Chicago PD Season 4 Episode 14 Review: Seven Indictments
Brittany Frederick
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If there was a lesson in Chicago PD Season 4 Episode 14, it was how well do you know the people you're closest to? "Seven Indictments" really wanted us to think that Kenny Rixton was a dirty cop, while the case of the week revealed a con artist who was pretending to live a double life.
Chicago Fire found two victims at the site of an intentionally set house explosion. One was already dead, presumed to be the house's lone tenant, while the other died on his way to Chicago Med.
The only good thing to come out of this was that it gave us an all too brief Colin Donnell cameo. Any time Colin Donnell turns up anywhere it's a good thing, even if he's only there for about thirty seconds. The Med team is getting short shrift on crossovers this week, between this and Marlyne Barrett's one line in Tuesday's Chicago Fire.
Fun cameos aside this plotline wound up being incredibly convoluted. First the body was the tenant, but nope, he was still alive. Then it was another guy, who actually turned out to have a third identity. And then the episode revealed he wasn't dead after all and was working with his wife this whole time.
It was like you needed a scorecard.
Torching the place is one way to get out of paying the rest of your lease.
Voight
But you probably guessed from the title of this episode that the house explosion was really the secondary story. The bulk of the episode was devoted to whether or not Rixton was hiding something from his days in Gang Unit.
Everyone was incredibly quick to pile on the new guy and start calling in favors to snoop around (hi, Antonio!). That might be more understandable if Rixton had just strolled in yesterday. But he's been with the team for a few weeks now; that hasn't earned him the benefit of the doubt?
It was particularly annoying to see Halstead leading the charge to impugn Rixton's character. Hey, Halstead, wasn't it just last week you were causing a scene because you thought no one believed you about Ellie? C'mon, man.
Here's where Chicago PD, and we as an audience, run into a dilemma. Rixton obviously has to go somewhere, because he's filling in for Ruzek, and Ruzek is coming back (which he did tonight but we'll get to that).
But Rixton has proven himself to be a great addition to the Intelligence Unit, and beyond that, Nick Wechsler has been an even better plus for the PD ensemble. So how does PD handle him? If they're going to write him out, it'd better not be something like this where they just push him aside.
Let's hope he gets to leave the unit with the respect he deserves. Or, you know, doesn't entirely leave and gets to come back for guest spots. That'd be fine too.
Voight: Don't say a word.
Rixton: I wouldn't mind coming clean.
The moment all PD fans will remember "Seven Indictments" for, though, is the return of Adam Ruzek. He just casually strolled up and told Burgess he bailed on Intelligence because he couldn't work with her.
And then he kissed her and Burzek fans everywhere fainted.
It's great that Ruzek will be back with the team, but having him go undercover just to avoid Burgess is the least interesting explanation for his absence. There are so many other things that could've been explored there. Maybe he had his own demon to slay, or was trying to advance his career.
But "I accepted a several-week job just to get away from my ex-fiancee" seems like something you do after a high school breakup. And then to have him kiss Burgess right afterward invalidates that. He so strongly can't work with her that he has to leave his whole life, but he can kiss her?
The explanation for that and for where he's been ought to be interesting.
Medical Examiner: And that super-nice guy you were engaged to, Adam Ruzek, is he still there?
Burgess: No.
Medical Examiner: Because of you?
"Seven Indictments' really didn't make anyone on the Intelligence Unit look good, except for Voight who's always on point. Everyone else felt like they lost some maturity points this week. And with a convoluted case that had its own drama, this episode was not one of PD's best hours.
Chicago PD continues next Wednesday, February 22 at 10/9c with Chicago PD Season 4 Episode 15, called "Favor, Affection, Malice or Ill Will." Say that three times fast. But if you want to re-watch "Seven Indictments" or catch up on any of Season 4 before then, you can watch Chicago PD online.
Leave your comments about this week's episode below. Are you glad Ruzek is back? What do you think will happen to Rixton? Do you think Voight was too hard or too easy on his team? Tell us your thoughts and we'll see how everything shakes out next week.
Brittany Frederick is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
