Chicago P.D. Season 12, Episode 18 ‘Demons‘ manages to do the unthinkable, particularly considering we’re coming off seeing Shawn Hatosy in The Pitt, making Voight the good guy in this weird standoff he’s got with Voight.
In a way, it’s been clear for a while that Deputy Chief Reid and Hank Voight are two sides of the same coin. It’s just that Reid is better at pretending, that’s why he’s gotten farther. Or maybe he’s just more handsome. Either way, the playbook is very similar. The show just wants us to believe Voight is a better guy, for…eh, reasons and science? Or because we’ve been stuck with him for 12 seasons, which is at least a valid enough reason. The devil you know and all of that.
Now, I’m not the biggest Voight fan, but even I am rooting for Voight in this scenario. Shawn Hatosy was great in The Pitt and all, and we can love him as Dr. Abott there, but again, I’ll keep the devil I know—even if I often don’t particularly like him. At least I know what I’m dealing with there.
Particularly because, in this hour, Deputy Chief Reid is very clearly taking advantage of Dante, who is in a very bad spot. And Voight is many things, not all of them good, but he is someone who cares about his team. And he’s trying to help Dante in whatever way he can. So when he tells Dante to go home and that they’ll come up with a plan, you believe him.
Even if, earlier in the episode, when Adam and Kim are discussing Voight and Adam tells Kim confidently that Voight would “tell them” if there was something else going on, we know that’s a lie. Voight contains multitudes.
In the end, Voight has never needed to be a good guy to be a good character. That’s never what we’ve asked of Chicago P.D., instead, what we’ve asked of the show is some consistency on who the character is. He can live in the morally grey areas, as long as the show knows where the character is going to live and has a very clear idea of who the character is and why he chooses to make the choices he makes.
This episode goes a step further, however. It allows the show to not just play with the standoff between Voight and Deputy Chief Reid, but to involve the team in a way Voight never does. And though we don’t get a resolution, it feels like growth for the show and for the character. Because it’s not just ASA Chapman now, it’s everyone.
Chicago P.D. giving us team vibes and making us root for Hank Voight. Who would have thought?
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 12, Episode 18 ‘Demons’? Share with us in the comments below! And if you have your own opinion on the show, leave a review/rating on our Chicago P.D. hub!
Chicago P.D. airs on Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
