SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago PD Season 13, Episode 6.

Dante Torres’ angsty ride continues in Chicago PD Season 13, Episode 6. Torres hasn’t been in a good headspace since last season, but the NBC show adds more weight onto his shoulders in “Send Me.” It feels like this episode would have been better if anyone but Torres was in the lead.

That’s simply because Torres has been through enough. Kim Burgess has been through a ton of physical trauma on Chicago PD, and Dante Torres seems to be having the same problem but emotionally. Torres hasn’t felt like the character audiences knew and loved in a long time, and the writers already reinforced that with Season 13, Episode 2, in which Torres had to deal with the abduction and murder of one of his own neighbors. As a result, “Send Me” doesn’t tell viewers anything about Dante Torres that they don’t already know—and wish would change.

This is not a knock on actor Benjamin Levy Aguilar, who once again digs into Torres’ pain and his want to help people against all odds. He can only work with what he’s given, and he’s done more than enough to show how much Torres is suffering. “Send Me” is essentially a two-hander, in which Torres is held hostage by Odell Morgan, who claims he’s innocent of the murder of his wife Simone. Chicago PD Season 5 had an episode called “Captive” which was very similar, except it was Kevin Atwater who was stuck with a bad guy. That episode was much more effective, although it also boasted ER alum Mekhi Phifer as the co-lead, too.

“Send Me” doesn’t work as well because it doesn’t get to dig as deep into either character. “Captive” felt almost claustrophobic at times, literally and metaphorically, as viewers watched the back and forth between Phifer and LaRoyce Hawkins. “Send Me” has Torres and Morgan going from place to place, instead of staying in one place together, so there’s not that tense stillness. The conversation also feels less even, with mostly Morgan talking to Torres. Torres is more of a means for Morgan to help himself, rather than the story being about both of them.

There are moments when Chicago PD hints that being able to help Morgan is Torres not only doing the right thing, but also proving to himself that he still has value. But that doesn’t get explored enough as screen time is devoted to the duo driving around, and Intelligence trying to catch up with them. That idea is mostly communicated through Benjamin Levy Aguilar’s performance, in his expressions and particularly in the fourth act, his line delivery. And there’s no sense at the end that Torres has changed, or learned anything, or gotten any shred of hope out of this because of the predictable ending.

Chicago PD has a tendency to opt for the bad conclusion, so that it leaves the audience with that last bit of angst or drama. “Send Me” is frustratingly random and open-ended in its final few minutes. Just after Odell Morgan gets the key witness against him to admit that he was told to lie, said witness is shot out of nowhere and essentially dies on the spot. This plot twist comes out of the blue, and as if that’s not enough, Morgan himself dies in surgery so he’ll never get to know if his name is cleared. The script throws viewers a crumb when Torres goes to Morgan’s daughter’s home to inform her of her father’s innocence. But Chicago PD provides little answers as to who is behind the frame job, or if they’ll ever be caught. The viewer is left to fill in the blanks.

The only real winner in this episode is Amy Morton as Trudy Platt. She gets more screen time than she has in many Chicago PD episodes, and it’s perfect. From the opening rant Trudy has about Mouch putting her on “silent,” to the fact that Trudy gets out from behind the desk and briefly into the field, Morton has more to do and unsurprisingly steals every scene she’s in. Yet this isn’t a Trudy episode; it’s meant to be a Torres episode.

What would have been more satisfying was for everyone to live, and Torres could have the knowledge that he helped fix something. He could still reopen the case himself or it could go to someone else, but that sense of accomplishment would then be the first step to him crawling out of his hole. And if Burgess had come to him (and therefore the audience) with any more evidence about the real criminals, even if they weren’t caught, it would satisfy the audience too. Just knowing that the police are on the trail is an ending, even if they’re not caught on screen. But most of all, Torres has been stuck in the same place for long enough. “Send Me” is an opportunity to get him moving forward again, and Chicago PD doesn’t take it.

Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.