Chicago P.D. 4×11 - “You Wish” Review

A gruesome case takes the backseat to more personal storytelling

In this week’s episode of Chicago P.D. titled, “You Wish” Voight (Jason Beghe) and Olinsky (Elias Koteas) are called to a crime scene where Burgess (Marina Squerciati), Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins), and Rixton (guest star Nick Wechsler) walk them through the scene of a DOA with a severed penis. Later on they find out he was a sex offender who, before he had his manhood severed, was trying to rape a girl who had to do what she had to in order to get away. All this eventually leads to a private “special police” force who were taking things into their own hands and illegally covering it up.

Last week we met Erin’s (Sophia Bush) father, Jimmy Sanguinetti (guest star Tony Crane), who she believed to be in prison this whole time, but he wasn’t. It turned out he’d been out for 10 years, had been married, and had two boys, but now he’s in Chicago, wanting to spend time and be there for his daughter. Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) asked to run a DNA test on him, just in case this whole thing was a fantasy, but Erin said no, that if it is a fantasy, she wanted to live in it for a minute.

So, is Jimmy really her father? Or was it a short lived fantasy? Did Halstead and Lindsay survive the fallout of the reveal? And what shocking revelation about Voight left us with one very important question? It’s time we get to it and discuss this crazy, awesome episode!

Sometimes the fantasy is better in your mind

When it came to doing a DNA test, Lindsay asked for time and that’s what Jay gave her. But once he was given the chance to get a sample of Jimmy’s DNA, he did what any protective boyfriend would do, and told her he was running the test. And Erin did not object. Mostly because she trusts Jay and knows he’s only looking out for her, but also because she needed to know for sure herself that Jimmy was who her mom, Bunny (guest star Markie Post), said he was.

Once the test came back, it was all downhill from there. Erin’s fantasy was ripped out from under her like a rug when the results came back saying Jimmy was not her birth father, and with no surprise, Erin did not take the news well. From lashing out at Halstead for running the DNA test to Bunny, with whom she had an emotional and explosive outburst with, while assuming she was running another one of her cons all these years—a scene which Sophia Bush killed. She brought everything she had and laid it out there for us fans. It wasn’t just emotional, it was incredibly beautiful and raw. It was the scene of the night.

“Why do you keep doing this to me!” — Erin

With things already having crashed down around her, which tends to happen whenever Erin has something good come along (except for Halstead, of course), she finally broke the news to Jimmy, who did not take it very well. Thinking she and Bunny had been conning him right from the beginning, he tore into her, without letting her explain the situation. He just tossed the photo album full of pictures he had kept of her aside like it was a piece of garbage and threatened her with calling the feds if she didn’t stay away from him—both her and Bunny. Then he got in his car and took off, leaving Erin on the sidewalk; heartbroken and without a father.

Meanwhile, back at the station while Halstead gave Erin the space she needed to deal with the revelation about Jimmy, he also continued to check up on her to make sure she was okay, and left her a voicemail telling her he was sorry. He really is the one constant, good thing in Erin’s life and what’s great about their relationship, and how the writers handle it, is that it’s real. There’s nothing perfect about it, because neither one of them are perfect. They have their issues, and like any real-life couple out there, they work through their issues and come out on top. And while they may have seemed to be on rocky ground most of the episode with Lindsay not taking his calls or texting him back, at the end of the episode we saw she finally replied to his messages by texting him back and telling him she was fine, she was sorry, and she’d see him at home.

Erin may not know who her birth father is, but at least she knows the man in her life will always be there, having her back, even in the hardest of times.

Family is family, whether you share the same blood or not

From the moment Jimmy was introduced into Erin’s life, Voight stayed back and kept quiet, maybe too quiet. But once he told her he wanted her to do what she had to do and fill whatever void she had, it made sense. It’s all about family with Hank, it always has been.

“Having lost Justin, I appreciate the value of family.” — Voight

Things later got interesting when Halstead revealed to Voight that Jimmy was not Erin’s dad, and Hank had no reaction. At all. His expression spoke volumes, as if to say, “Yeah? And?” like he wasn’t surprised considering it’s Bunny, or he already knew—which hopefully isn’t the case because surely Hank would save Erin that pain of finding out later on.

Now Voight has raised and essentially been Erin’s father since she was 15-years-old, but what we didn’t know is that Hank and Bunny go further back than we originally thought. It was always assumed he and Bunny met around the time he met Erin, being 15 years ago, but that’s not true, they actually go back 30 years. But before we can get excited and let our minds wonder the “what if’s,” this theory needed one more piece of information. Which was soon revealed when Bunny showed up and accused Hank of running the DNA test, and then told him maybe he should run his own instead. To which he replied, “You wish,” then leaving us shocked at the fact he and Bunny shared a special night together—30 years ago. And before you ask yourself, yes that’s about how old Erin is right now.

So, could Voight turn out to be Lindsay’s real father? If so, talk about coming around full circle. But regardless of where this story-line goes, Hank will always be Lindsay’s father. Not just to her or him, but to us, the audience.

The evolution of Olinsky & Burgess begins

One of the most promising aspects of the show is the development of Olinsky and Burgess’ partnership. Since her first day in Intelligence it’s been no secret that he’s been less than thrilled to have her in the unit or as a partner. It seemed at first maybe it had something to do with her being a woman and him thinking she didn’t belonged there—he did call her a badge bunny after all. But the real reason behind his hesitation is that he doesn’t want a front row seat to the job ruining her. Since then we’ve got to see them work together more, and we’ve seen small glimpses of Olinsky warming up to Kim and seeing that she could be a really great addition to Intelligence.

“Why don’t you let the kid take it?” — Olinsky

Though his reluctance to work with Burgess was off-putting at first, it actually makes a lot of sense. Olinsky is like Voight, they’re basically cut from the same cloth, with a few minor differences, but both men are willing to go to whatever extremes necessary when the time calls for it—we’ve seen it happen many times before. And to Olinsky, Burgess is nowhere near capable of going to that dark place when needed, a place that ends up tainting and changing you into someone who is unrecognizable. But here’s the thing about Kim Burgess, she can be badass when she needs to be—we’ve it many times before, but Olinsky doesn’t know her. They aren’t friends and they’ve only spent a little bit of time together, whether in passing or when she was called up to help on a case. He has no idea the type of cop she can really be, how she can go from sweet, nice girl Kim to kicking ass and taking names Burgess.

But we also know Burgess isn’t a perfect cop and she has a thing or two to learn in Intelligence, and like anyone, she has flaws, but if one thing is for sure, it’s that Burgess is proving to everyone that she belongs on this team and she makes a difference. The day will come when Olinsky fully recognizes that and takes her under his wing, and that will be one hell of a partnership to watch on screen.

When you think Chicago P.D. can’t rise any higher, they give you this episode

This episode was one of my favorites of the season. For two reasons. One, not only did it quickly close the door on Jimmy being Erin’s father, but it planted the seed that she may have actually been raised by her real father, Hank Voight. Do I want him to end up being her dad? Absolutely. I think it would make for a beautiful, full circle moment for both of them. I mean here’s Hank, the man who, having no obligation what so ever, raised Erin for half of her life, saved her from a life of drugs and living on the streets—possibly even death—and helped shape her into the amazing woman she is now; while never seeking an ounce of validation for everything he’s ever done for her. Like I said, full freaking circle. And until they run the DNA test, this is something I’m going to continue to think about and most likely convince myself to be true.

Two, I’ve always felt that Chicago P.D. lacked something and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out what it was, until recently it hit me. The amount of personal character development and storytelling lacks, especially when compared to Chicago Fire. Now that’s not to say we don’t know anything about our favorite police officers and detectives, we just don’t know enough. Most episodes take place on the streets or in the station, but sometimes it would be nice to see them outside of work, in more of a casual environment, for longer than a minute. And I felt, while this episode was still majority in the streets and office, everything took a backseat when it came to the personal storytelling. We finally got some good character growth and for the first time in a while, I was left in awe and extremely excited for what’s to come next.

Tiller Russell penned an amazing episode, which turned out to be quite funny when it came to scenes with Rixton and Atwater—who just wanted to be done with the case, but do you blame him? I mean, it was a severed penis after all. Side note, Nick Wechsler has been a great addition to the show, his character fits in nicely and I really hope we get to know more about him and that he’s able to stick around awhile—or even better, for good. Plus it takes my mind off missing Antonio (Jon Seda).

While Chicago P.D. has given us it’s fair share of crazy episodes in the past, this was the first one in a while that I was more invested in what was happening outside of the case than the actual case itself and I believe this show gives us some of its best work when that happens. And while a lot of that comes from the actors nailing their scenes, it wouldn’t be possible without great direction from Mark Tinker, who knocked this one out of the park. Great work, Mark!

Questions, Comments, Concerns:

• You’ve read my thoughts on this week’s bomb-dropping episode, but what did you guys think?
• I loved watching the bond between Olinsky and Burgess build and the look he’d get when she kicking ass. He’s slowly coming around.
• When Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) returns, will it impact Burgess and Olinsky’s budding partnership?
• Is Voight Erin’s father?
• Will he secretly run a DNA test to find out? And if so, will we have to wait an eternity for him to tell Lindsay the results?
• Why is Linstead so perfect? They’re the Dawsey of Chicago P.D.
• Why is Sophia Bush so amazing? Seriously, this was her episode.
• I want to know more about Rixton—no, I need to know more. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be just a filler character while Ruzek is gone. That would not sit well with me. Nick Wechsler is too good to have his talent wasted like that.
• Next week’s episode looks pretty intense, so make sure you tune in then check back here to discuss!

CHICAGO P.D. airs WEDNESDAYS at 10/9c on NBC