Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 12 ‘Missing‘ gives us more backstory on Eva Imani, but it also does a pretty great job of allowing Arienne Mandi to inhabit this character and make it her own. And though she’s been great in the first eleven episodes of the show, and her relationship with Voight in particular is about as interesting a dynamic as we’ve seen in this show in a while, this is the episode where everything clicks for Eva Imani.
Procedurals, especially ones like Chicago P.D., have to deliver a good case week after week. That sometimes feels like the hardest part, but it’s actually the easiest. Making the cases compelling has a trick, but it can be mastered. Making the characters you see every episode captivating, while also feeding us little things about them to keep us hooked, to make us want more, that’s harder.
Sometimes it feels like we don’t get enough. This show is guilty of often letting dynamics that should be explored more fall by the wayside. But with Imani, they’ve done a near flawless job of building her up little by little and then giving us this hour, an hour that bares her soul a little but that also makes it clear that there’s still so much left to be learned. So many more stories to tell.
A fair bit of this is on the writing, because you don’t build a character like this from scratch without a good plan and solid ideas, but Mandi gets a lot of the credit for turning Eva Imani into such an engaging character. She’s not brash to be brash, but she is sometimes more than a little pushy. She isn’t like Voight, not really, but in so many ways, she is. And we can see her soft parts and her sharp edges and understand where she’s coming from in an hour that presents her with a case that brings her sister’s disappearance to the forefront.
How would you react? How would I react? It’s hard to say I wouldn’t do the same as Eva Imani. That I wouldn’t still be obsessed with it, no matter how many years have passed. That I wouldn’t make it my entire life’s work. That I wouldn’t still be looking back, hoping this time it could be different. That’s why this storyline works, on paper. Why it works on screen is all Mandi.
This show has had many compelling characters in its time. Two of them are even returning next episode, for a crossover event that’s got everyone buzzing. I can’t say I expected Season 13 to provide me with another character I would enjoy as much as others that came before and have left. But here we are, and I admit I think this show is better for having Eva Imani. And that I, someone who has been here for years, feel like as long as the show can continue to deliver like they’ve done with her this season, I’m excited about what else they can do.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 13, Episode 12 ‘Missing’? 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.
