S07.E05: Brother's Keeper

[jewel21]

A murder in a Bulgarian neighborhood results in a challenging investigation when locals won't talk to police. Ruzek has a clash with a patrol officer.

Airdate: 10.23.2019

[SuzieQ]

I can't even believe how stupid and contrived that "beef" was between Ruzek and Patrol.  I literally laughed out loud in the last scene.  All the training officer had to do was cut the guy in the car loose, so he wasn't totally faultless here.  Ugh! That was bad!

[preeya]

1 hour ago, SuzieQ said:

I can't even believe how stupid and contrived that "beef" was between Ruzek and Patrol.  I literally laughed out loud in the last scene.  All the training officer had to do was cut the guy in the car loose, so he wasn't totally faultless here.  Ugh! That was bad!

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

What did Voight do with the Bulgarian? Who took the rap, the son or the father?

[ECM1231]

1 minute ago, preeya said:

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

What did Voight do with the Bulgarian? Who took the rap, the son or the father?

Looked like Voight was pinning the rap on the father.

[Guildford]

That cop was a bully & Ruzek had every right to stand up to him, and why was Kev okay with it?  Telling him just because he missed patrol he had no business trying to protect a rookie. That was poor Kev. Way to stand up for your partner & a young kid just learning the job. I bet he remembers that Ruzek stood up for him.

The whole feud thing was contrived, it was pathetic & patrol not turning up over that, they all should be on suspension. If a little disagreement, and let's face it it was the equivalent of someone stealing the last cupcake at a picnic can cause the entire Chicago PD Patrol to not respond to fellow officers being shot at then it says more about Patrol than Ruzek. 

Werner shouldn't just get a 3 day suspension he should be removed from training. You can be tough on someone but he belittled & bullied him.

The ending was pathetic & just what I'd expect from Eid, really? Cops punching on, it's not fucking high school....In saying that I hope Ruzek decked him.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Guildford
.

[The Ringo Kidd]

It is always more important to make the police look bad than to tell a story. That’s what the show is all about.

Police not showing up at a scene is not due to some bullshit feud but to people throwing water on them or rioting even when the perps are armed and just committed a violent crime. The best they can hope for is that they just throw water on them. Police are pulling back all over the country and will show when it is all over to mop up.

[UNOSEZ]

The T.O was training the rook most of the officers were trained.. Of course Ruzek who didn't go thru that would be all on his high horse... Secondly Ruzek abuses a (dbag)  man in custody in front of a rookie and T.O and then asks him to sweep it under the table,  because he's got other things going on... The T.O refuses.. But writes it up to keep intelligence out of harms way so they can continue their investigation.. Gets in trouble.. Gets suspended may lose the right to be a T.O and Ruzek sends him money... Not even face to face but thru Trudy?  He deserves more than a fair one with that T.O....  Of course the show loves Ruzek so they had to have patrol not show up when intelligence needed them so things seemed somewhat equitable.. I don't see the show making rojas some super sleuth.. To be honest this was a pretty good team effort this week

[rhys]

I'm baffled as to how the DA is going to make the charges stick. Voigt walks (breaks?) into that house, searches & finds the gun all without a warrant? Perhaps I missed something.

[UNOSEZ]

21 minutes ago, rhys said:

I'm baffled as to how the DA is going to make the charges stick. Voigt walks (breaks?) into that house, searches & finds the gun all without a warrant? Perhaps I missed something.

You didn't.. Were not supposed to care oncebwe know who did it.. And the main point of the epi was to say Ruzek us a dummy... But sobare Patrol 

[mommalib]

6 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

The T.O was training the rook most of the officers were trained.. Of course Ruzek who didn't go thru that would be all on his high horse... Secondly Ruzek abuses a (dbag)  man in custody in front of a rookie and T.O and then asks him to sweep it under the table,  because he's got other things going on... The T.O refuses.. But writes it up to keep intelligence out of harms way so they can continue their investigation.. Gets in trouble.. Gets suspended may lose the right to be a T.O and Ruzek sends him money... Not even face to face but thru Trudy?  He deserves more than a fair one with that T.O....  Of course the show loves Ruzek so they had to have patrol not show up when intelligence needed them so things seemed somewhat equitable.. I don't see the show making rojas some super sleuth.. To be honest this was a pretty good team effort this week

I can't stand Ruzek and in my mind that T.O. beat the crap out of him. I wish they had let us see that.

[sweetandsour]

Ugh.  This show.  Look, I take responsibility for continuing to watch shows that I think are often poor quality and then posting about that poor quality.  That's a choice I'm making - I can easily do the opposite.  But.  I don't!

Anyway, I posted earlier about how Voight handled Anne Heche killing Kelton was mostly a retread of how he handled Ray Price - confronting her and then letting her go about it the way she chose.  And so was this.  This time, he confronted the guy he had developed some kind of rapport with (obviously to a lesser degree with Vasil than Price) in his home and lets that guy take the rap for a murder Voight knows he didn't commit, but is just covering for a loved family member.  Like, come on, guys.  It's been, what - not even ten episodes since the Price downfall and four episodes since the Anne Heche one?  The writers can't muster up any more smidgens of originality?

Regarding Ruzek, the whole Chicago block is basically 3 hours of Jerks R Us that totally gets away with it from a viewership/ratings perspective bc they are procedural shows that are easy to follow and digest.  Nothing to do with the quality or lack thereof.  So Ruzek is just part of this long-standing pattern.

And re: Ruzek and Kim being so tired (I think they were trying to show that she was tired in the backseat with Ruzek and Atwater during the stakeout - not that she was bored of the stakeout) - what's that supposed to be telling us?  That they're so busy banging each other all night, every night that they're so sleep-deprived?

"A man is dead," Voight says to Vasil.  "I can't just forget that."  Unless it's personal to HIM and it involves HIS own son and someone who killed HIS beloved family member.  Then Voight can definitely forget it, and spend all season trying to cover it up, and then end up with his best friend murdered in prison because of it, but oh well!  Voight's not Voight if he doens't have a set of rules that only applies to himself.

[SG11]

I don’t see what Ruzek did that was so bad regarding the punk. He was telling them to bug off nonstop, then calls Atwater a “boy.” In case anyone missed it, he doubles down and says he’s not “woke.” I would rattled his cage too. Good for Ruzek. 

Thats one reason the FTO easily said they would take the hit for Ruzek, besides both being blue. Ruzek did disrespect the FTO repeatedly and showed him up. He acted pretty superior for no reason. Seems never finishing the academy leaves him pretty tone-deaf.

The FTO wanted respect at the end so he requested it in the alley. I liked the scene, and the fact they didn’t spoon-feed you the result. 

Too bad Wolf is only interested in trying to make cops look bad every chance he can.

[SG11]

5 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

Ugh.  This show.  Look, I take responsibility for continuing to watch shows that I think are often poor quality and then posting about that poor quality.  That's a choice I'm making - I can easily do the opposite.  But.  I don't!

Anyway, I posted earlier about how Voight handled Anne Heche killing Kelton was mostly a retread of how he handled Ray Price - confronting her and then letting her go about it the way she chose.  And so was this.  This time, he confronted the guy he had developed some kind of rapport with (obviously to a lesser degree with Vasil than Price) in his home and lets that guy take the rap for a murder Voight knows he didn't commit, but is just covering for a loved family member.  Like, come on, guys.  It's been, what - not even ten episodes since the Price downfall and four episodes since the Anne Heche one?  The writers can't muster up any more smidgens of originality?

Regarding Ruzek, the whole Chicago block is basically 3 hours of Jerks R Us that totally gets away with it from a viewership/ratings perspective bc they are procedural shows that are easy to follow and digest.  Nothing to do with the quality or lack thereof.  So Ruzek is just part of this long-standing pattern.

And re: Ruzek and Kim being so tired (I think they were trying to show that she was tired in the backseat with Ruzek and Atwater during the stakeout - not that she was bored of the stakeout) - what's that supposed to be telling us?  That they're so busy banging each other all night, every night that they're so sleep-deprived?

"A man is dead," Voight says to Vasil.  "I can't just forget that."  Unless it's personal to HIM and it involves HIS own son and someone who killed HIS beloved family member.  Then Voight can definitely forget it, and spend all season trying to cover it up, and then end up with his best friend murdered in prison because of it, but oh well!  Voight's not Voight if he doens't have a set of rules that only applies to himself.

So, Voight isn’t allowed to work Murder cases anymore? The fact is Voight went to him man to man and asked him to help with the investigation instead of participating in vigilantism. The kid zipped his lip twice and Vasil knew it.  They carried out a hit. So, Vasil takes the fall. His call.

And the Ruzek and Kim tired thing? If you ever sat in a car for hours and did stakeout you would know why they were yawning.

[sweetandsour]

1 hour ago, SG11 said:

So, Voight isn’t allowed to work Murder cases anymore? The fact is Voight went to him man to man and asked him to help with the investigation instead of participating in vigilantism. The kid zipped his lip twice and Vasil knew it.  They carried out a hit. So, Vasil takes the fall. His call.

And the Ruzek and Kim tired thing? If you ever sat in a car for hours and did stakeout you would know why they were yawning.

At the beginning of the episode, they made it a point to show Atwater's commenting that Ruzek was already having another cup of coffee, so it did seem like they were saying Ruzek was atypically tired or in need of caffeine.  That's what I meant about them seeming to be so tired - they dropped it as an anvil for Ruzek and implied it for Kim.  We can agree to disagree.

We can agree to disagree about Voight, too.  From my perspective, yes, he is a hypocrite.  It just doesn't work for the show to have him pay for it the way he brings other people into the criminal justice system to pay for murders they were involved in or are taking the fall for.

[spunky]

I have no sympathy what so ever for the training officer, because he was being a bully to the recruit. Ruzek should have never gotten physical with the suspect much less in plain view of patrol. I get that he was upset because the fool called Kevin a "boy" and then said he's not "woke". I seems that Adam played right into that fool's hands and caused a chain reaction of trouble.  When Kevin beat the snot out of the racist cop, it was definitely warranted because he almost got killed because of the color of his skin. This training officer wanting to fight Ruzek just proves Adam's point, that he is a bully.  Kevin continues to shine and he and Rojas make a great team. I can definitely get behind a Kevin and Vanessa romance. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by spunky

[UNOSEZ]

13 hours ago, SG11 said:

I don’t see what Ruzek did that was so bad regarding the punk. He was telling them to bug off nonstop, then calls Atwater a “boy.” In case anyone missed it, he doubles down and says he’s not “woke.” I would rattled his cage too. Good for Ruzek. 

Thats one reason the FTO easily said they would take the hit for Ruzek, besides both being blue. Ruzek did disrespect the FTO repeatedly and showed him up. He acted pretty superior for no reason. Seems never finishing the academy leaves him pretty tone-deaf.

The FTO wanted respect at the end so he requested it in the alley. I liked the scene, and the fact they didn’t spoon-feed you the result. 

Too bad Wolf is only interested in trying to make cops look bad every chance he can.

Well Adam smashed the guy's face a few times.. And in front of a rookie... Then wanted the T.O to sweep it away... 

I get Adams anger anytime my older sister ( biologically half-sister)  even gets a semi- inkling that something racial is pointed my way or my younger half-siblings... She goes nuclear  I've had to pull her back more than once

[The Ringo Kidd]

So if you say you are not woke you get your face banged against the door and tuned up by out of control cops. Good to know.

[SG11]

1 hour ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

So if you say you are not woke you get your face banged against the door and tuned up by out of control cops. Good to know.

No, the statement actually was, the guy called Atwater “boy.” Maybe that part was missed. Then the guy doubled down and said he wasn’t woke.

Im not remotely woke and never, ever will be, but when a guy tosses a racial slur at a black guy, then doubles down with sarcasm like “I’m not woke,” to show how much he doesn’t care about what someone thinks of the racist slur, yes he absolutely deserves to get his face banged against the door. Multiple times.

Good for Adam.

[spunky]

15 hours ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

So if you say you are not woke you get your face banged against the door and tuned up by out of control cops. Good to know.

A white man calling a black man "boy" is racist, unless they have a friendship and that's how they communicate with each other. The tone in which that fool said the word "boy" to Kevin was indeed racist, and then stating that he's not "woke" when he realized he offended Kevin was again him being racist. You don't have to call someone the N word or shoot an unarmed person who is eating ice cream or playing video games in the confines of their own home to be racist. 

13 hours ago, SG11 said:

No, the statement actually was, the guy called Atwater “boy.” Maybe that part was missed. Then the guy doubled down and said he wasn’t woke.

Im not remotely woke and never, ever will be, but when a guy tosses a racial slur at a black guy, then doubles down with sarcasm like “I’m not woke,” to show how much he doesn’t care about what someone thinks of the racist slur, yes he absolutely deserves to get his face banged against the door. Multiple times.

Good for Adam.

Say it one more time for the people in the back!

[greyhorse]

What a dumb episode.  So the whole tiff between Ruzek and the blues was because he roughed up the perp in the patrol car, and then the cop took the blame?  What does going mano a mano at the end in some fenced in deserted lot do to solve anything?  How does that improve their relationship moving forward?  Whoever won the fight, wouldn't there always be some lingering hostility between them?  And how does the fight end?  When one of them is lying unconscious on the ground?  Just so stupid.

Recruit looked like he could still be in high school.

Son clamming up and pretending to not know the shooter was so obvious.  And how idiotic to keep the gun under your mattress after you used it to kill somebody. 

[Lyanna19]

Ok does I miss see something? I thought that guy spit at Rusek? Plus the racial slur, and that's what triggered the beating? 

[Guildford]

11 hours ago, Lyanna19 said:

Ok does I miss see something? I thought that guy spit at Rusek? Plus the racial slur, and that's what triggered the beating? 

I thought I remembered the spitting as well.

Edited October 29, 2019 by Guildford

[AnnA]

10 hours ago, Lyanna19 said:

Ok does I miss see something? I thought that guy spit at Rusek? Plus the racial slur, and that's what triggered the beating? 

2 hours ago, Guildford said:

I thought I remember the spitting as well.

Me three!

[SuzieQ]

On 10/25/2019 at 1:37 AM, SG11 said:

The FTO wanted respect at the end so he requested it in the alley. I liked the scene, and the fact they didn’t spoon-feed you the result. 

Really hoping Ruzek is all beat up in this week's episode.

[AnnA]

Can someone please explain why the Intelligence Unit has photos that easily stick to the white board?   Other cop shows have to use magnets.  I have a hard time trying to figure out what printer spews magnetic photos. 

Edited October 29, 2019 by AnnA

[Guildford]

5 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

Really hoping Ruzek is all beat up in this week's episode.

😂You're funny...expecting this show to have any follow up or continuity.

I would be seriously shocked if it's even mentioned or hinted at again.

[Lyanna19]

3 hours ago, AnnA said:

Can someone please explain why the Intelligence Unit has photos that easily stick to the white board?   Other cop shows have to use magnets.  I have a hard time trying to figure out what printer spews magnetic photos. 

Maybe they use that sticky tack that they use in schools, idk never thought about it, 😂 

[AnnA]

23 hours ago, Lyanna19 said:

Maybe they use that sticky tack that they use in schools, idk never thought about it, 😂 

Maybe.   Anything is possible but if they did, I never noticed them adding anything to a photo.  They usually pull those photos out of a file.   If there was something sticky on the back they would have stuck to the file.    I'll keep watching to see if I can figure it out.  

ETA:   I know it's not important but it's typical of me to get hung up on a little detail.   

Edited October 31, 2019 by AnnA

[SG11]

3 hours ago, AnnA said:

Maybe.   Anything is possible but if they did, I never noticed them adding anything to a photo.  They usually pull those photos out of a file.   If there was something sticky on the back they would have stuck to the file.    I'll keep watching to see if I can figure it out.  

ETA:   I know it's not important but it's typical of me to get hung up on a little detail.   

I have trouble getting used to the fact that they were given an integrated digital board with all the research sources that can link to it and Alvin was the genius who told Mouse to get rid of it and get the old 1968 whiteboard back.

Most squads would give anything for current equipment like that even if they have a Flip Phone Alvin still working there. Surprised Voight, given the status Intelligence supposedly has, would that that piece get away. They could have them side by side. 

[misstwpherecool]

Ruzek was stupid especially since everyone including himself knows he can't do time or that being a cop is a life. So what does he do puts it all in jeopardy shortly after getting the luckiest break of his life.

Preachy but point was brought up when the TO basically said he needs dirt on the rookie to control him. Training Day goes on in many jobs not just law enforcement across America everyday. There are always those employees charged with a newbie that will test them to see what they can get away with in their presence. People also need to validate their own behavior.

And Fight Club in the alley? Really. This is grade school stuff.

[SnarkySheep]

Is it just me or does anyone else feel Rojas is a superfluous character? They already have two females on the team, and as it is, they don't give some characters enough screen time without adding someone else.

[SG11]

2 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

Is it just me or does anyone else feel Rojas is a superfluous character? They already have two females on the team, and as it is, they don't give some characters enough screen time without adding someone else.

I agree with this. I thought she was brought in to finally give Atwater a love interest, but now she essentially adds nothing to the show. 3 females does seem like a lot for that mix, frankly. Did they need to replace the Missing Hispanic when Antonio went off to Druggieland? I don’t see anything she brings to the table.

I actually miss Lindsay, even though her real-life actor is an insufferable jerk. Kinda miss Alvin, too. Don’t miss Antonio one bit, and I still wonder why Voight keeps Halstad around. I can tolerate Haley when she’s not judging her fellow officers. Burgess and Atwater are the bright spots and Ruzek, yeah he’s a dope but I love his uncompromising pro cop pro brother attitude.  I still think they need to bring back all the scenes with Trudy at the front desk, that’s such a loss now.

[SnarkySheep]

34 minutes ago, SG11 said:

I actually miss Lindsay, even though her real-life actor is an insufferable jerk. Kinda miss Alvin, too. Don’t miss Antonio one bit, and I still wonder why Voight keeps Halstad around. 

The thing that was best about Lindsay, IMO, was that her presence brought out another, more personal, side of Voight and developed his character more fully. Now she's gone, his wife, son and best friend are dead, and there is absolutely nothing in his life that's non PD.

IIRC, Halstead is supposedly The World's Best Sharpshooter...or at least that's what they said back in S1 when Halstead wondered why he was there when Voight didn't seem to like him.

[SG11]

9 minutes ago, SnarkySheep said:

The thing that was best about Lindsay, IMO, was that her presence brought out another, more personal, side of Voight and developed his character more fully. Now she's gone, his wife, son and best friend are dead, and there is absolutely nothing in his life that's non PD.

IIRC, Halstead is supposedly The World's Best Sharpshooter...or at least that's what they said back in S1 when Halstead wondered why he was there when Voight didn't seem to like him.

Thats a good point about Lindsay. Too bad Chicago is sooo cold outside and the work is sooo hard for poor Sophie Bush.

Halstad has earned his value throughout the seasons as a superb shot and an exceptional hand to hand fighter. His military, straight arrow background gives him legitimacy. But his constant doubting of Voight is maddening, even when he’s been proven to be a problem with his second-guessing. If I were Voight I’d feel like  this is not a guy I want on my team. Take an order, do what I tell you, trust me and shut the F up. If you can’t be a member of this team because you cannot trust me, then go work for ISP. You’re a great cop, but you aren’t a fit here.

Its also weird that his actor is also a goofball, kinda anticop actually.

[Tgodwin59]

On 11/25/2019 at 3:53 PM, SG11 said:

Thats a good point about Lindsay. Too bad Chicago is sooo cold outside and the work is sooo hard for poor Sophie Bush.

Halstad has earned his value throughout the seasons as a superb shot and an exceptional hand to hand fighter. His military, straight arrow background gives him legitimacy. But his constant doubting of Voight is maddening, even when he’s been proven to be a problem with his second-guessing. If I were Voight I’d feel like  this is not a guy I want on my team. Take an order, do what I tell you, trust me and shut the F up. If you can’t be a member of this team because you cannot trust me, then go work for ISP. You’re a great cop, but you aren’t a fit here.

Its also weird that his actor is also a goofball, kinda anticop actually.

I love Sophia bush. She is a great actress. I don’t miss lindsey though. Also, i think halstead is the best cop in the intelligence unit. I do miss Antonio. I really miss al and i saw someone say something about how stupid it was that they got rid of the intelli-board so that they could go back to a white board? I HATED that scene! I was so excited for them to start using that amazing technology all for al to make them get rid of it so that they could stay in the 1970’s. Why on earth would anyone want to use a white board when they could have everything they could ever need to know on that board with the touch of their fingers?!?! That was a terrible decision. Also, one more thing, i think that training officer was way in the wrong, if anything he was disrespectful towards adam, i think he was nothing but a bully and it really shows how petty patrol is when they stop giving back to intelligence for nothing. I really hope ruzek beat the officers ass and after he beat him i hope he told him “how can I respect a trash bully cop like you who disrespects this uniform just by wearing it when your sorry ass couldn’t beat someone half your size, since you like bullying so much how does it feel to be on the receiving end and getting your ass kicked. You wanted respect and you were cocky enough to think you would win, now look at you, you got your ass kicked and lost my respect for good.” I know i got carried away just now, i just really can’t stand that officer and I really hope adam beat his ass good. Anyway, yeah that’s my thoughts on this episode, haha.