TV REVIEW: Chicago PD Shows a Big Hearted Voight in “Get Back to Even”

We knew this offering was going to be a good one. The promo showed a Voight-centric episode which is code for epic. Jason Beghe never disappoints as the tough but tender Sergeant Voight. The hashtag of the night was #VoightAccused, but it was a ruse with the only one doing any accusing was a suspicious Jay Halstead. A more appropriate hashtag would have been #VoightHasAHeart. We discovered that Hank’s loyalty runs deep, that Erin always has his back, that Platt’s a big ole softy, and that we don’t really like Halstead when he’s giving Voight judgy eyes.

Voight’s Under Suspicion

The case of the night is a drug deal gone bad, as in two guys are laying on the ground dead surrounded by barrels filled with heroin. Jay and Erin check out the residence of one of the dead thugs finding a precocious, little sister who’s home alone. Miss Sassy Pants won’t let the cops in to search big brother’s room until Halstead says, “We’re allowed.” She’s cute and feisty with enough Erin spunk to make us care about her instantly. We think we’re in for some kid/Lindsay bonding time, but it turns out Platt’s the one who will take the young one under her wing. More on that later.

Linstead find the wallet of the third guy in the apartment, discovering there’s a Hank Voight connection. There’s a Voight card inside. Oh, boy. Jay’s thinking he smells a rat and questions Hank. I think I smell a Voight slap coming on. He better just pipe down with his accusing inquiry and side eye looks. Voight says he’s going to go “see Michelle.”

Jay asks Olinsky, “Who’s Michelle.”

Alvin hilariously answers, “The lady Voight’s going to go see.”

The missing third player in this whole mess is Michelle’s son, Charles. She says he’s a good boy, and she’s the one who gave him Voight’s card. Hmmm, so they have a past, but what is it?

Voight explains the good boy theory to his team, but Halstead’s not buying it, asking more questions of his boss.

“That’s cool, but what I asked was how do we know that Charles wasn’t caught up?” Jay asks, again not trusting Voight.

Hank basically says because he told him so.

Where Are the Chicago Firemen when You Need Them?

Jay decides he’s taking charge seemingly to catch Voight with his hand in the cookie jar. He has part of the team rush into a warehouse without backup to question two suspects. They all get locked in and flames erupt. This is the suspend your disbelief portion of tonight’s episode. There is NO way out. (Hmmm, no back door?) They rush around while Atwater tries (unsuccessfully) to break down the door. Really? I think he could take out that door with one pinky. Erin finds a window with a fan in it and Jay karate kicks it out, skinny jeans moving at the speed of light.

Whew, they barely make it out of there.

Jay admits to Hank that he messed up, should’ve had backup. Voight joins the truthtelling, revealing the story of Michelle and their connection. He helped her out in the past, even shooting his own CI to defend her. She wanted “out” and he helped her get there.

Halstead asks if Hank’s sure Charles is okay just because he trusts the mom.

Voightism of the night, “The only thing I’m sure of Jay, is that the sun is going to come up tomorrow.”

Pictured: Patrick John Flueger as Adam Ruzek — (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

No Romance in the Breakroom Tonight

Erin spends much of “Get Back to Even” defending Voight when Jay questions his motives and methods.

“If he told you what he did for me, you wouldn’t like it,” Erin explains.

Jay seems unconvinced.

“The kid matters to Voight, so he matters to me. That’s the gig. It’s simple,” Erin tells him.

You have to love that loyalty running so deep in Lindsay and Voight. It’s part of why they are the most believable and lovable characters on the show. Yes, I just described Hank as lovable. They will do whatever they have to for someone in their circle. It makes for interesting storytelling when not everything is black and white and those ethics get challenged in the name of the “greater good.”

Nadia, Where’s Your Brain?

Nadia gets to ride along with Roman and Burgess for her Criminology class. The perks of working at CPD. You know what happens almost every time Roman and Burgess go on patrol? Something blows up or someone gets shot or hit in the head. This is not going to end well.

They answer a dog barking call, telling Nadia to stay put. As Roman and Burgess enter the house, they see a couple tied up. Nadia watches as two robbers leave in a truck. She takes off in the squad car, claiming Roman left it gassed up, keys in the ignition, with a note saying “drive me.”

Nadia follows and decides to box in the bad guys’ getaway truck, getting on the radio telling them she’s CPD. Gunfire rings out, straight for Nadia.

They are the worst shots ever and Nadia’s fine. Burgess and Roman arrest the shooters, so all ends well, right?

“We got ‘em,” Nadia says.

Does anyone really think they’d let the girl become a cop after this? She can’t follow a simple directive? Suspend a little more of that disbelief because Erin thinks she’ll be great.

Later, Nadia gets in trouble at the station but Erin reassures her saying she stopped thinking and her instincts took over. Tip of the day… less thinking and more instinct acting. We’ll let this one go because we like the girl and enjoy the interactions with Lindsay.

We’re Calling for a Plouch Adoption

Platt’s on kid patrol, babysitting the sassy girl, eating waffles and offering up bonding time. Crack Aunt shows up flying high to pick up her niece. Platt says she’s going to have to call DCFS to take the girl even though she doesn’t really want to

When the young girl thanks Platt for not sending her away with drugged out auntie, we feel a lump forming in our throats.

When a social worker shows up to take the girl away, we feel the need for a Kleenex or two. Trudy says, “Be brave” and we need the whole dang box. We’re calling for a Plouch adoption. Can you get on that Mouch? You met your real daughter for half a second on Chicago Fire, so we think you’ve got the parenting thing down. Let’s hope.

Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead, Nick Gehlfuss as Will Halstead — (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

Charles May Not Be a Good Boy

The team tracks down a driver who says a “mystery Mexican” shot the two kids dead. He adds that the third kid, Charles, is a “psycho” and gang affiliated. Jay wrangles up some photos of Charles throwing gang signs and offers enough “I told you so” attitude to last us the rest of the season. Voight is not amused and confronts Michelle. Mom keeps pleading her son’s case saying those are old pics.

“I told my team he was a good kid,” Voight says. He screams in her face, “I put my neck out for you Michelle. You understand that?” We didn’t get the Voight slap tonight instead settling for a wall bang as he berates Michelle for not being 100% honest.

Charles Is a Good Boy

Michelle calls for Voight later. Charles is back at mom’s place, shot twice. Jay gets brother Will to operate on the guy right on the kitchen table because apparently he can’t be “put in the system.” In a disgusting scene taking a page from Grey’s Anatomy, or, uh Chicago Med (yes pushing that on us again), he cuts into the flesh and digs out two bullets. Because that’s not tense enough, the bad guys looking for Charles show up.

It’s only Jay and Voight there with mom and son, so we’ve got the setup for a super intense shootout and fight scene, actually the best of the season. It was so nerve wracking, I think I forgot to breathe while Halstead and a thug punched it out. Finally, Voight shoots the bad guy dead, adding one extra for good measure. Wow, what a camera shot… us looking at the gun, it leveled between our eyes and bang!

Those Halstead Brothers

Will and Jay share a bromoment with doc saying he’s going to stick around on a little thing called Chicago Med. It’s a short little scene, but the writers force much into it. There’s a good brother, Jay, and a bad boy brother, Will. They don’t get along and there’s lingering bitterness. While mom was dying of cancer, Will was off partying.

You left,” Will also accuses.

“I left to fight a war. I came back,” Jay answers because he’s the good one.

Will continues on the “you’re worse than me” track saying he talked to dad, “You haven’t spoken in a year.” Oh you messed up Halstead family. It was a little cheesy and expected – fighting brothers, one a stand up guy, the other a little shady, and a dead mom thrown in. And there’s your Halstead backstory for the night.

#VoightHasAHeart

And now we’re back to the better hashtag for the night, and a last scene that shows Voight and that huge Hank heart. He hugs it out with Michelle and Charles even giving them a wad of cash to help them start over.

“Why do you do it?” the young man asks.

Voight’s response, “You know I never even thought about it.” A smiling Hank leaves, job done. Those character layers keep on coming. The promo was a true April Fool’s joke, teasing with a big Voight/Halstead showdown, smoke and mirrors making us think they were going to have guns pointed at each other. Their little confrontation was more of a Halstead wanting to play things by the book and Voight showing us the book is highly overrated. All in all, it was a strong episode with enough excitement and emotional feels to rank in our top five of the season. And that fight scene! It was one of the best ever, looking more like a Jason Bourne sequence and less like network TV. So where are we going with the few remaining episodes left this season? Will Linstead reconnect? Will Voight get a little Benson love in the upcoming, threeway crossover? And most importantly will the crossover finally incorporate all three shows in a more fluid and seamless way? We’ll see you back here next week where we’ll talk all things Chicago (did we mention that promo for the medpisode?).

Chicago PD airs Wednesdays on NBC at 10 p.m.