SPOILER ALERT AND WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chicago PD Season 13, Episode 20. It also contains discussion of sexual content.
The one significant flaw of Chicago PD Season 13, Episode 20 is that it’s obvious that it’s part one of a two-part story. That means there’s only so much “The Lost Years” can do. But otherwise, actor Arienne Mandi takes the whole episode on her back, delivering another standout performance just as the NBC series finally gets to where it has to go.
Chicago PD has done a lot of single-character focused episodes over the last several years, but Episode 20 is one of the most focused hours in a long time. It very much is Imani’s story, with even Voight serving in more of a secondary role, and Mandi is the unequivocal driver of the episode. She’s in almost every scene, and required to be in a heightened emotional state for most of that screen time. If anyone somehow still wasn’t sure she fit into this show, this episode proves it.
Anyone following Season 13 with any regularity knew that it would have to end by resolving the mystery surrounding Imani’s sister Shari. That thread was the big hook for Imani as a character, so it doesn’t make any sense to keep it dangling past the end of her first season. It’s also a welcome change of pace for Chicago PD to do a finale story that’s not, to some degree, about whatever Hank Voight did or didn’t do. Voight gets put on the hook for a lot of things in this universe, so it’s interesting to have the end of the season come down to someone else for a change—at least for now.
That’s because since “The Lost Years” clearly is going to leave a lot open-ended for the Chicago PD Season 13 finale, the episode is a different kind of viewing experience. The investigation moves much more slowly compared to a self-contained episode. One of the best scenes is when Imani, after seeing where her sister’s friend was murdered, has to go outside and calm herself down. It’s an extended moment where there’s no dialogue and no sound other than the ambient noise. The camera just allows the audience to sit with Mandi’s performance and see the emotion she’s conveying. That’s so rare on any TV show, but particularly on the fast-paced Chicago PD, and it’s deeply appreciated.
Yet the audience knows that Intelligence won’t capture Shari Imani’s abductor by the end, so there’s a certain amount of detachment, even as Imani is pursuing him in a brief car chase. Viewers are aware she’s not going to get anywhere. Plus, the script co-written by Gavin Harris and showrunner Gwen Sigan also manages to make this one of the creepiest stories that Chicago PD has ever done by revealing that the suspect raised Shari as her fake parent for years, before becoming her husband slash pimp. It’s deeply uncomfortable, even by this show’s standards. At least there’s a semi-happy ending. Shari may not recognize Eva, but she’s recovered and alive, as opposed to other episodes like Season 11’s “The Living and the Dead” where viewers just watched characters they cared about face terrible fates.
Ultimately, “The Lost Years” is Eva Imani’s journey that she gets to take as an individual character. Not only does the episode showcase more of Imani in different ways (including the obligatory scene in which she loses her temper after previously assuring Voight that she can work the case), but it also has a few moments that flesh out the friendship between Imani and Dante Torres. There was emphasis on Eva and Voight’s dynamic earlier in Season 14, but Imani and Torres is a really good pairing as well, and one that could lift both characters. After the wringer that Chicago PD put Torres through, it’d be great to see him use his experience as the previous rookie on the team to help Imani along her way.
This is a difficult episode to watch, and one that very much feels unfinished, on purpose. Those two things hold it back in certain respects. But it’s worth watching because of the outstanding performance by Arienne Mandi, as she proves that she has staying power. Chicago PD has had its share of very short-lived new recruits, but “The Lost Years” is clear evidence that Mandi can be part of this show for, well, years to come.
Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 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.
