It’s Time To Watch Chicago PD Again After A Disappointing Few Years

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Chicago PD season 12, episode 9.

Chicago PD has had a disappointing few seasons, but season 12 has corrected many of the problems, making the procedural worth watching again. When it originally premiered, Chicago PD was the best One Chicago show. It focused on the lengths Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) was willing to go to keep Chicago safe and get justice for crime victims. However, in recent years, the series backed off of letting Voight push the envelope, turning it into a run-of-the-mill procedural when television is oversaturated with them.

Chicago PD season 12 introduced patrol officer Kiana Cook (Toya Turner), marking the first time a patrol officer was involved in the action since Burgess (Marina Squerciati) was promoted in season 4. Cook was promoted quickly, joining the Intelligence Unit within a few episodes. However, the addition of this new character coincided with other changes that are helping making Chicago PD watchable again, such as introducing a new villain for Voight to butt heads with while he bends the rules in the name of justice.

Chicago PD’s Problems The Last Few Years Explained (Including Viewership Woes)

The Falling Ratings Are A Consequence Of Story Problems

The early seasons of Chicago PD offered a more nuanced perspective on police work. While Voight often crossed ethical lines, the series made an effort to demonstrate the reasons he felt he needed to do so. Additionally, more aspects of police work were shown thanks to the inclusion of patrol officers who often worked with the Intelligence Unit. However, that began to change when Atwater (LeRoyce Hawkins) was promoted at the end of season 1.

The patrol officer aspect disappeared after season 4 when Burgess was promoted, but the more concerning problem in recent years has been the number of high-profile character exits. Characters like Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), and Hailey Upton (Tracey Spiradakos) all exited the series, leaving large holes in the Chicago PD cast and making it harder to invest in the show. Furthermore, stories became more formulaic and the later seasons of Chicago PD often relied on the cops getting into extreme danger, culminating with Voight being kidnapped by a serial killer.

These issues have resulted in declining ratings. Chicago PD has been steadily losing viewers since season 8, and the current season’s ratings are the worst yet. It’s unfortunate that season 12 has lower ratings than the previous seasons (via TV Series Finale), as the series seems to have finally gotten back on track, but these low ratings are likely a reflection of the disappointing stories in season 11 and the loss of Chicago PD’s Hailey Upton.

How Chicago PD Has Been Stacking Up Against Its Fellow One Chicago Peers

It Has Fallen To Third Place

Chicago PD used to be one of the most popular of the One Chicago shows, second only to Chicago Fire. However, in the past several seasons, Chicago Med has handily beaten Chicago PD in the ratings. So far Chicago Med season 10 has almost a million viewers more than Chicago PD (via One Chicago Center). This is bad news for the police procedural, as it has always been far more popular than its medical counterpart despite being on two hours later.

Of course, there could be several reasons for the change in ratings. Chicago Med has a new showrunner who is taking the medical series in a different direction that is likely to be interesting to viewers who were not sold on the medical drama in previous years. High-stakes stories such as Sharon’s stalker arc might attract larger audiences. Still, while Chicago Med’s ratings are rising and Chicago Fire‘s are staying steady, Chicago PD is losing viewers. Thus, people choose to watch one or both of the other One Chicago shows while turning the TV off when Chicago PD comes on.

Chicago PD Season 12 Is A Return To Its Roots

The Latest Stories Are More Like It Used To Be

While there’s not much Chicago PD can do about actors choosing to leave after more than a decade with the police procedural, it can change its storytelling direction to make it more pleasing to audiences — and it has done that beautifully in season 12. One of the best choices Chicago PD has made is adding Deputy Commissioner Charlie Reid (Shawn Hatosy) as a new villain who is out to get Voight.

This addition is a throwback to earlier seasons where Voight was constantly under scrutiny by higher-ups in the police department and doubled down on questionable behavior rather than playing political games. Additionally, Reid has already put Burgess in his debt by re-assigning her to Intelligence after she passed the detective’s exam and trying to figure out what he is up to is leaving audiences at the edge of their seats.

Related

Chicago PD Treats Hailey Upton’s Intelligence Replacement Better Than Tracy Spiridakos’ Character

NBC’s Chicago PD already gives Intelligence’s Hailey Upton’s replacement a much better story than Tracy Spiridakos’ character in season 12.

Chicago PD season 12 has a full cast of interesting characters, which leads to more complex cases than have been seen in recent years. Newcomer Kiana Cook offers a fresh perspective as well as adding some more diversity to the cast. She is uncomfortable with the morally gray areas Voight leads the team into, which leads to compelling conflicts. Cook helps round out a cast that now centers on Burgess and Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) as well as turning Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) into a gray character who is reminiscent of Dawson.

What Else Chicago PD Can Do To Fix Its Failures

The Police Drama Needs To Avoid Watering Voight Down

One of the most significant problems for Chicago PD is that Voight has become far too mellow. This character change was likely a reaction to real-life police brutality — many police procedurals have backed off from the idea of justifying police violence in order to show support for real-life victims. However, it doesn’t work for this show for Voight to be calm, collected, and committed to following the rules. One of the reasons this series became popular is because Voight is the perfect anti-hero: the cop who will break every rule in the book for a good cause.

Thus, the most important thing Chicago PD can do to win back viewers is to restore Voight to his original character. While it’s important to be sensitive to victims of police violence, Voight’s cowboy persona sets Chicago PD apart from other police procedurals. Thus, he needs to be depicted as the heroic outlaw archetype that he originally was. Chicago PD has yet to find the right balance between allowing Voight to go rogue and expressing disapproval of police brutality. Season 12 has taken steps in the right direction with its Voight vs. Reid story.

Related

5 Things To Remember Before Chicago PD Season 12 Winter 2025 Return

Following its midseason break, Chicago PD season 12 returns with new episodes in January 2025, picking up from the eventful first half of the season.

Chicago PD also needs to avoid formulaic storytelling, as that is one of the biggest issues with recent seasons. Fortunately, the series has begun course-correcting. Adding Cook has shaken things up somewhat, and if Chicago PD returns to character-driven storytelling instead of gimmicks such as putting cops in extreme danger, it will again become the powerful show it used to be in its early seasons.

Sources: TV Series Finale, One Chicago Center

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A spinoff of Chicago Fire, this police procedural drama follows the detectives and the uniformed patrol officers of the Chicago Police Department as they work to crack cases and put criminals behind bars.

Release Date

January 8, 2014

Seasons

12