Chicago P.D. 2×06 Review – “Prison Ball”

Undercover Missions and Unspoken Happenings. Members of the team go inside to get answers, Lindsay takes a meeting, and Roman opens up about past grudges.

This week on Chicago PD, after a 10 year old would be witness is murdered, Ruzek, Atwater and Dawson go inside to gain access to the mastermind of the crime. While the rest of the Intelligence Unit works to track down leads in the shooting case, Roman and Burgess work with some would be Police Explorers with a penchant for stealing cars and causing chaos. Erin tried to find some time alone with Halstead to discuss her opportunity to work with a state task force. As always, in the end the team got their guy and there were some pretty OMG moments along the way! Let’s jump in and talk about the best moments of “Prison Ball.”

Peeling back the layers of our CPD characters

We have recently said that we would love to see more of Atwater (Laroyce Hawkins) and this week we got our wish! This week’s case hit home for Atwater, as the victim and upcoming witness was a ten year old girl from his neighborhood. Having a younger sister (which, btw the scenes with his little sister were adorbs!) and being from the same neighborhood really fueled the passion behind finding the suspect for Atwater. When he went to Voight (Jason Beghe) and practically begged to be put on this inside for this case, you could see the intensity in the eyes of this protective older brother. This week was hands down, the best acting we have seen from Laroyce Hawkins. We are sure he always brings it to his characters scenes for the week, but the amount of material he was given in this week’s episode really gave him the opportunity to showcase those acting chops. Writers Eduardo Canto and Ryan Maldonado should expect a thank you fruit basket on their desks. Just DM us your address guys! Laroyce Hawkins as Atwater is perfection, as he brings the passion to the character’s pain and anger. We hope this is only the beginning to seeing what makes Atwater tick.

“See the look in my eyes? Ain’t this what you brought me upstairs for? Let me do this.” ~Atwater

We haven’t been seeing enough of (or any of) “Burzek” lately, but it is nice to see more of Kim (Marina Squerciati) outside of assignment with Roman. This week reminded us of the partnership that Burgess and Atwater shared last season before he was moved up to the I.U. It was nice to see Kim spending time with Atwater and his sister Vinessa (Zoe Ishmael) and it seems like many of Burgess’ storylines revolve around kids. First we had Monica, and that proved to be both heart warming and hilarious, and now this weeks’ sweet moments with Vinessa. Again reminding us of the bond and trust that is obviously there between Burgess and Atwater, he leaves Burgess with Vinessa when he has to run out to a crime scene. We love to see the team having each other’s backs always, not just on the job but in the home as well. It’s always great to learn more about our characters and this week it felt like we were finally getting to see more layers of each of them.

Is the era of Erin coming to an end… or just beginning?

Erin (Sophia Bush) is still debating the offer she was given by ASA Steve Cot (Chris Agos) to join a special task force. We thought it was odd she wouldn’t go to Voight for guidance on this one but we squealed with delight when she went to Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) for advice instead. It certainly appears that Erin doesn’t want to yell this opportunity from the rooftops just yet. We wonder if it’s Hank’s distrust of many political and authority figures within the Justice system that is making Erin so hesitant? On one hand, we love our girl Erin and would be happy to see her spread her wings, but on the other hand, if that means less screen time of the incredible Sophia Bush then we say “Please don’t go girl!”

“Last night I knelt over the body of a ten year old girl with two bullet holes in her head. If you’re telling me this task force could help me get ahead of cases like that, instead of cleaning up after them…” ~Erin

As long time Sophia fans we already know what a great actor Bush is. This show has given her the forum to really shine and show her depth as an actress. She is so believably heartbroken and struggling to control emotion with a victim’s mother in the waiting area of the precinct, and then completely bad ass when storming an apartment in a lead. While Erin Lindsay is a well written character, we have to wonder if we would love her as much as we do if she were played by any other actor than Sophia Bush. The chemistry she has with Jesse Lee Soffer jumps off the screen, even if the scene isn’t a romantic one at all. We, along with all of Twitter, were delighted to see a secretive, whisper-y Linstead moment this week, while Erin attempted to get Halstead’s advice of the task force offer. While they didn’t get the chance to really dig into the matter, it was clear Halstead couldn’t understand why anyone would want to leave the I.U. While the possibility of Erin leaving the I.U. makes us nervous, we wouldn’t mind seeing Halstead fight for her to stay. However, if Erin left the team, her and Halstead wouldn’t be co-workers anymore. Could that lead to a Linstead hookup?

There is much more to Roman than first impressions.

We haven’t exactly been on Team Roman (Brian Geraghty) since he joined the unit this season. He’s got an attitude and he’s just not as lovable at first glance as our other characters were. Since he’s been working with Burgess, we’ve seen him interact quite a bit with kids and he’s not as warm as Kim is, that’s for sure. He’s got that shady security business on the side and he doesn’t exactly have a filter when it comes to what falls out of his mouth. You can imagine out surprise this week when we got to dig in to the character of Sean Roman and see that there is more to him than initially meets the eye.

“When he was bleeding out and you were the closest one, you could’ve helped him.” ~Roman to Olinksy

Remember a few episodes ago when Roman gave Olinksy (Elias Koteas) the cold shoulder and his signature attitude? Well turns out, in pursuit of a double homicide last year Roman’s partner was shot and while there were many cops on the scene at the time, Roman remembers Olinksy being there and subsequently leaving to chase down the shooter. Roman explains that his partner was laying there bleeding out, and all Olinksy did was run. Olinsky sticks to his guns and says he would handle the call the same way as he did a year ago because they caught the son of a bitch shooter and challenges Roman to bring his ex partner up here so Olinksy can tell him himself. Here’s where we saw some more depth to Roman, and Geraghty really shined in this scene. When Roman explains that his ex partner is now in a wheelchair and living on disability so he can’t come down and see Olinksy in person, we all started feeling bad for giving Roman such a hard time. While we’re sure there was nothing wrong with how Olinksy handled the situation (and Voight also assured his old buddy that it was a good bust), it was made clear that there is much more to Roman that meets the eye. We never though his attitude and normally harsh demeanor actually had a back story. We are interested to hear more of Roman’s previous experiences on the force and to perhaps explain why he is the way he is with both colleagues and the general public. Roman’s black heart did warm up a tad this week when he decided not to bust the juveniles posing as Police Explorers as the stole the Commander’s car. He also made an impact on at least one of the kids, since the kid expressed interest in the Explorer’s program and Roman even credited the program with his own dreams to join the force. Could this be the start of thawing out of Sean Roman’s cold personality?

CONCLUSION/FINAL VERDICT

We were overjoyed and satisfied customers with this week’s episode of Chicago PD. We got to see more of the actors and their talents, and the storylines are taking us into some new territory for the characters. The cases are always fresh on this show and we appreciate that, as most cop shows start to get stale with the cases featured each week. This show keeps it exciting and emotional, from high intensity and heart pounding drama; to heartbreaking moments and feel-good family dynamics. Derek Haas and his team continue to deliver success with this Wednesday night drama. It doesn’t hurt that many of the cast and crew live tweet the show and keep all of us engaged and excited about what we consider to be the best cop drama on TV right now! Join us and then for our live tweet of Chicago PD @TVAfterDark!

QUESTION COMMENTS AND CONCERNS

• When Halstead threw that hooker up against the wall.. well let’s just say we wouldn’t mind having him throw us around.
• Speaking of that scene, we loved the dude in the leopard silk boxers! LOL!
• The intensity of chasing a lead on this show seriously puts us on the edge of our seats! Kicking down doors, throwin dudes to the ground, this show is BAD ASS!
• Someone needs to start a tumblr for the jackets and coats on this show! Costume supervisor Jennifer Miller, please release some look-a-like shopping lists! (Sorry, we are a sucker for a good coat!)
• When the victim Maya’s mother was in the precinct when the possible suspect (the first guy, a kid bound for the NBA) was brought in, WOW that was heartbreaking. Platt as usual, does a great job of diffusing the situation, We got a little misty at that mother’s grief though. Great acting by Marsha Stephanie Blake!