Chicago PD season 12: A Missed Chance to Fix a Long-Standing Problem!
Chicago PD Season 12: Wasted Potential in Episode 5!
Chicago PD season 12, episode 5 missed a HUGE opportunity to fix something that's been bothering fans for ages. The show initially showcased both patrol officers and detectives working together. But recently? It's all been about Intelligence! The addition of new hire Kiana Cook (Toya Turner), a patrol officer in the premiere episode, should've been a game-changer!
Cook's early storyline helped to provide new conflict and helped highlight those areas that were less frequently touched; and it shows some key, critically important and highly appreciated early-game writing and potential which unfortunately got undone in later episodes. This should've presented that much needed revitalization for a storyline that has been largely missing for many seasons, showing some of that older appeal which initially defined what Chicago PD originally meant for most audience members. Instead, we see a massive opportunity lost! Why? That will be further emphasized further into this article, but keep reading. We will showcase what this implies about Chicago PD as a whole, discussing all the impacts it had for some fans.
Cook’s Promotion: A Step Forward, a Step Back
In episode 5, Cook is promoted to Intelligence. This makes sense: The unit's understaffed. Cook displays excellent instincts, great deduction skills; this made the character capable and ultimately very popular for several key viewers, even showcasing an unexpectedly capable rapport with tricky suspects! The obvious implications show that viewers eagerly wanted more! So promoting her was a totally natural, perfectly expected moment. The show was missing one person, but that’s ultimately not why her addition shouldn’t have mattered!
This makes a major, profound impact on this entire storyline: those earlier opportunities involving patrol storylines got sidelined yet again. That's frustrating, fans haven't had a main patrol officer since season 4 when Burgess got promoted. Patrol officers since then were usually one-off appearances–setting up cases; and these characters didn’t have fully developed storylines, unlike Burgess and Atwater’s pre-Intelligence storylines; ultimately losing that important detail for some audience members; these stories created the opportunity to highlight more relatable moments and character development and it's a shame this went unutilized!
Why Chicago PD Needs Patrol Stories: Not Just About Numbers!
Keeping Cook as a patrol officer would've generated so much more ongoing content: This could've carried into season 13! The patrol storylines also represent that fundamental element initially emphasized early on within Chicago PD, delivering different styles than those typical Intelligence-centric ones which often got used previously! And it creates an unexpected bonus – more storylines for Trudy (Amy Morton)! This is needed and she’s seriously underrated!
Trudy is underused–being mainly confined to desk duties–leading to a much more significant reduction to her importance compared to other more field-focused characters and storylines. The writers need to deliver additional depth; creating much stronger storylines and more powerful narrative development centered upon Trudy's perspective would make her extremely popular to many a loyal audience member! Her existing moments mostly center around organizing the department; giving Trudy a larger focus through more patrol work could be seriously beneficial; creating opportunities to better showcase the various struggles involved when operating from various police perspectives, a far richer environment and allowing much greater depths!
Conclusion: Missed Opportunities, Lingering Problems
Promoting Cook made narrative sense – and some people might be happy she is in Intelligence! However, the missed opportunity was huge; this completely undervalues those moments which the audience truly enjoyed; it is ultimately going to fail to recapture that former energy that created its earlier appeal; that’s why promoting her too early hurts Chicago PD’s overall storyline and impacts future possibilities! They should really bring back patrol storylines; it provides so much greater depth and far more opportunities and creates exciting new possibilities involving previously underutilized characters such as Trudy.
