Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 6 ‘Send Me‘ is a very solid case episode. It’s just not a great Dante episode, because the episode is hardly about Dante. Dante is just there as a way to serve the case. And sure, the hour gives him a chance to showcase his empathy, even while he’s ostensibly a victim. Plus, it sees him put himself into questionable situations, all because he really, really wants to save someone. But that’s not enough. This show has never been great at giving people a worthwhile storyline, but this fact is especially true of Dante.
Even Kevin, who has had the same kind of storylines over and over, has gotten a little bit more than Dante in the development department. Though if we’re being fair, Kevin has also been around for much longer. So perhaps the two are more alike than the show wants us to realize. Because, in the end, Chicago P.D. has no clue what to do with either character or how to write them to be compelling without falling into the same hole, over and over.
Dante has been spiraling and making bad decisions for a while, but his bad decisions aren’t even interesting, because we rarely get the explore what’s beneath them. He’s the token “move the plot along” character. He does what the show needs him to when the show requires it, but he gets very little depth while doing so. Even in this hour, when the show basically telegraphs what’s behind his decision to help Morgan, we still don’t learn all that much about Dante.
And this is, perhaps, not even the best episode to complain about these things. Of all the episodes Dante has gotten, ‘Send Me’ is at least an interesting hour with a different format than others. And it allows Benjamin Levy Aguilar a chance to showcase a little more than the one note he always gets to play. You can see in his face as he starts to believe Morgan, as he is looking for a way to help him. You can see how much it means to him to be able to do something.
What that says about who Dante is as a person isn’t surprising considering the little we know of his backstory. What it says about Voight that he saw the footage of the moment Dante stopped being a prisoner and decided to keep it “in-house” isn’t all that surprising, either, considering it’s Voight. And the fact that, in the end, we don’t even get a good ending, well… it’s Chicago P.D. That’s not surprising either.
And the worst part is that, once again, we didn’t really learn anything about Dante. Nothing happened that made us understand him more. Nothing transpired that brought him closer to the team he actually spends every day with. And there wasn’t even a standout scene that made us think, “Oh, this is why we got this episode.” No, this was just an hour of TV that filled a spot, and that’s it. And we’re really, really going to need more of this show with not just Dante, but all characters.
Plus, would it kill Chicago P.D. to give someone a happy ending every once in a while?
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 6 ‘Send Me’? 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.
