episode yet, and he has the ability to really get through the hour. But the final moments with Gloria are especially difficult to watch because of how bad you feel for Torres.
Even Ruzek couldn’t help but reach out to show solidarity, which was a nice gesture considering how angry he’d been before and how recently he’d lost someone.
Gloria didn’t have much choice. It became clear to her that the deal was a set-up and that it was likely she would end up in jail or dead.
Hector has thrown her under the bus and Campos is ready to take her out. Dying for Torres feels like a last ditch effort for a complex character.
After Torres’ accident, the team had to solve the entire case as quickly as possible. It may seem like they’re covering things up, but somehow Reed always appears around them at the most inopportune times, preparing us for the final moments.
Somehow, Reed knew everything that was going on – Torres’ relationship with a CI, Burgess covering for him, all of it. But curious minds want to know how he got this information.
It was one thing for him to learn that Torres was sleeping with his CI, but how did he know that Burgess was covering for him, or that the entire unit knew about it and was actively covering it up?
We’ve been trying to figure out Reed’s trade, why he’s been hanging around and what his purpose is. The Chicago Police Department has never had a dictator who had no agenda or caused trouble.
Reed had no interest in handing them over. He wants to use this information to become Voight’s “friend”. but why? what does that mean?
Is this one of those things where Voight’s reputation is leading and Reid wants Voight to be ready for the dirty work? Does he want Voight to be some kind of snitch?
What does Reed hope to gain by taking control of Voight? It’s even more nerve-wracking when you can’t determine what others want from you.
We haven’t learned any further about this man’s motivations and what he wants, and it’s certainly a cliffhanger.
Over to you, Chicago PD fanatics.
What do you think Reed will bring to Voight?
Do you think the team was too harsh on Torres?
Were you saddened by Gloria’s death? Turn off the sound below!
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