Chicago P.D. Season 14, Episode 6 ‘The Thin Grey Line’ takes advantage of the obvious chemistry between Benjamin Levy Aguilar and Arienne Mandi to pair Dante and Imani, and for a show that is right now held together by Burzek and the growing dynamic between Voight and Imani, it feels very good to have another relationship to root for, even if we don’t yet know what it is or what the show wants it to be.
Still, it’s been clear for a while that there’s something there, even if it’s just two people who recognize something similar in each other. Sometimes those things grow from actors who get along, and Levy Aguilar and Mandi were friends before they were both on the show, so this might just be one of those times where the show gets to take advantage of something that works in real life. But either way, it works, so who are we to complain?
We’re far from this being in any way romantic, but we also know very well how these things work on a procedural. Imani already has a very strong connection with Voight, one that at times feels like it’s somewhat parental on Voight’s part. I’m not saying that means that the show isn’t going to invest in her relationship with Torres to keep it platonic, but I am saying it’s likely this turns romantic at some point.
Chicago P.D. has had two ships before, and there’s no reason why they couldn’t have two again, all while continuing to build Donovan (Naiqui Macabroad) as kind of a wildcard, because he still doesn’t really have a strong connection with anyone and he’s very much not a team player yet. The loss of Kevin means that we need not just characters to invest in, but relationships. And this show has always been at its best when we care about these characters not just as individuals, but as a unit.
That’s another thing ‘The Thin Grey Line’ does well: it gives us enough moments of the unit to feel like this is a team, but it also gives a little context to Dante. And it does so by taking advantage of his heritage, but without making everything about his heritage. It’s a very fine line to walk, because Dante is the kind of character who can easily become a stereotype of a Latino man. But this episode isn’t about that; it’s about the kinship that comes with understanding what it’s like to be the outsider.
It’s the kind of thing the show hasn’t played much with, and it was particularly refreshing to see a Latino man and an Asian man find some common ground, even as the show plays with the dynamics of power and closed-off communities. Sometimes it feels like there’s so much division in the world that we end up with minorities pitted against each other, when we all should be supporting each other and uplifting each other as much as we can.
The show, of course, only suggests these things, and it doesn’t really have solutions. Because answers are not easy, and this is still a police procedural about catching “bad guys.” But as I’ve said before, Chicago P.D. is a much more interesting show when things are not black and white and when the episodes have little things we can dissect and dynamics we can invest in.
Even something as little as Imani telling Dante that he sees the good in people like that’s a compliment, instead of a problem, is something to hold onto. Just like the joke about Imani being Dante’s first friend, and her reaction afterwards to the realization that someone sees her. Someone cares. We’re far from the episodes of this show that felt like they were only about the case and nothing else. Now, it feels like Chicago P.D. is not just trying to get us to care, but that it finally understands how to do it. That’s a really good place to be fourteen seasons in.
MORE: Chicago P.D. Showrunner Gwen Sigan On Imani’s Future And Atwater’s ‘Great Sendoff’
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago P.D. Season 14, Episode 6 ‘The Thin Grey Line’? Share with us in the comments below!
Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
