Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
We’ve been long overdue for a Trudy-centric.
And make no mistake, Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 9 delivered on that with a powerful hour that dug into a grim reality behind many who wear the badge.
Amy Morton was an absolute masterclass in this hour, and it already has me selfishly wanting more of her.
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
An aptly titled “Heroes” pulls the veil back on one of the darker aspects of law enforcement, and we embarked on such a twisted journey as we, much like Trudy, wanted to believe that someone had murdered McKay.
What I liked about this hour of Chicago PD was that there was no single wrong approach to taking on this case. Under other circumstances, it would’ve been easy to dismiss Trudy as a woman in denial about what really happened to her friend and fighting off the obvious.
Trudy’s insistence that it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill suicide as her colleagues had suggested had some merit.
And frankly, I cannot imagine how I would’ve fared much better if my colleagues spoke about one of their own dying by suicide with such insouciance? Apathy? Detachment?
Therein lies the issue, though, right? When something happens with such frequency — or when it becomes such an ingrained part of the job, much like the substance abuse, especially the alcoholism– it’s hard to feel much of anything.
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Suddenly, colleagues become nothing more than statistics or cautionary tales. Suicide is just an unfortunate byproduct of the job that no one really wants to talk about. McKay is just a fellow hero who ate a bullet, and people move on.
The hour explores that in a really interesting way. It was simply a natural assumption for everyone who wasn’t Trudy. Throughout the hour, we also get little hints that suggest many others in his life were probably more aware that something was off with him.
Kate’s excuse to Trudy at the top of the hour rolled off her tongue with a practiced ease — the type of thing that you do when there are familial issues, but you want to protect image and keep outsiders out of your business.
And Inez’s brutally honest commentary about McKay painted a picture that somehow captured the duality of a person battling demons. She mentioned that he was always good for humor and laughs, but also for drinking.
How often do we know people with the darkest battles using humor and a false air of joviality to hide or deflect? And the drinking was another indicator.
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Trudy didn’t see all of that because she wasn’t around McKay regularly, and, as Burgess told her later, he didn’t want her to see it.
My heart ached for Trudy throughout. I went from being right there with her, gung-ho that McKay’s death wasn’t a suicide, to the doubts slowly creeping in as the hour progressed.
Burgess was the perfect person to express those doubts and investigate accordingly. I appreciate the idea that Burgess was using the very skills she had honed with Trudy, as one of her fledglings, while investigating the death of Trudy’s recruit.
She pushed back gently on some of Trudy’s assertions and theories, but then she pulled back when necessary, searched for facts and evidence to support her position, and did not approach Trudy with the unvarnished truth until she had done so.
Burgess is such a great investigator, and sometimes it gets lost in all the other hoopla on this show. I appreciated that this was an hour to showcase her strengths well, and that it involved two of her strongest dynamics outside of Ruzek.
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Sure, I missed Ruzek, but I also love it when Burzek gets to shine outside of one another.
Burgess was doing what any good detective does, following the evidence and investigating all angles, while Trudy was too blinded by emotion.
And to Trudy’s credit, some of her hunches were still right. Los Gatos were a big part of that ordeal. Rodriguez is the one who moved the body. They did break into McKay’s home, hoping to identify his informant, and the timing was unfortunate.
The full investigation resulted in them succeeding in wrapping up McKay’s last case, which he was working on before he died. It serves somewhat as a decent tribute to him. And fortunately, Inez didn’t end up dead either, a feat for a confidential informant on this show.
I loved the tension between Burgess and Trudy because it truly highlighted the layers of their friendship and how far they’ve come. They respect one another deeply, and they have space to disagree without ill will.
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
And Atwater will always have Burgess’s back. He’s the guy who quietly knows what’s going on or has suspicions, but he supports people in the way they need. I loved him letting Burgess know that he has her back whenever she needs it.
I also loved that when he wasn’t going Beast Mode on bad guys (which is hot; it’s always hot), he backed Trudy as she confronted Rodriguez. Burgess is Trudy’s prized mentee, but Atwater is always her favorite, and he is very protective of both of them.
Burgess found that phone was the clincher, though. As soon as they showed the final message and we could see a similar background, my heart broke for all. There was no longer any denying that McKay took his own life.
And I appreciated the fact that we were left wondering things like, “but why did he orchestrate the raid he wouldn’t be at? Why did he get Trudy involved? And so forth.
That’s, sadly, exactly how it is when someone takes their own life, and you struggle to grasp at the “whys.”
( Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
The final scene, with Burgess breaking the news to her and showing her some of the footage up to the traumatic point, was the best of the hour.
Trudy’s vulnerability in that moment was devastating—her voice cracking, the tears, and the fact that she could unravel like that with Kim—it was great scene work all around.
It’s been a while since we had a Trudy episode, but despite the heaviness of this one, it was compelling and raw, and what more can you ask for?
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics.
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