Skip to main content

PILOT REVIEW: Chicago PD

CHICAGO PD










Starring: Jason Beghe, Jon Seda, Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, Patrick John Flueger, Marina Squerciati, LaRoyce Hawkins, Archie Kao, and Elias Koteas

Created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead
Written by Matt Olmstead, Directed by Michael Slovis

Chicago PD is a new spinoff of NBC's Chicago Fire featuring many characters we first met on the parent series. It is centered on an intelligence unit within the Chicago PD and headed up by Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) who had a run-in with a character on Fire. Also in the unit are two detectives with ties to Fire: Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) and Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer). They are joined by Detective Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush), Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas), and new recruit from the academy Adam Ruzak (Patrick John Flueger). Rounding out the main cast are police officers Kevin Atwater and Kim Burgess (LaRoyce Hawkins and Marina Squerciati) and liason/tech guy Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao).

THE GOOD: This is the way to make a spinoff. I watch Chicago Fire every week so I already felt connected to some of the characters in Chicago PD. It was a very unique feeling to watch a brand new show with multiple characters I already knew. Usually spinoffs have one familiar character but this already had three, not to mention the cameos from a couple cast members from Fire. This show felt a whole lot like Chicago Fire and that's a good thing because that show has really grown into a strong drama. This seems like it will also be a nice blend between character drama and procedural. Beghe is great as Voight as I never know quite what to think about him: whether to like him or hate him, and that makes for an interesting character to watch. The new characters that we haven't met in Fire are good too and there's good chemistry between Sophia Bush and Jesse Lee Soffer. A thrilling ending with several plot twists made up big time for what seemed like a ho-hum case of the week.

THE BAD: I don't have many bad things to say about this show as it lived up to my high hopes. I was going to say that the case of the week was pretty mundane but it picked up big time in the last ten minutes and showed that Chicago PD will be constructed much like Chicago Fire with on-going storylines amidst small cases. I didn't really feel much of a connection to the two police officers (Squerciati and Hawkins). In fact, there may be a few too many characters on this show and they seemed pretty expendable so far, but maybe that will change.

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago PD is a nice addition to the universe created in Chicago Fire. It is a little more violent and a little more gritty, but it seems like the things I love about Fire will be very prevalent on PD. This is a great new tough cop show and the once popular genre has had a tough time lately outside of the more gentle Blue Bloods. We have tons of crime dramas but very few cop dramas and this is a good one.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of  Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While  Rhoda  has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way.  Rhoda  could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin  (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle  (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

EPISODE GUIDES: That 70s Show Season Seven

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Seven of  That 70s Show ! THAT 70s SHOW: SEASON SEVEN 2004-2005 25 episodes The seventh season of  That 70s Show  is the final season with Topher Grace as a series regular and also the final full season for Ashton Kutcher. Despite still having both of those cast member, the show finds itself flailing especially with Topher Grace's Eric, who is stuck in a terrible arc for most of the season. The show also brings many characters back at one point or another but everything just feels tired. This season actually graded out the worst for me. Even worse than the often maligned final season (more on that next week). Every title this season is named for a Rolling Stones song. Starring Topher Grace as Eric Forman  (25 episodes) Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart  (25 episodes) Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso  (25 episodes) Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde  (25 e...
Post a Comment
Read more

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...
Post a Comment
Read more