Chicago P.D. 11×12 “Inventory” is one of those episodes that, in a vacuum, feels like a good episode of TV. This show doesn’t exist in a vacuum, however, and we have spent too long with these characters to pretend that, eleven seasons in, decisions they make that don’t really correspond with how they’ve been for over a decade should be celebrated just because one particular episode works.
And it does work. In fact, Chicago P.D. 11×12 “Inventory” is a testament to the benefits of having a director who intimately understands not just the show, but the trajectory of the characters. Jesse Lee Soffer returns to the show, not as a Jay Halstead who has been sorely missed, but as a director who does a great job shaping a unit that works about as seamlessly under his guiding hand as they have all season.
It helps, of course, that he gets a full unit, which we’ve rarely had this season — and that the team gets to work together to crack the case that has eluded them all season in a way that feels organic. Even Petrovic, who we’ve seen entirely too much in the past few episodes, sometimes to the detriment of characters we wish had gotten more screen time, fits in very well in this episode.
Good thing too, considering I’m about 90% sure she’s going to stay. But that’s neither here nor there.
Because the real center of this hour is Voight, well, and Hailey. The problem, of course, is between the relationship they have, and the one the show thinks they have, or the one the show thinks they have portrayed them as having. We’re not really sure those two things are really as close as they should really be, considering where this episode ends.
The buildup of this season has been about a serial killer who uses people’s loved ones against them. But not just their loved ones, the person they love the most. And now he’s kidnapped Voight. And he’s going to have to call the person he loves the most and …is that supposed to be Hailey? Because wait, what?
Sure, I guess one could say she and Voight have gotten closer this season, in that he has inquired about her well-being more than anyone else since Jay left, but pretending that they have a father-daughter relationship like he and Erin had is rewriting history. Voight is not close enough to Hailey for a call, and it wasn’t that long ago that Jay and Hailey were seriously considering turning Voight in for all his murders. Hell, the one who decided not to do it was Jay!
Chicago P.D. has always had a very short memory regarding Voight’s bad deeds and character development in general, but using this as a way to write out Hailey too adds insult to injury. The truth is, Voight loves no one and no one loves Voight. Not enough for that call. That’s the truth he needs to reckon with, and the truth his team needs to reckon with as well.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think about Chicago P.D. 11×12 “Inventory”? Share with us in the comments below!
Chicago P.D. airs on Wednesdays on NBC.
That very last comment of yours proves you don’t understand the premise of this show, nor the character at all. You just don’t like the character and your non objectivity shows in every review.
It’s entirely possible I don’t understand the show, or don’t understand it the way you do. Reviews, however, are not meant to be objective or impartial. If you want that, I’d recommend reading a recap. Reviews are meant to be an opinion, in this case mine.
Lissete is quite correct. Voight twisted sense of love translates into manipulation, loyalty test and scare tactic…see Al, see Ruzek, see Hailey. You are the one who is not being objective and thats okay. You have a fave and will go to bat for the fave. Hailey is my fave and Voight has been playing and manipulating her since season 4. Too long to get into the whole explanation.