Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 10 ‘Faith‘ is a pretty good case episode, but it’s mostly that, a case episode. The highlight of the hour might just be how good Torres and Imani are together, something that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who knows Arienne Mandi and Benjamin Levy Aguilar were friends before Mandi even came on Chicago P.D., but that still feels like a breath of fresh air.
The seamless way they work as a unit feels like another thing the show got right by bringing Imani in. She’s already proven to be a very good foil to Voight, and now she’s working very well with Torres. That’s a net positive on a show that once lived off the established dynamics between its characters, but that has, too often lately, relied on just telling individual stories to the detriment of relationships.
Kevin and Kim are still friends, but we haven’t gotten anything more than tiny moments from the two of them in ages. The same goes for Kevin and Adam. Dante has been an island until this episode with Imani. Voight had his moments with Chapman, but hasn’t really had a dynamic like the one he has with Imani in a while, either. And sure, we have Adam and Kim, but even that we don’t get much of outside their centric episodes.
It’s hard to believe one character can make that much of a difference, but the Dante Torres of this episode is proof of concept. Dante has always been an interesting character, even if not one the show always knows how to use. His best moments are not when the show is fixating on his past or his family, but when he’s allowed to emotionally connect.
We had that at first, with Jay. Then, that carried over a bit with Hailey. But after those characters left, we were stuck with a Dante that was only humanized by the very things that made him a little stereotypical. And we wanted more from Dante than for him to be just another Latino cop from a rough neighborhood who loves his mom.
This Odell Morgan case has given him that. Imani has given him that this episode. He feels like a deeper, more interesting character because we can see behind the mask, and because this particular case hits close to home for him. It’s a good sign for his character in the long term, and for the show as well. Because the thing is, this formula works.
You don’t even need all characters to have prominent roles every episode. Don’t have to balance out every storyline. You can decide to focus on one person per hour. But those stories should still be grounded in the relationships between the series regulars. It’ll make it so we remain invested.
What next? Well, hopefully, next time we have an Imani episode, we can have Dante a little more involved, even if it’s still mostly Eva and even Voight. Again, different dynamics can coexist. We just need the hints that the show remembers what it’s built and that what these characters have gone through matters. That makes it easier to care.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 10 ‘Faith’? 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.
