Money is indeed the root of all evil.
Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 9 ended with two adorable little babies losing their parents due to money, and Kiana’s relationship with half her family more broken than ever.
If this hour proves nothing, Kiana Cooke is the best thing to happen to Chicago PD in quite some time.
Complex kidnapping case provides helpful clues for midseason opener
When we caught up with Gwen Sigan, she teased a strong opening, and the hour delivered on it.
The intellect can never rest. Every day, members get into trouble that requires their attention.
Their teams have uncovered more cases during non-working hours than they have in the field! It was Kiana’s turn, and the accident was right in front of her.
When she finds her driver, Gregory, it’s clear something more sinister is afoot and he can barely tell her about the ransom and his endangered wife and daughter.
It was excruciating for Kiana to watch Gregory fight for his life. You know immediately that her devotion to this case will take her to new heights.
Indeed. We get one of the messiest kidnapping cases we’ve seen on the show in a while, and there’s no denying that it drags it down in many ways, along with the convoluted nature of it.
We learn that despite their humble beginnings, Gregory and his family live in a gorgeous and enviable penthouse, necessitating the payment of a hefty ransom.
But we later learn that he was deeply in debt and had no money to pay the ransom, while his wife was unaware that he and their family were cash poor and only outwardly wealthy.
Along the way, there was a sneaking suspicion that Gregory’s wife might have been involved in the ordeal in some way, but when footage of her kidnapper shooting her was shown, my suspicions arose again.
Of course, in true Chicago PD style, there’s a twist when it turns out she was having an affair with one of the kidnappers, but things take a turn.
The tragedy of it all is that two dead parents and intelligence agencies must piece together the pieces of information to find out what happened to two innocent children and rescue them in time.
Chicago PD is shaping character dynamics in refreshing ways
Aside from the utter devastation I felt for the poor kids who lost their parents to greed and stupidity, the case itself wasn’t as gripping as watching the unit work together and learning more about Kiana’s backstory.
The pairings throughout this hour are all top notch and it just proves that they’ve struck gold and are on top form with the current cast.
That’s not to say that the previous characters weren’t great in their own right, but Chicago PD Season 12 has gone to great lengths to better integrate all of its characters and take advantage of the unit’s natural chemistry.
We got so much momentum, there wasn’t a single one that didn’t work. It’s also refreshing to have everyone mix, match, and collaborate rather than having separate factions and frustratingly fragmented units.
As a girl full of energy, we have so many little moments and interactions that excite me. Kiana and Walt are great because we don’t get to spend much time with them, and it’s nice to see Walt exuding some lingering paternalism.
He immediately realized that seeing Gregory injured like this had an effect on Kiana, and helped her wipe the blood off her hands. But he also lets her lead, defers to her judgment, and trusts her.
The series could easily explore more pairings. This will be completely different than Voight’s other interactions over the years, which is great.
We also got some great Brzek moments and classic sea water goodness which is always a treat.
Kiana is naturally smart, and her compelling dynamic proves it
But since this was a match centered around Kiana, her pairings were the most compelling and effective, with the two strongest pairings for her at the time being Ruzek and Burgess.
Let the record state that I will always be a fan of KiKi because there is such a shocking lack of strong female interactions in this series.
Kiana and Kim have great chemistry. The couple respects each other.
There are many things that come with Kim’s promotion, one of which is her taking on the role of mentor, which is shown very well in her interactions with Kiana and Dante.
Their moment in the car is great as Kim takes some time to check in with Kiana and make sure she’s in the right frame of mind for such an emotionally taxing case.
Then they spent the rest of their time together. Their balance works really well as we get a satisfying emotional interplay, vulnerability and openness between the two, but we also get great moments too!
But if there was any interaction that was the best that night, it was RuzKi. Kiana fit into the group effortlessly and interacted well with almost everyone. However, her interactions with Ruzek will always be the most special because of their shared experience on Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 2.
Through this dynamic, we learn a lot about Kiana.
Additionally, we also see a softer, more seasoned side to Ruzek. He’s now a “girl dad” and it shows in the way he works and communicates, which is adorable.
He was genuinely interested in Kiana and making sure she was okay. He always had her back, especially out in the field. He was like her “big brother” when she was feeling down.
It’s hilarious how much he peeks into her life without going too far. But it’s especially sweet when he tells her how great her job is and that he understands the importance of giving sincere praise.
She had the absolute cutest smile as she walked away.
Cook and Torres parallel each other in subtle ways
We still need more interaction between Kiana and Kevin. But the unspoken tension between her and Torres is also interesting.
It felt awkward when they were briefly alone in a room. Apparently they haven’t cleared up the misunderstanding. I’m excited to see how things unfold.
Interestingly, as we meet Kiana’s family and learn about her background together, there’s a connection between them.
Incidentally, the series does a much better job of engaging with culture and identity authentically and effortlessly. Atwater has long been the only person of color in the series, and they don’t always know how to navigate that well without being redundant or overdone.
With Torres, we’ve seen how they show him as Latino without labeling him, and little things like using Spanish (especially without subtitles) or spending time on his faith prove this a little.
For Kiana, there’s her appearance, and more specifically, her hair. The stylist did an amazing job with her braids, and nowhere are they more noticeable than in the episode where Kiana has to come face to face with her mother.
For the black community, especially black women, hair is a culturally unique thing. There’s so much discourse, complexity, layers and nuance to the conversation around it.
Interestingly, Kiana’s braids are as iconic as Torres’ white T-shirt/jeans combo. For them, it’s a conscious choice – to boldly state who they are in their field and stay connected to who they are.
A glimpse into Kiana’s family background is illuminating
Kiana’s father is very cute, and it’s obvious that she is truly a daddy’s girl. Their interactions are adorable, and he’s a humble, hard-working shop owner who genuinely loves her and is proud of her.
But then we meet her mother. It was such a jarring turn that even Ruzek hilariously noted it.
Kiana reluctantly takes poor (literally) Ruzek to this fancy house to meet her mother, which is hilarious. I can already picture the pillow talk Brzek had later when he recounted the experience to King.
After that troubling relationship with Reed (who looks more like a younger, darker Voight) and how he got his money, Kiana gets out of trouble by enlisting the help of her mother.
She hadn’t seen that woman in three years, and her mother exuded “rich bitch” energy from the moment she stepped across the threshold.
Her comment about Kiana’s hair was particularly telling and made me cringe. Hair is associated with things like class, certain cultural levels, and femininity, and a small moment like this says a lot about Kiana’s mother, the nature of their relationship, and what she wants from Kiana.
Her mother came from money, and she was born after a one-night stand with Kiana’s father. No one approves of her mother’s choice of men or the birth of a child like Kiana, and Kiana doesn’t seem to want to conform to their upper-class lifestyle.
Making a deal with her mother was like making a deal with the devil, and you can see how painful it was for Kiana to consider going back to a party and crossing paths with her grandfather, who was running for city council.
For Kiana, the ending was a revealing moment. On this occasion, she wore a fancy dress and looked beautiful. But she still wore her signature braids and stood her ground. It’s an act of defiance and rebellion, and I love that about her.
Of course, what I prefer is that she doesn’t bother to go in. But one has to wonder if there will be consequences or if we will reconsider this later!
Of course we have more pressing matters to deal with, like what the heck Reed is up to and how shady he really is!
Over to you, Chicago PD fanatics.
Has Kiana won your heart? What do you think of her background? Will she and Torres make up? How do you feel about Reed?
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