Police dramas seem to come naturally to Dick Wolf, an Emmy winner involved in the Law & Order franchise, and the more recent Chicago Fire; so when he dabbles further into the genre, there’s no doubt that the result is worthy of attention. His latest exploration of city crime comes in the form of Chicago Fire spin-off Chicago P.D, the first season of which has already averaged over 8 million viewers in the U.S. With the show set to premiere in Australia on Thursday November 20th on Universal Channel, we thought it best to dive into the series and figure out it’s place among the long line of crime dramas on the small screen.
Setting is just as important as anything in a police drama because the various plots and weekly cases usually use the entire city to drive an episode; with that in mind, the show already benefits from the fact that it takes place – and makes great use of – Chicago. The famed Windy City has a long history with crime, from the olden days of Al Capone to the rampant violence some areas have become known for, so there’s a thick layer of intensity that wraps around Chicago P.D. The show doesn’t take that layer lightly either; violence is turned up a notch here, and as such, so is action. The combination of fast-moving, gripping drama and a gritty tone seems necessary for this show to work, and so in just the first two episodes of the upcoming premiere, viewers are hit with so much brutality that it may actually catch them off guard.
The show is a much darker counterweight to the hopeful Chicago Fire, it takes time to explore the Chicago Police Department and it’s new Intelligence Unit, which is headed up by Sgt. Hank “Henry” Voight (Jason Beghe). Chicago Fire fans may recall that Voight isn’t necessarily a good guy, and probably shouldn’t be working in a police department; but that’s what the Intelligence Unit is. It was created to tackle the city’s toughest crimes like drug trafficking, high profile murders, organised crime, and so on.
With beautiful shots of Chicago juxtaposed against the depth of the city’s uncomfortable underbelly, Chicago P.D feels much more real than it’s peers; something which speaks highly of the talent involved behind the scenes and in front of the camera. The casting for this is a big strong point, drawing upon an impressive performance from Beghe, a great presence from One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush, and the all-round excellence of Jon Seda – all of whom are part of the Intelligence Unit. In terms of direction, creators Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead have really made Chicago’s unique architecture and structure a big part of the show; it’s a nice distraction from the depressing narratives of police corruption that plague police departments, especially in America.
Much like Chicago Fire, this new show explores characters on more than the surface level that many police dramas stay on. While there are many procedural drama tropes which can seem a bit excessive at times in Chicago P.D, the picture painted of internal corruption in Chicago – a big part of the show – is compelling and something which we’d gladly revisit throughout the season. There’s something about police corruption that seems to be more engaging than your standard buddy-cop film, and Voight is teeming with immorality as long as it gets the job done. Voight is almost like a complete opposite to Detective Antonio Dawson (Seda), his more level-headed partner who start off seeming like an afterthought only to help further Voight’s story, but has become one of the best of the rather large cast.
Delivering a healthy balance of character-driven drama and superb acting with stereotypical police work and bucket loads of violence, Chicago P.D is set to fill a void for Australians longing for an engaging police drama that is gritty, strangely fun, and perfectly located with, most importantly, enough difference to keep it interesting. Wolf’s gripping new police drama, created with the help of the team behind Chicago Fire, is surely going to impress the Australian audience when it premieres with a double episode on Thursday, November 20 at 8:30pm AEST on Universal Channel, FOXTEL.
Chicago P.D continues on Universal Channel, Thursdays at 8:30pm – if you miss the premier, you can catch the encore double episode on Saturday at 5:30pm or Sunday at 8:30pm AEDT. For more information on the show head to Universal Channel’s Facebook Page HERE
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