Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 4 ‘Root Cause‘ is a pretty case-heavy hour, but one with setup for Voight (was that picture a curveball or what?!) and a good amount of hints about Eva Imani, Intelligence’s newest member. It should, perhaps, feel out of place for the show to focus on these two characters in the same episode, as Chicago P.D. hardly ever lets Voight share the spotlight with anyone, but after the way Imani was introduced, it just feels right.
What we get out of Eva Imani isn’t all that much. She’s great at undercover, and by extension, great at appearing to be way less dangerous than she really is. She speaks Arabic. Has absolutely no fear of pushing back against Voight or asking him questions that most everyone else would just not ask (see Trudy: who, at Voight’s behest, doesn’t ask). She has a sister she hasn’t seen since she was eight. And she fits in really, really well, even if it has just been a few episodes.
I admit that when we learned of Kiana Cook’s departure and Eva Imani’s arrival, I doubted. Cook didn’t feel like a Hailey Upton replacement, but she was still an interesting character with a pretty cool backstory that I was eager to see explored. Then, she was quickly written out without an explanation. Same as Vanessa Rojas. Hailey got an explanation, but it wasn’t a great one. Before, we lost Erin Lindsay. It almost feels like you can’t get attached to any female characters outside of Kim Burgess on Chicago P.D., because you don’t know if you’ll get to keep them.
Eva Imani feels like the kind of character you can get attached to. And it’s a good thing, because we already are! And ironically, the show has managed that by letting Arienne Mandi be herself and having Eva interact mostly with Voight, challenge Voight, and ride along with Voight. She’s not the new Kiana, or the new Hailey, but in some ways, she feels like the new Erin, without the shared history. Who would have thought?
Going forward, though, Chicago P.D. is going to need to integrate her more fully into the team. One of the things that has worked better about this show in the past season or so has been that, even with individual episodes focused on different characters, the team dynamics have worked better. For years, Chicago P.D. was lagging way behind the other One Chicago shows and most other procedurals, to be honest, in the found family feeling. Now, they’re at least fighting the good fight.
Procedurals are pretty formulaic, and the formula can work when you care about the characters and the dynamics they have established. In Eva Imani, Chicago P.D. has another character we can invest in. The show would be better if we also had some different dynamics for her to really sink her teeth in. And okay, if that just means we get more of whatever relationships she and Voight are building, we will take that. But can we also ask for a conversation or two with Kim or something like that? Pretty please?
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 4 ‘Root Cause’? 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.
