Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
Detective Kim Burgess has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
It feels damn good to see a woman in some authority somewhere, and she most certainly earned it.
Of course, nothing ever comes easy, and Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 6 posed a few challenges for Burgess on her path toward a promotion.
Inquiring minds desperately want to know what the hell is the deal with Shawn Hatosy‘s Reid.
It seemed like he took a special interest in Burgess, whether because of who she was and how good she was or because she was part of Voight’s unit, and he was interested in him.
Whatever the case, he had eyes on her for quite some time, and he was all over the case that Burgess and Suarez were working together.
His looming presence was a bit intimidating, particularly for Suarez, who couldn’t help but read further into it, assuming that her job would be on the line if they didn’t wrap the case up properly.
Understandably, this caused Suarez to panic and perhaps go too far, making some tough calls to close this case that feels like a precursor to something bigger.
But again, one has to wonder why Reid requested Suarez, the woman who also conducted Burgess’ interview, to be the sitting detective with her while on a ride-along.
There has to be more to that setup, and it’s hard to determine whether it involved Suarez, too.
Did he want to rattle her?
Is she someone on his radar since she mentioned that he’s been firing people?
Burgess is great. She aced the exam and did well during her interview, so there were no doubts that she could handle herself on the case scene.
Burgess didn’t need any help; she rocked all the way through, even when she flubbed up with that car or wanted to hold back regarding using the baby as leverage; it was either something relatively minor or just a different approach.
Obviously, there has to be room for different approaches, and it was frustrating that Suarez wanted to speak as if she had cornered the proper way to be a detective and that Burgess had to emulate that somehow.
You could sense that part of that was being women in the field; the job is different for them, and Suarez is of the school of thought that they have to be tougher, not make any mistakes, and get the job done while putting up with a hell of a lot.
Unsurprisingly, Suarez would walk away and say that Burgess is “too nice” and needs to harden up or that somehow, Burgess’s having a unit that backs and supports her is a problem.
There’s merit in what Suarez says, but only to an extent.
Sure, it would probably serve Burgess well if she got to experience the job in another format away from the comforts of what she’s known, but why would it be necessary?
Burgess was a patrol cop who saw a lot of damn action and has been through hell and back.
She’s a tough woman, so she’s part of a unit that feels more like a genuine family and none of that “band of brothers” bullshit that only extends to a certain point as long as everyone falls in line or thinks a certain way.
Suarez probably thought she was giving Burgess sound advice, but she also seemed to be resentful that Burgess got to experience something differently.
It reminds you of the people who almost get upset because those who come after them don’t have it as hard when the question should be, “Why would you want others subjected to the hardships you face?”
Wouldn’t you want better for them? Otherwise, what were you trying to combat and fight for in the first place?
After a prolonged absence from the season, it was a solid hour focused exclusively on Burgess.
The others were merely background noise; interestingly, we didn’t have much of the team there until nearly halfway through the hour.
Voight was chill and happy to help Burgess however necessary, and you could feel his pride.
Even towards the end, which was great because Burgess had to wonder if Voight did her a favor by getting her back onto Intelligence since Suarez got in her head by undermining her merit.
Burgess earned detective and her spot on Intelligence, but there’s a part of this that still feels tainted. Despite the reassurances, it’s evident that the politics of it all may have still gotten in the way in some regard.
The case was odd in that we had this operation with car parts and a lot of murder.
It’s a clear organization happening, with a nice tie-in to Gloria by the end of the hour, which will be quite the experience.
Burgess had some flubs, like the car incident, but she was quite the force who mostly took to calling the shots very well.
And in true Kim Burgess fashion, she was running her ass off during most of the case and also had to take one hell of a beating, too.
The latter was infuriating, as there is no way on earth that she and Suarez should’ve split. She could’ve gotten killed.
Nevertheless, I genuinely enjoyed seeing all the support that she got from some of the others.
The Burzek family moment that started the installment was absolutely precious, and it was so cute to see Mak supporting her mom and encouraging Burgess.
The locker room scene with Burgess and Ruzek was great because he could not imagine her leaving him and going somewhere else, even if it was for a short while.
Finally, we got some Burzek content, which was nice because it’s been lacking this season, and we have to get those glimpses leading up to the wedding.
Other Thoughts:
- Torres was rolling those “R’s,” and his accent was so pronounced during this episode. I loved every second of it.
- He also was back to that white tee.
- Gloria coming back after Chicago PD Season 11 Episode 9 to haunt Torres (and us) wasn’t on my Bingo Card, and I’m wary.
- Atwater’s absence was noticed and felt. Outside of Adam, Kevin is the only bigger Kim cheerleader. But at least we saw him on Chicago Med.
- Kiana rocking flannel, which is like Intelligence’s unofficial uniform? You love to see it!
- There was a brief moment when I thought Reid looked like Roman, it threw me for a loop!
- I absolutely love how much the series is leaning into utilizing Spanish more. Burgess gets to whip out the Spanish in almost all her episodes now.
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics.
Are you happy that Burgess finally made detective?
What do you think is up with Reid and his over-involvement and interest in her promotion?
How do you feel about Gloria’s return? Sound off below!
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