#10x7

Random thoughts:

Another episode that opens with a montage. In this one we learn just how dedicated Hailey is to her surveillance of Sean even as it seems that all he does is go to the gym and eat at the same dinner, with and without his father. She appears to be eating, sleeping, and basically living in her surveillance car. The sleeping in the car is confirmed when Voight asks her when she last slept and Hailey responds, “In a bed?” And yet she still turns down Voight when he offers to watch Sean, because she still has this driving need to fill the void that has been left in her life by Jay leaving.

Loved that Trudy was involved in the case! This needs to happen way more often. Her line about the white board being her “arts and crafts project” cracked me up. On a side note, I have always loved that they continue to use a simple white board with actual pictures, hand written captions and sticky notes, rather than some kind of smart board. To me it really adds to the old-school, blue collar vibe of Chicago the city and the show. I recently rewatched episode 3x4, where Mouse introduces a smart board, and at the end of the episode Al tells him to get rid of it because “it’s not us.” I 100% agree with him, and just that one episode with the smart board made me realize how much I appreciate even the small things, like the white board, that make Chicago PD great to me.

Their convert base of operations looks like Adam’s old undercover apartment.

The scene with Kim and Hailey in the van was revealing on multiple levels. On the surface there is Kim calling her on seeming “worn down,” to which Hailey finally admits out loud that she has been tailing Sean because she hasn’t wanted to go home. Underneath that is Kim’s seeming reluctance to voice her concern for Hailey. After working together for over 5 years it feels like these two should have a better friendship, and feel like they can lean on each other during tough times. Kim even seems shocked when Hailey reveals she has been tailing Sean. What did Kim think she was doing all this time and why wasn’t she concerned enough to find out before now. This has been an area where PD has lacked in recent seasons - the building of a friendship between it’s two female leads. Not that we have to see them hanging out outside of work, but it just feels like they should know each other better after all this time, and that their understanding and support of each other should be more evident on the show. Since it’s been hinted that Kim still has emotional baggage she hasn’t dealt with from her ordeal with Roy last season, maybe we will get to see them become more of a support system for each other as the season goes on.

The Cage! I can’t remember the last time they put a suspect in the cage. Obviously in the real world you wouldn’t want suspects put in the cage, but in the context of the fictional escapism of the show, I always found it intriguing to see Voight “deal” with suspects in the cage. Jason Beghe really knows how to portray rage and fury. (Of course, I think he’s excellent in all his scenes 😉)

Love that even though he was blowing their lead, Adam couldn’t just stand by and watch an innocent girl get hurt. Before the situation escalated to Adam intervening, it was interesting that Hailey was the one in the car wanting the situation to play out to get their guy. This mirrors Voight in the first episode wanting Torres’ undercover sting to play out even when the situation became more dangerous. It both cases it was two people blinded by their need for justice, which was filling a void in their life.

Amber’s interview scene with the intercutting of Hailey, Kim, and Trudy(!) trying to get her to open up was excellent. The straight on close ups of Amber’s face were unsettling and made the viewer feel like part of the interview. This is not an angle that we see too often.

Love how calm Voight was in trying to get Hailey to take a step back from the case. We don’t get to see his caring side all that often, so it’s always wonderful when we do. I also love that Hailey is also able to emotionally push back against Voight when she throws back at him that doesn’t he want something to save too? The pause is very telling to me that she probably knows Voight better than he wants her to and thus he never acknowledges her question.

I thought the ASA from last season was a one off character, so it was interesting to see her back in the episode for a short scene. Makes me wonder if she will be in more episodes this season. I wonder if Voight telling her he was good for the warrant without naming the suspect and then there being no evidence at the building will come back to bite him later on.

Loved the knowing look that Voight and Trudy give one another when Hailey questions how Sean knew they were coming. With one subtle glance you know they are both thinking the same thing. I really want more Hank and Trudy scenes. Their shared history has only been hinted at over the years, and I want to know more! I may have to rely on fanfiction for that 😊

The confrontation between Voight and Chief O’Neal was probably the best scene of the episode. As Voight pulls up you can see his jaw flexing as he mentally prepares himself for what is to come. Jason Beghe is amazing at using his face and jaw movements to emphasize what Voight is feeling and thinking. He also slowly and methodically parks, turns off the car, and then hesitates before getting out almost as if to delay the inevitable. Then, when the Chief first starts talking about reading the reports and says that he knows his son has a problem I thought for a second that he knew what his son was doing and I thought he was the worst. But then when he goes on to passionately plead that his son is not currently on drugs and “is doing great,” I suddenly felt bad for him that he was about to find out what his son truly is. That was some great writing that was acted beautifully. And you can tell Voight doesn’t want to tell him what he is really investigating Sean for, and then he passively takes O’Neal’s physical anger because Voight knows how he would feel if this was his son.