Season eight of Chicago PD has had some heart-pounding episodes. None more so than the season finale, “The Other Side.” It was the most intense episode of the series to date.
Season eight took on the changes needing to be made in policing. It took some time for Intelligence to get used to the new rules, but now, it’s become second nature for some of them.
Following the law was tested after Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) was taken. Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) was out of his mind trying to get Kim back. He didn’t care what rules were broken to do it.
Chicago PD rarely has an ongoing arc or connects things between the episodes, other than with couples. This season changed that. It wasn’t noticeable during the season, but everything came together at the end.
Ruzek and Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) budded heads about police reforms in “Protect and Serve.” Their conversation was left very much unfinished. It all came together when they got into a fight over sticking to the rules to find Kim.
It was an intense scene. Adam really wasn’t in his right mind to be doing the police work to find his partner. And Atwater, while wanting desperately to find Kim, agrees with the steps they have to follow to conduct a case.
It was well worth the wait seeing them have it out.
But what I really loved was at the end, while Kim was at the hospital, he called Adam and said he was going to stay on the phone. I don’t know if all was forgiven, but this team really had each other’s backs to not only find Kim but hold each other together in the process.
The moment between Adam and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) was powerful when she calmed him down by reminding him that he had to take care of Makayla (Ramona Edith Williams) if the worst happened. He couldn’t be bending the rules because he could lose his job or worse. Then who would take after Makayla?
He had to step up for Kim’s daughter soon than expected. He went to be with her while the team continued to search. It definitely pulled at the Burzek heartstrings watching him be there just like he promised.
We watched the team trying their best to keep it together while Kim is doing her best to get herself found. She dragged herself from where she was shot to the Buick that the team was looking for. She managed to put the hazard lights on before she passed out.
While they find Kim doing extensive police work, we aren’t left knowing if she will be okay. I’ve seen no reports that Marina is leaving, so we can only hope that she’s okay, and it’s just a horrible cliffhanger for fans.
Another connecting piece the finale had was with Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and Hailey. Voight clearly sees a lot of himself in Upton. She has pushed up to the edge of the lines before, but she’s never crossed them.
While Hank wouldn’t let his team cross the line to save Kim, he was quite happy to go back to his old ways. He gave Adam and Hailey the bogus leads, and he took the legit ones.
This was the return of the old Voight. Alvin Olinsky was the only other team member allowed to break the rules. This is a very familiar scene for longtime fans. Especially him burying and burning the body.
Upton was able to talk Voight down by saying this would be bringing her across the line, and there would be no going back. Unfortunately, that was all for nothing when she was forced to shoot the suspect when he had a hold of Hank’s gun.
I would have thought that was the perfect cover story. She legitimately had to shoot the guy. That was exactly what they needed to get out of that bad situation.
But of course, doing the right thing doesn’t fuel exciting storylines.
That also leads to Hailey telling Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) that they should get married.
While an Upstead wedding would be amazing, she’s doing it for all the wrong reasons. She didn’t do anything wrong but feels like she’s crossed a line.
It will be interesting to see where season nine picks up. Is the old Voight back for good? Will the events of the night haunt or change Upton? And of course, the most important question, is Kim alive?
There’s a lot to look forward to and worry about as we go into the summer hiatus.
What do you think is next for our favorite detectives? Tweet me @MandyTTCarr or comment below.
