Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 7 Review: Trust Me
Jasmine Blu
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Somebody needs to step back from the unit because it can't keep functioning like this.
The tension between Halstead, Hailey, and Voight was at an all-time high on Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 7, and it affected their ability to close a drug ring case too much for comfort.
But we also got an introduction to Voight's new C.I., and she's fiery and perfectly suitable to work with Voight.
The season is going shootout crazy, aren't they? Every other episode, there's at least one big one, but this time around, one lost track of them.
Hell, they even shot up Halstead's truck!
It was the least of his worries with everything else that was going on between him, Voight, and Hailey. Kudos to Trudy for calling it as she saw it and tipping Voight off that the tension in the unit was palpable and noticeable.
Every moment we spend with the criminally underused Trudy is a cherished one, and not only is she observant as hell, but her interaction with Voight was more meaningful when we learned that it was Justin's birthday.
It hits you hard how many people Voight has lost over the years and how alone he's been for some time. Trudy is one of the only people left in his life who has known him for years, and as complicated as his relationship with his unit is, he deems them family in his way.
Unfortunately, the friction on the team tests that. It was another installment that felt like the unit would implode any second.
Hailey: You were a little hard on her.
Halstead: If Voight's not gonna be, someone should.
Their drug bust seemed easy peasy, and it should've wrapped up nicely with Ruzwater posing as buyers quite convincingly and making the exchange. The two of them going undercover is always a treat; their versatility and chameleon quality usually have them blending into any role with ease.
Luis jacking the dealers for their drugs and money and evading cops via shootout was unexpected. From that point forward, the case became more complicated than it ever needed to be, and between the tension with Halstead and Voight and Anna's unpredictability as a C.I., they barely managed to wrap this case up.
YOU's Carmela Zumbado as Anna is one of the most interesting new characters the show implemented in some time. It's been a while since we've had a recurring confidential informant, and she's a character you can't place.
Surprisingly, she brought too much attention to herself when she saved Halstead, and it was difficult to ignore her presence from that point forward.
Hailey: OK, you need to talk to me.
Jay: Hailey, I don't want to do this right now.
Hailey: No, we're not doing that anymore. It's not working. You're angry, Jay, I get that. You should be. But you're ignoring me, you're sniping at Voight, it's the wrong way to handle this.
Jay: Is that what you think? Can I not have a real argument against them, I have to back him all the time because you do?
Hailey: No, I don't, and just because I don't back you when you're challenging him doesn't mean I'm taking his side. I make my own choices, Jay. No one controls me, not him, and not you. I made my own choices that night. I showed up there. But I'm still me. You're acting like I'm not. You barely talk to me. I don't know what to do anymore.
Jay: I don't know either. I am doing the best that I can with it, Hailey. Right now this is the best that I got.
Anna did come across a bit flighty, and, understandably, someone who didn't interact with her directly about her full involvement as a C.I. with the DEA wouldn't view her as reliable. But as unpredictable as she came across, you felt compelled to trust in her as a viewer.
And that's what was a constant theme of this hour: trust.
Anna has that hunger in her eye and a need for vengeance. She's capable of playing the long game; otherwise, she wouldn't have spent all that time still sleeping with the man who had her brother killed.
Anna has an appreciation for the long game if it leads to retribution, and it's that hunger that keeps her more motivated than money. It's useful, and thus, so is she.
But she proved she colored outside of the lines when she showed up at Voight's house. We never found out how she got that information. Moving forward, I'm interested in her relationship with the DEA and what she has going on from that side of things.
She also admitted to hacking Luis' phone to obtain all of her information. It's illegal, but Voight didn't view it as a dealbreaker in the end.
All of this makes her a perfect C.I. for someone like Voight, and it makes sense that he'll potentially become attached to her. The timing of her presence with Justin's birthday and Voight pondering things like family can't be a coincidence.
Anna is feisty, and she can hold her own. She's savvy, and she keeps everyone on their toes. Anna had some close calls, and at any point, the investigation could've fallen apart because of her.
But in the end, she knows how to get the job done. And she's trusting in Voight to keep her off of the stand for her protection. The girl did all of her research and looked into him and his reputation.
She's unpredictable and a risky asset, but an effective one. Yet, something about her arrangement with Voight feels foreboding.
Halstead had a bug up his ass the entire time, and while it was reasonable that he had his doubts about Anna after that mishap with them going to the wrong location and missing Luis killing another person, he didn't handle it well.
Halstead can't argue about safety and doing what was best to avoid multiple deaths while placing Anna in danger.
Voight: What the hell are you doing?
Anna: Looking for you.
He didn't give her his vote of confidence when he wired her up to go into the house with Luis, and given the circumstances, maybe it was best if he kept the commentary and his opinion to himself.
He was too emotional on the case, and he allowed his animosity for Voight to affect every aspect of it. The worse part about it is that his self-righteous streak kept backfiring and came across counterproductive.
What they did know was that Anna was an experienced C.I. She knew the safe word she had to use, and she's somehow managed to stay alive all of these years because of her read on Luis. If anyone knew whether or not Luis would pull the trigger and kill Pablo or her, Anna did.
It looked dicey, no lie, and it would've been a mess if she read the situation wrong, but Voight opted to trust Anna, and Halstead should've stood down. Even Hailey was side-eyeing his rash decision to bumrush the place. She backed him, of course, because she's his partner, but they shouldn't have gone in there.
Ironically, Halstead was concerned that Luis would kill Pablo and Anna. He was also afraid that her cover would get blown. But by storming in there like that after they heard Luis suspected one or both people of snitching, he sealed their fate.
All Halstead did with that maneuver was confirm that someone was talking to the cops, thus endangering Anna and potentially blowing her cover. Oh, and yeah, he inadvertently got Pablo killed.
He didn't even recognize any of that. Anna narrowly escaped, and she still went back (albeit without telling them) to gift wrap Luis for them. She put herself in jeopardy and prompted him to hit her, which was enough to get him pulled over and lead to a car search.
Anna is smart as hell. So, no, it wasn't exactly the shock of a lifetime that she was the one who planted drugs in Luis' car. But leave it to Halstead to get wrapped up in that, blame Voight for it as if he told her to do it, and not see how his emotions interfered with the case at every turn.
Voight: No, you're not leaving yet. You can't disobey a direct order from me, that doesn't work. I can't have you in my unit if you don't trust me.
Halstead: Then kick me off of it, and why don't you go tell the unit and the brass why.
Voight: What do you want from me? What do you want?
Halstead: I don't trust you.
Begrudging kudos to Hailey for at least trying to talk to Halstead and reason with him. Finally, she spoke her peace and took accountability for her actions in this ordeal.
If Hailey isn't waging war against Voight over all of this, then why is Halstead? Hailey is taking more responsibility for her actions. She has stopped making herself a victim in all of this, but Halstead is still treating her as if she's this fragile woman susceptible to Voight's influence who needs to be protected.
From the sound of their quarrel at work, Halstead still isn't talking to her about what happened, and he admits that he can't look at her the same way as if things between them haven't changed.
It's refreshing to know that Halstead is feeling some way about what Hailey did. Although, he's still directing all of his ire at Voight and none of it toward her.
But overall, it feels more realistic that there's a cold war between the two, affecting their relationship somehow. No way on earth they can go on as if it's business as usual.
It's prime time for Upstead to take a break professionally. The unit should shift around the partners. There's no getting around the fact that the two of them being partners and romantically involved is literally affecting their ability to do their jobs right now.
Halstead is incapable of keeping a cool head right now, and he can't work with Voight. He's never trusted him much anyway, but he can't separate his personal feelings from the professional ones this time.
He came at Voight hard after the case, and there's no way that the two of them can work alongside each other right now, but what is the solution?
Let's be honest; Voight isn't going anywhere, but as much as Halstead gripes about how Voight does things, he never wants to leave either. His idea of pushing that boundary was to imply that if he does exit the unit, he'll be sharing what he knows about Roy.
Of course, even as a veiled threat, Hailey goes down too.
Regardless of Halstead's feelings, it's spilling over into the unit, and that's dangerous. The family is fractured, and that affects everyone within it.
Halstead is entitled to his feelings, and some of us can relate to him and support him in that while others don't. But surely, we can all agree that the unit can't keep functioning like this.
Voight: How are you getting your intel?
Anna: I hacked Luis' phone. I didn't want to tell you because it's illegal.
The question is, what is the solution here? Hailey has shown that she'll back Halstead even when she disagrees with him. If he goes down a road of coming after Voight, I don't know if he'll be on the winning side of things.
The way it's set up, Halstead could be against Voight and the rest of the unit.
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics. What's your impression of Anna? Do you think Halstead was out of line during this case? Hit the comments below!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
