Don’t you hate it when you’re trying to walk through life as a reformed, evolved person, but then someone decides they have to test your gangsta?
Hank freaking Voight is about to be a problem, and Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 21 served as one hell of a penultimate hour against Intelligence’s most formidable foe in years.
You could see the exact moment Dark Voight clocked in after Reid stripped Burgess of her badge, jailed Torres, and disbanded Intelligence until further notice.
Shawn Hatosy’s Reid is Chicago PD’s Greatest Villain Yet
Reid has worked incredibly well as this season’s big bad, precisely because we haven’t spent much time with him, but we still felt his threat looming over the season.
Part of it is that Shawn Hatosy is out here being the hardest working man on television, staying booked and busy bouncing from one project to the next and slaying all of them like the badass thespian he is.
Yes, I will forever be a Shawn Hatosy fangirl. While The Pitt’s Jack Abbot has become one of my biggest comfort characters of the season, admittedly, there’s nothing more enjoyable than Hatosy playing a bad guy.
It’s the gravel in his voice — the cadence that can be intimidating and threatening, along with that head tilt, posturing, and thousand-yard stare. He’s just so damn good at being bad, you know?
And Reid is downright diabolical. If we didn’t figure that out with how calculated and conniving he’s been all season, all under the guise of being Intelligence’s “friend,” then how Otero, a freaking drug dealer, discussed him spoke volumes.
Calculated and Unhinged, Reid is Formidable Beyond Words
There were so many little ways in which he pointed out to Voight that something is not quite right with Reid. He implied that Reid is not all there, and reading between the lines would suggest that he’s a sadistic psychopath.
We don’t even know all the things Reid has been doing in the mean streets of Chicago, but he instills genuine fear in everyone around him, has an unknown number of people doing his dirty work, and likely has so much blood on his hands he’d give Carrie a run for her money.
Reid is a sick, disturbing man, and Chicago PD Season 12 has done well at building to that without necessarily beating us over the head with it. This paid off as this hour progressed.
By the second half of “Open Casket,” the viewer doesn’t realize just how bad things were with this man until it’s too late.
Chicago PD has had many gruesome and heartbreaking deaths. We didn’t spend much time with Otero or know him too well, but it was still such a tragedy when Voight stumbled upon that disturbed earth and blood.
Otero is a Shockingly Sympathetic Guy
Everyone working to dig him up left a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach, and seeing his body like that was genuinely upsetting. Voight taking it in felt eerily reminiscent of when he found Noah.
What’s subtly interwoven throughout this hour is the number of people Voight has lost. His entire existence is shrouded in grief, tragedy, and loss. And there’s this idea that maybe if he got better and became a better person and cop, that loss would elude him, and he wouldn’t face tragedies.
Deep down, Voight likely felt as if he had evolved as a person and shed his old ways that he’d spare the people who remained from facing similar fates and pain, but at various little points throughout this hour, what hits is that his evolution doesn’t matter. He loses things anyway, and that can’t stand.
But I’m jumping ahead of myself here.
Otero’s death was tragic because, despite his occupation, what we saw was a man who lost his wife and loved his son so much he wanted to keep him from walking down a similar path.
It’s the only way Voight — in another moment that foreshadowed that the old version of him was fighting its way to the surface — could leverage him.
Otero would do anything to save Renny, and sadly, he succeeded, but at a tragic cost.
It’s a death that will impact Voight only because he likely could relate to Otero and promised to keep Renny safe. Ultimately, this is just one last thing to push Hank to the edge.
Voight Tried to Play It Straight
The hour worked so well because Voight has been playing this as right as possible. He’s been following the rules for months, trying to gather the evidence, figure things out with Chapman, and protect his team in the process.
They’ve investigated Reid so hard that their close numbers declined, which is likely one of the many things a hypervigilant Reid took note of in the first place.
Voight, Chapman, and the team hit every single wall they could, and I love that Chicago PD builds to this so that when we see Voight in the closing moments of the hour, we know that he genuinely tried all avenues before Reid and circumstances pushed him to this point.
It’s such a genuinely quiet arc and evolution that Voight has had over the past couple of seasons. Yet somehow, the series sticks the landing with it even when, to the naked eye, it’s felt as if they sidelined Voight for a bit.
But we can pinpoint how we got here and to this crucial moment in Voight’s development, when we see the merging of the old with the new. It’s so exciting that I’m frothing at the mouth for this finale!
He’s not the only one who has had these great character moments, either. There’s been a growing sense of wariness and fraught tension surrounding Torres for quite some time.
Torres’ Fate is Heartbreaking, But Built Up Well
It’s been hard to shake the disquieting foreboding feeling that has hung over him since Gloria’s death. Every time he’s appeared onscreen, rougher, more sullen, visibly suffering in some regard, my stomach has twisted in knots, not knowing where Chicago PD intended to take him.
We’ve seen the little moments with Burgess related to the job that have implied Reid has an unusual fixation on her that’s hard to place.
These little things have simmered throughout the season and come together in this penultimate episode well.
Intelligence did the best they could, but it’s not shocking that Reid was onto him and even pulled the wool over their eyes in the end.
But he didn’t just do that; he yanked the rug from beneath their feet, knee-capped them all, and knew how to make it hurt. He’s a masterful villain.
Reid Delivers Ultimate Killshot to Intelligence and Voight
The final bullpen moment shakes viewers up as much as it does Intelligence, especially Voight. It was like one calculated blow after the next.
Torres is this endearing, young, flawed, but special person on this unit whom everyone genuinely cares for, and Reid and his goons’ arresting him after they’ve tried so hard to protect him was genuinely upsetting.
Worse yet, he’s been struggling for so long and is so conflicted that he’s the sort who would welcome the punishment — the masochist perfect for a sadistic Reid to direct his attention. Consequently, he kicked the puppy with that move.
Stripping Burgess of her badge would rattle Intelligence further, as she’s been the grounding force that really brought the team together this season. She’s also so deeply connected to everyone there; in many ways, she is the team’s heart.
Finally, disbanding Intelligence was the headshot for Voight because it’s literally all he has left. It’s his purpose, calling, his entire life.
With Nothing Left to Lose, Dark Voight Emerges
And earlier moments in the hour solidified that notion as Chapman mused about Voight clinging to the past — his mantle like a shrine to everyone he loved and lost but still holds dear — his happiness frozen in time with them.
Intelligence is his life’s blood. He’s given everything to it and lost everything to it, too.
Chapman has been prodding a bit into who Voight is, and she’s gotten great insight into a vulnerability reserved for few. She is also aware of his darkness, but more prone to seeing him as the evolved person that he has been.
He previously admitted to her during Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 18 that he doesn’t know where the line is. That’s why it’s so easy for Voight to cross it and go too far into the dark side.
The implication of Chapman’s promise to him and her overall presence is that she would be that line for him — she’d be there by his side to make sure he doesn’t cross, pull him back when he gets too far.
Chapman Can’t Help Voight Stay the Line
Ironically, not only is she this way, but Kiana is as well. While the characters skipping out on episodes can be frustrating, I can appreciate the moments when they make it work well with the writing.
She’s another person who challenges Voight, and his not being there through all of this is another thing that doesn’t safeguard him from diving into the deepest, darkest version of himself.
Chapman knows enough to understand that Reid’s latest chess move will ruin Voight, and she showed up just as we knew she would.
But Voight’s not responding to her was thrilling. Voight staring into the mirror, facing himself and who he is at his core, was such a fantastic final moment.
Voight meeting his old self in the mirror, making peace with it, and allowing that version of him to overtake is such a satisfying development, particularly for those who often wonder if this old dog really did learn new tricks and forgot all else.
He hasn’t, and he had no interest in opening the door to one of the few people who could convince him to stand down and keep the darkness at bay.
Chicago PD May Have Let Voight Off the Leash (And I’m Hype!)
Reid just took everything from Voight and hurt the only family he has left in the process. He’s not interested in redemption right now — he wants vengeance.
Voight is ready to suit up as an avenging angel, Reid’s executioner. And it’s something we can universally agree upon this time.
He tried everything else, and now it’s time to let the monster off his leash.
In this case, it takes a monster to beat one, and the season finale should be epic.
Bits and Bobs:
- The director and DOP were fantastic during this hour, but one of the best moments was Torres at the funeral. The lighting, the religious imagery, and the foreshadowing were top-tier.
- Poor Kiana takes a day or two off, and her work husband is imprisoned. Her sister lost her badge. Her bros are ready to rage over all of this, and they disbanded Intelligence. Goodness!
- Trudy makes her few seconds of screentime count every single time!
- I loved the Burgwater scenes so much. I’m so glad they’ve been able to show us their partnership more this season.
- Ruzek and Atwater had way too much fun with that rip!
- Chapman spending the night at Voight’s house. Yes, I’m still pushing the Voight/Chapman agenda.
- I have never been so hype about the return of Dark Voight ever!
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