SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago PD Season 14, Episode 3.
“Under the Surface” is a typical Chicago PD episode. It hits all the story beats that the NBC show’s viewers are used to and not much more. That’s because it’s clear that the episode was written with an eye toward Chicago PD Season 14’s ongoing subplot, more than anything else.
The case of the week is suitably grim for the series: a teenage Black girl’s body is found, chopped up in pieces with the pieces put into blue shopping bags, after a tip from one of Hank Voight’s old informants. This is the same show that’s seen murder victims stuffed in barrels (“The Living and the Dead”) and other bodies pulled out of the water (“In the Dark”) before, so it’s par for the course. What follows is fairly usual, with the team tracking down the shady character—in this case a drug dealer—who committed the violent murder, the weekly chase scene, and another Chicago PD twist that reminds fans how morally grey Voight’s world is.
Fans can be satisfied that the bad guy is brought to justice, and everyone has a part to play. But “Under the Surface” is really about the conflict that exists between Voight and FBI agent Charlie Boyden. This is the first real substantive screen time that actor Kyle Selig has gotten since Charlie clumsily bumped into Voight early in the Season 14 premiere. And the crux of the episode is Voight having to turn to Charlie for help in order to close his case.
This is the right time for that kind of exposition. The premiere had to introduce Charlie in the first place, and Episode 2 needed to be devoted to the exit of LaRoyce Hawkins as Kevin Atwater. So Episode 3 is the first chance Chicago PD has to explain who Charlie really is and why the One Chicago fandom should care about him. There even seems to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to this dilemma, when Voight points out that things like this happen to him “every year or two.” But what makes Charlie Boyden different from Denny Woods or Charlie Reid is what Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan mentioned in our interview: he’s a good guy, instead of some jerk with an axe to grind.
The episode’s writer Jonathan Abrahams needs a few minutes to get the tone of Charlie right; his initial scenes, including briefly showing up on the street, are actually too awkward. It’s fine that Charlie is unpolished, but he still has to be taken seriously, and early on he gives off serious DiNozzo on NCIS vibes. Except on NCIS, DiNozzo has a legitimate reason to show up unannounced at a crime scene, being the agency’s director. It’s not until the end of the episode that Voight (and viewers) get a true sense of Charlie, as he does a good deed by putting in a call to Chief Washburn to find extra funds for the remaining missing persons cases. Charlie also explains why he became an FBI agent: as a native of Flint, Michigan, he saw his loved ones directly affected by the Flint water crisis.
Having a character who isn’t trying to one-up Voight is refreshing, because even with talented actors like Shawn Hatosy and Mykelti Williamson, there’s only so many times viewers can watch someone pick a fight with Voight. And it’s also nice that Charlie cares about the world beyond Intelligence; it reminds viewers that what they’re seeing isn’t happening in a vacuum, and gives them a legitimate reason to root for him. He’s essentially Lauren Graham in NewsRadio, but at least he’s genuinely trying to do good, not just present to antagonize Voight. As long as the writers don’t Flanderize him, if they can find that sweet spot between awkward and serious, he could be an entertaining character and even potentially an ally in the future. That’d also be different than a Chicago PD character’s former partner or mentor coming back only to cause them problems.
“Under the Surface” is largely about establishing who Charlie Boyden is and what he wants, and proving that Voight is wrong in his initial read of him. The case of the week, while entertaining, serves a function more than anything else. This episode may not have any headline-grabbing moments in it specifically, but its character development is likely to pay off later in Season 14.
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.
