Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 21 Review: House of Cards

It’s a house of cards, alright, and everything is falling apart.

They hit the ground running with the Escano case and a high-octane hour with Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 21, which ended on an explosive cliffhanger and set things up for an exciting season finale.

As we head into the season finale, there’s reason to be concerned about Anna, Hailey, and maybe even Voight.

They dove right back into the Escano case, full-speed ahead, as we got more updates on how things have gone for Anna while we’ve been preoccupied with other matters and personal dramas.

Anna has been undercover with Escano for months, wearing her down. Every time they showed her, she was this paranoid mess, and you could see how on edge she was.

Voight wasn’t wrong when he stated that she’s been unraveling; you could see it in every facial expression and how she carried herself.

Carmela Zumbado has been wonderful in portraying Anna and making her this endearing woman for which you cannot help but develop a soft spot.

Taking down Escano has been long and arduous, and we got how time-consuming and painstaking the whole thing has been for Anna and the unit.

The multiple stakeouts and lack of sleep reminded us that they’ve been at this for a bit, but they were on the cusp of making some headway with everything.

They were so close to taking him down for good this time, but everything changed the second Hailey and Halstead had to haul Mateo into the precinct after that sexual assault.

It was no way that Voight or any of them could let that slide or pass that case off to someone else. The Halsteads went from banter and fun in the car as they staked out these lower-tiered members of Los Temidos to charging through and saving poor Isabel.

Hailey’s softness and compassion for the victim was a small moment but a notable one. Even if their case fell apart at that time, it would’ve been worth it to save that young girl who had been roofied and used.

Escano initiated women via rape, but he also used that as a tool to trap young men into working for him. Mateo video recorded the whole thing, and it’s the type of dirt Escano holds over people’s heads to get what he desires and control them.

You’re going to put that man in jail, and you’re going to get ten percent of what we seize. You and Rafa are going to have a good life.

Voight

Everything that went wrong about the case could probably trace back to when Voight decided not to tell Anna the truth about what Escano ordered for that girl. The rest of the unit didn’t agree with his decision, you could see it all over their faces, but Voight ran with the call anyway.

While Anna was fraying at the ends, she’s also proven that she operates best when she’s properly motivated. If anything, learning that Escano was likely the person behind her rape would’ve given her more push to take him down when she was hanging on by a thread.

Anna deserved to know the truth, and Voight made the wrong call handling her like that. The likelihood that she’d find out the truth was too high, and it’s what happened.

And Anna isn’t someone who trusts easily, so the betrayal she felt when she learned that Voight deceived her, presumably for his gain, was enough to set her off completely.

The thing is, you could sense that Voight has gotten too attached to Anna. He genuinely seems to care about her and wants what’s best for her.

Voight making that call was probably a result of him being too protective of her. Voight hadn’t been close to anyone in a long time, and it felt loaded when he reminded her that he had let her into his life.

In a way, Anna has filled a void that’s been there since he lost Erin, his son, and Olinsky. But he held her too tightly, straddling the fence on handling her as a C.I. and as some extension of him, and it backfired royally.

Anna was already on edge, but now she’s hurt that Voight betrayed her and feels alone, and between Escano physically searching her against her will and this new information about the assault of another girl and his part in hers, she’s been triggered.

Anna is a wild card and loose cannon right now, with everyone at a loss. Anna could, pardon the pun, blow up everything.

It’s bad enough that Escano went off script, and now they don’t know what’s happening and if they’ll get out of this without Escano slipping through their fingertips.

In hindsight, it seems like an increasingly paranoid Escano figured out that Anna was working with the cops despite her great attempts at showing that she’s on his side and trustworthy.

She let it slip that she knew about Mateo; even though she gave him the tracker under his car, it was an obvious test, and he caught her in the stash house lingering.

Anna, I let you in my life. I gave you everything I have, which is this, the job. Look, I gave you everything I can.

Voight

The way that he reminded her that he was the one who gave her everything had a menacing tone to it. And it’s not hard to piece together that Anna was present when Voight and the team investigated the murder outside the bakery.

Escano’s abrupt meeting with Voight was interesting, and it seemed like he was putting out feelers and trying to gauge what kind of cop Voight was and how far things would go.

It’s incredibly bold to leave a cop bribe money, even if you suspect they’re dirty. The risk seems too high, but everything Escano does feel like a test to figure things out.

Escano roping Anna into this plan out of the blue without giving her many details was concerning right out of the gate.

Leading up to this drug trafficking job, Escano was too much of a paranoid wild card. All of this was probably one last test, and for now, Escano has the final word.

Anna pursuing Escano is not headed anywhere good, and she didn’t stand down when Voight told her to, which is not a good sign.

It all feels like a setup to take out some police, specifically Voight’s unit and also Anna. One of Escano’s men shooting up that hotel room felt like a deliberate ruse to get their attention and harm the cops who responded.

Fortunately, though, Ruzek didn’t get hurt or shot, and he managed to take out the shooter.

Hailey and Halstead didn’t get off so easily. They were on the truck. Escano’s man must’ve activated it the second he ran off. There was that massive explosion that sent Hailey and Halstead careening feet away in no time at all.

The special effects of that explosion were fantastic. It was definitely a high-stakes situation, and it got your undivided attention.

Hailey took the brunt of it, and she appeared to be unconscious when Halstead frantically called out to her.

But the thing about this series and Hailey is that there’s no fear that she won’t survive. The way things tend to go, she’ll probably walk away with barely a scratch on her and minor injuries.

She appears to be the series or network or whoever’s prized character. They love doing the absolute most with her. Putting her in jeopardy plays into that more and generates buzz. Obviously, that’s the desired effect, right?

It’s more concerning that Anna is unraveling and already feels like she was on borrowed time. And with her spiraling and anger at Voight, there’s some minor concern that he won’t’ get out of this unscathed.

Regardless, the season finale will be a hell of a ride.

Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics.

What are your theories on Escano and his plans? Do you think Anna is a loose cannon who will destroy the case? Will Hailey be alright? Sound off below!

You can watch Chicago PD online here via TV Fanatic.

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