S08.E08: Protect and Serve

[jewel21]

Ruzek and Atwater are tasked with making an arrest after a high-profile shooting. The situation becomes complicated when it's clear someone doesn't want them to make it back to the station.

Airdate: 03/10/2021

[mommalib]

Every time Atwater is centered it's a good episode. At this point as a black man I can't imagine being a cop. On a job where your surrounded by mostly white cops and you have to deal with all different types of thoughts and feelings. Even when it comes to people you feel like you know  but those questions are there regardless.  What if you don't see it coming? That's damn reasonable question, it's just a damn shame that Atwater has to ask his partner a question like that or even think about it but this is where things are.

As for the cop that shot the kid lets just say i'm not sympathetic. 

[UnoAgain]

Haven't watched the episode.. But why is it Ruzek Again... Any of the other teammates woulda been better.. Well maybe Jay is a wash but Upton is as pro- cop as they come and seeing her and Atwater butt heads woulda been compelling.. And actually let the characters interact... And burgess is supposed to be his best friend.. And now she's raising a little black girl on her own.. Woulda been interesting to have her react to the cop as he tried to defend what he'd done.. While she's thinking of her foster daughter... Instead we get Ruzek yet again having to be taught by his magical negro friend.. Smh

[Guildford]

I gotta say, I love Atwater episodes (despite wishing these weren't the ONLY stories Atwater gets to tell) & I love when he teams up with Ruzek. They have been the best episodes this season by far. If felt it was interesting to see them both agreeing that what this cop did wasn't even close to right but how their different experiences made them take different paths to the same conclusions. Neither is wrong because your own experiences is what you know & have to work with & as long as you can listen & learn then there is hope.

What I hated about this episode is the ending for the old cop. It felt like the easy way out, to appease the masses. Him suddenly having an epiphany that he was wrong & throwing himself at the mercy of the shooter to save Atwater was once again letting the old racist white cop off the hook. How about seeing Atwater & Ruzek march him into the station in front of the waiting throng rather than have him die & not face up to what he's done. What's the bet his cop friends make sure everyone knows what a 'good cop & bloke' he was, Ruzek alluded to that when he was reading his file. He was a good cop who made a bad decision, really, why not show that he was a bad cop, who often made bad decisions & had gotten away with it, because those guys are out there as well. It left a really bad taste in my mouth & again I feel like they just miss the mark when they do this. 

3 hours ago, UnoAgain said:

Haven't watched the episode.. But why is it Ruzek Again... Any of the other teammates woulda been better.. Well maybe Jay is a wash but Upton is as pro- cop as they come and seeing her and Atwater butt heads woulda been compelling.. And actually let the characters interact... And burgess is supposed to be his best friend.. And now she's raising a little black girl on her own.. Woulda been interesting to have her react to the cop as he tried to defend what he'd done.. While she's thinking of her foster daughter... Instead we get Ruzek yet again having to be taught by his magical negro friend.. Smh

Couldn't agree more with this, why is it always Ruzek? On one hand I get it, both actors have the chops to pull it off but it's about time that Atwater has these conversations with the rest of the Unit. It's always Ruzek, who doesn't always get it right but with regards to being more attuned to what Atwater is going through, or at least admitting he's trying to understand it he's the only one Atwater will take to task, whereas the others like Halstead & particularly Upton are far more 'problematic' with regards to their pro-cop racial bias & he never weighs in to anything they do. I mean we had Halstead whitesplaining away Upton's pro-cop rant in the first episode this season. "It's okay, Kev understands'. Even this episode, with all that was happening Upton was still pushing her 'oh well, this is the system we work in so deal with it' attitude.

Overall though, a really solid outing. It kept my attention throughout.

Final quibble - WTF does Eid have against them drinking at Molly's? For a show that is supposed to be part of the One Chicago Universe that seems like such a simple way to foster that concept. Then I remember Eid is shit showrunner, so that answers that.

[FnkyChkn34]

My take on the "why Ruzek?" thoughts... I think it's Ruzek because Ruzek doesn't think it could ever be Ruzek.  Does that make sense?  Ruzek doesn't think he's problematic, but the old cop didn't think he was either.  The audience knows Upton is, but would she ever change?  Do we even care enough about her to want to see that storyline? I doubt she'd listen to Atwater anyway.  IMO, Halstead isn't as problematic either; he's just military (which has it's other issues, sure...).  I think he's mostly seen as pro-cop because that's his training.  If someone tells him to do something else, he'll do that instead, because he is trained to take orders.  They have written him so poorly in the past few seasons that at this point, Halstead is just a robot now.  He was much more interesting in the first 5 seasons or so, when he actually had a personality.  And Burgess... well, it wasn't Burgess because she's the pretty princess who can do no wrong! (Gag.)  

So I think I understood why it had to be Ruzek.  Ruzek knows what the old cop did was wrong, but Ruzek is hot headed enough that Atwater is absolutely correct - what if it's Ruzek next?  Ruzek acts before he thinks; he has his entire career.  That's actually the reason why Olinsky picked him from the academy, but it hasn't always done him (and the whole unit) any favors.  I give Atwater credit for calling him out - finally.

[GodsBeloved]

2 hours ago, Guildford said:

What I hated about this episode is the ending for the old cop. It felt like the easy way out, to appease the masses. Him suddenly having an epiphany that he was wrong & throwing himself at the mercy of the shooter to save Atwater was once again letting the old racist white cop off the hook. How about seeing Atwater & Ruzek march him into the station in front of the waiting throng rather than have him die & not face up to what he's done. What's the bet his cop friends make sure everyone knows what a 'good cop & bloke' he was, Ruzek alluded to that when he was reading his file. He was a good cop who made a bad decision, really, why not show that he was a bad cop, who often made bad decisions & had gotten away with it, because those guys are out there as well. It left a really bad taste in my mouth & again I feel like they just miss the mark when they do this. 

I pretty much agree with this and will add I thought the Kevin working to save the cop was just as much a cop out. I wouldn't expect him to jump for joy but he seemed quite frantic to save the guy and I just didn't buy it.

So if Kevin can't trust his good friend Adam because he's white and may not know "it" is in him, how can he trust anyone in his squad? Why not go into another line of work?  

1 hour ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

So I think I understood why it had to be Ruzek.  Ruzek knows what the old cop did was wrong, but Ruzek is hot headed enough that Atwater is absolutely correct - what if it's Ruzek next?  Ruzek acts before he thinks; he has his entire career.  That's actually the reason why Olinsky picked him from the academy, but it hasn't always done him (and the whole unit) any favors.  I give Atwater credit for calling him out - finally.

Do you think Ruzek is a problem, could be "next", because he's white or because he's a hothead? 

Edited March 11, 2021 by GodsBeloved

[FnkyChkn34]

52 minutes ago, GodsBeloved said:

Do you think Ruzek is a problem, could be "next", because he's white or because he's a hothead? 

All of Atwater's colleagues are white, so while that's a part of it, I explained that I think they chose Ruzek because Ruzek doesn't think it could be Ruzek.  The old cop didn't think it could be him, either.  But it's mostly because Ruzek is a hothead.  The whole point of the show was to make someone who thinks "it could never be me" look inside themselves to realize it could be them, right?  So the person had to be both white and a hothead.  That could be any one of them, actually, but Ruzek makes sense to me.  He's the most arrogant to think it could never be him.  Just my two cents.

[mommalib]

8 hours ago, UnoAgain said:

Haven't watched the episode.. But why is it Ruzek Again... Any of the other teammates woulda been better.. Well maybe Jay is a wash but Upton is as pro- cop as they come and seeing her and Atwater butt heads woulda been compelling.. And actually let the characters interact... And burgess is supposed to be his best friend.. And now she's raising a little black girl on her own.. Woulda been interesting to have her react to the cop as he tried to defend what he'd done.. While she's thinking of her foster daughter... Instead we get Ruzek yet again having to be taught by his magical negro friend.. Smh

I would love to see Atwater check Upton, he's even checked  Voight before but Upton would be the most satisfying. For some reason they don't seem to want Atwater and Upton in a scene alone, I wonder what that's about? lol

[mommalib]

3 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

My take on the "why Ruzek?" thoughts... I think it's Ruzek because Ruzek doesn't think it could ever be Ruzek.  Does that make sense?  Ruzek doesn't think he's problematic, but the old cop didn't think he was either.  The audience knows Upton is, but would she ever change?  Do we even care enough about her to want to see that storyline? I doubt she'd listen to Atwater anyway.  IMO, Halstead isn't as problematic either; he's just military (which has it's other issues, sure...).  I think he's mostly seen as pro-cop because that's his training.  If someone tells him to do something else, he'll do that instead, because he is trained to take orders.  They have written him so poorly in the past few seasons that at this point, Halstead is just a robot now.  He was much more interesting in the first 5 seasons or so, when he actually had a personality.  And Burgess... well, it wasn't Burgess because she's the pretty princess who can do no wrong! (Gag.)  

So I think I understood why it had to be Ruzek.  Ruzek knows what the old cop did was wrong, but Ruzek is hot headed enough that Atwater is absolutely correct - what if it's Ruzek next?  Ruzek acts before he thinks; he has his entire career.  That's actually the reason why Olinsky picked him from the academy, but it hasn't always done him (and the whole unit) any favors.  I give Atwater credit for calling him out - finally.

Something is going to happen with Ruzek to bring all of this back up and him and Atwater gonna have some problems.

[Guildford]

7 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

My take on the "why Ruzek?" thoughts... I think it's Ruzek because Ruzek doesn't think it could ever be Ruzek.  Does that make sense?  Ruzek doesn't think he's problematic, but the old cop didn't think he was either.  The audience knows Upton is, but would she ever change?  Do we even care enough about her to want to see that storyline? I doubt she'd listen to Atwater anyway.  IMO, Halstead isn't as problematic either; he's just military (which has it's other issues, sure...).  I think he's mostly seen as pro-cop because that's his training.  If someone tells him to do something else, he'll do that instead, because he is trained to take orders.  They have written him so poorly in the past few seasons that at this point, Halstead is just a robot now.  He was much more interesting in the first 5 seasons or so, when he actually had a personality.  And Burgess... well, it wasn't Burgess because she's the pretty princess who can do no wrong! (Gag.)  

So I think I understood why it had to be Ruzek.  Ruzek knows what the old cop did was wrong, but Ruzek is hot headed enough that Atwater is absolutely correct - what if it's Ruzek next?  Ruzek acts before he thinks; he has his entire career.  That's actually the reason why Olinsky picked him from the academy, but it hasn't always done him (and the whole unit) any favors.  I give Atwater credit for calling him out - finally.

I totally get that, & I do agree with your assessment on why Ruzek....my issue still remains though that it is only ever Ruzek that Atwater shares these stories with. Whenever someone else, like Halstead or Upton particularly have race related incidents/stories Atwater is completely in the background & says nothing. Where was Atwater when Halstead sent an innocent black man to jail who then died? Where was he when Voight & Blondie blackmailed the man's wife into staying silent.

You are right that WE don't care about Upton's POV sadly though she does have fans on Twitter who think she's the second coming as does the showrunner so it's ridiculous that she get's let off the hook. 

So I find it hard to swallow that he only ever has these moments with Ruzek. If they want to really tell Atwater's story they need to do it with all of them & not just when they want to showcase Atwater. 

Also I love his episodes I just wish this wasn't the ONLY story that Atwater ever gets.

[jabRI]

4 hours ago, Guildford said:

Also I love his episodes I just wish this wasn't the ONLY story that Atwater ever gets.

I agree, he's a terrific actor and his writing could be improved on immensely.  The best thing about this episode is we didn't have to Upton's smug mug too much.  Cannot stand her.

[StevedeMena]

Did anyone notice at the end Deputy Superintendent Miller was wearing a CPD jacket with Voigt’s name on it?

 

[Guildford]

3 hours ago, StevedeMena said:

Did anyone notice at the end Deputy Superintendent Miller was wearing a CPD jacket with Voigt’s name on it?

 

No I didn't, good catch

[Guildford]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Anyone can snap, including Atwater.  He acted as if he was immune from possibly snapping, he isn't.  None of them are.

Atwater is my favorite character.

If Upton were to ever snap, I don't think she would have any remorse, ever.

Ruzek can be an emotional powder keg, no question that he at some point could possible snap, but I think he would have regrets. 

The cop that shot the kid had just passed a test a week or so earlier, those test results should be looked into.

They are dangerously close to making Atwater a Saint & a bit holier than thou, which would be disappointing. I love Atwater, so please don't head down the path where he is apparently beyond reproach.

Upton has already shown she has no remorse, she facilitated the murder of a black guy. Sure he was a bad black guy but she snapped, organised his murder & showed zero remorse. 

[mommalib]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Anyone can snap, including Atwater.  He acted as if he was immune from possibly snapping, he isn't.  None of them are.

Atwater is my favorite character.

If Upton were to ever snap, I don't think she would have any remorse, ever.

Ruzek can be an emotional powder keg, no question that he at some point could possible snap, but I think he would have regrets. 

The cop that shot the kid had just passed a test a week or so earlier, those test results should be looked into.

I highly doubt Atwater is gonna snap and execute a young black man just because. 

[mommalib]

4 hours ago, Guildford said:

They are dangerously close to making Atwater a Saint & a bit holier than thou, which would be disappointing. I love Atwater, so please don't head down the path where he is apparently beyond reproach.

Upton has already shown she has no remorse, she facilitated the murder of a black guy. Sure he was a bad black guy but she snapped, organised his murder & showed zero remorse. 

Atwater has every right to feel the way he does, think the things he thinks, and ask the questions he asks. There is nothing holier than thou about it.

[Guildford]

1 hour ago, mommalib said:

Atwater has every right to feel the way he does, think the things he thinks, and ask the questions he asks. There is nothing holier than thou about it.

I'm sorry if that came across as that I don't think he has every right to think the way he does & question his colleagues, it was more around the way they use him on the show & because this is the only story they ever give Atwater & one thing these shows don't do well is create balance in the characters, it's all one or the other.

I don't think it's fair to Atwater to only bring him to the forefront for a these big teaching moment & then he disappears again because that's what if feels like to me (not saying that those lessons aren't 100% valid & long overdue).

There have been so many chances for him to weigh in throughout the past few seasons and he is completely MIA. When Halstead had that issue with Dad just a few episodes ago, Atwater was missing. Last season when Ruzek got jammed up with the training officer, Atwater had a go at him about never being on patrol & didn't mention the bullying of the young black probie because it wasn't about that, it was about Ruzek being a hothead. Halstead & the racial profiling story, where an innocent black man died in custody & Atwater was silent. It's all or nothing & they ignore chances to have him step up consistently not just when in these episodes, it needs to be a long running thread, not one big 'very special episode' then ignored completely.

I think this is a consequence of the way they structure this show now, that each week has to be a 'big' episode for X character & a major character moment so they go weeks completely ignoring other story arcs & characters when it makes no sense to do so. It doesn't serve the show well. They could've committed to threading this narrative through the whole season but now we get Atwater popping up every few weeks to highlight racism & black v blue & then back to nothing. This show can't walk & chew gum at the same time & that's the one thing this topic doesn't need.

He deserves more than that for his own character. This whole storyline deserves more than that.

I do love Atwater & his episodes are always brilliant. 

 

 

 

[gumbo]

On 3/11/2021 at 10:09 PM, Guildford said:

I totally get that, & I do agree with your assessment on why Ruzek....my issue still remains though that it is only ever Ruzek that Atwater shares these stories with. Whenever someone else, like Halstead or Upton particularly have race related incidents/stories Atwater is completely in the background & says nothing. Where was Atwater when Halstead sent an innocent black man to jail who then died? Where was he when Voight & Blondie blackmailed the man's wife into staying silent.

You are right that WE don't care about Upton's POV sadly though she does have fans on Twitter who think she's the second coming as does the showrunner so it's ridiculous that she get's let off the hook. 

So I find it hard to swallow that he only ever has these moments with Ruzek. If they want to really tell Atwater's story they need to do it with all of them & not just when they want to showcase Atwater. 

Also I love his episodes I just wish this wasn't the ONLY story that Atwater ever gets.

This is down to poor writing though.

 

You're right, why doesn't Atwater have these moments with people other than Ruzek and Voight.   Atwater and Kim were best friends at one point, then they barely have any shots of them together

[mommalib]

18 hours ago, Guildford said:

I'm sorry if that came across as that I don't think he has every right to think the way he does & question his colleagues, it was more around the way they use him on the show & because this is the only story they ever give Atwater & one thing these shows don't do well is create balance in the characters, it's all one or the other.

I don't think it's fair to Atwater to only bring him to the forefront for a these big teaching moment & then he disappears again because that's what if feels like to me (not saying that those lessons aren't 100% valid & long overdue).

There have been so many chances for him to weigh in throughout the past few seasons and he is completely MIA. When Halstead had that issue with Dad just a few episodes ago, Atwater was missing. Last season when Ruzek got jammed up with the training officer, Atwater had a go at him about never being on patrol & didn't mention the bullying of the young black probie because it wasn't about that, it was about Ruzek being a hothead. Halstead & the racial profiling story, where an innocent black man died in custody & Atwater was silent. It's all or nothing & they ignore chances to have him step up consistently not just when in these episodes, it needs to be a long running thread, not one big 'very special episode' then ignored completely.

I think this is a consequence of the way they structure this show now, that each week has to be a 'big' episode for X character & a major character moment so they go weeks completely ignoring other story arcs & characters when it makes no sense to do so. It doesn't serve the show well. They could've committed to threading this narrative through the whole season but now we get Atwater popping up every few weeks to highlight racism & black v blue & then back to nothing. This show can't walk & chew gum at the same time & that's the one thing this topic doesn't need.

He deserves more than that for his own character. This whole storyline deserves more than that.

I do love Atwater & his episodes are always brilliant. 

 

 

 

I agree that Atwater deserves broader stories outside being the token black man in these black and blue stories. He specifically needs a love life, 

12 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think he would, and that isn't what I typed.  There is any number of reasons why people snap.  People don't always snap and go off on those with whom they have a problem.  It really is a shame that instead of reading something, that something else is read into it.  I said that he could at some point snap.  If he were to snap, maybe he kills another person, maybe he kills himself.  Killing a person is killing a person.

Now I remember why I stopped posting in this thread.

The specific topic of discussion in the episode was race, we are clearly taking about racism and racial bias.

[greyhorse]

Back to the storyline...

If Ruzek and Atwater were instructed to transport a criminal - so inflammatory that the CPD wanted the guy to be arrested by undercover agents and driven in an unmarked police car - couldn't they have taken some better precautions?  So clearly people found out where Wheelan lived.  The CPD was already there.  Why didn't they radio back to HQ that there was a disturbance, and then why wasn't that communicated to Ruzek and Atwater?  Why weren't they equipped with bulletproof vests, extra ammo, etc.?  Why wouldn't Ruzek and Atwater have called for backup and an escort as they were pulling away?

I found it interesting that Atwater and Ruzek were trying to hide their faces.  Didn't look like they were just trying to pull their bandanas up because of Covid.  Was this just out of desire not to end up on videos?  Or does the public really not know who is in Voight's unit?  I suppose if they are caught on video, then that blows any future undercover operations.

Pretty easy to see that Wheelan was going to eat it in the end.  I guess he realized in the end that he did just snap after seeing the video the second time and didn't see any other way out, and didn't want fellow police officers to die because of him.  Looks like the story continues next week and I guess we'll have to see what happens to TJ or whatever his name is, and the introduction of the new rookie cop.

[FnkyChkn34]

I was watching some re-runs on TBS or whatever the other day, and realized that we've already had stories about Halstead making mistakes.  I wouldn't say that he necessarily snapped, but I think that's another reason why it wasn't him again this time.  The episode I was watching was the one where he was in a shoot out with drug dealer or someone, and a little girl got hit by gunfire and was killed.  He was a wreck after that; he showed remorse.  And the other time when he arrested the wrong guy and they held him, and he somehow died while in custody; Halstead showed remorse after that so much so that he helped the guy's wife and kid financially.  (Until she found out who he was and shot him, but, you know... details...)  I think Halstead has sort of learned his lesson?  Now if he always remembers it and never does it again is a different story.

[WinJet0819]

When the show doesn't focus on relationships, it's probably the best of the Chicago shows to watch. This was a good story, but hated the ending. The interaction between Adam and Kevin felt real, and can be related to real life. The cop, though he finally came to the realization he was wrong (if only it happened in real life), got the easy way out. A victim's brother kills him, and now his life is over. The cop doesn't live to face the consequences of his actions.

Of course, this is another episode where Atwater shines. But the episode features, yet, ANOTHER racially charged storyline where he is the token black man. Further proof that this is all he is used for. They haven't explored him having a relationship, and in other episodes, he's just in the background. It's pathetic. They haven't even thrown a storyline about him possibly taking the Detective exam to be promoted. I really can't see how LaRoyce Hawkins is going to grow in this show, if they continue to typecast him as the token black man, and not give him stories that don't deal with race.

[SnarkySheep]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:50 AM, FnkyChkn34 said:

They have written him so poorly in the past few seasons that at this point, Halstead is just a robot now.  He was much more interesting in the first 5 seasons or so, when he actually had a personality.

If Halstead were a real person in real life, I would think that the way he's now behaving has a lot to do with what's happened in his life since then. Let's not forget, his dad died not long ago, after a lifelong complicated relationship that was never really resolved. His brother was very nearly murdered, then literally went up to the altar only to have everything fall apart. Jay's own most serious relationship (that we've seen) was with Erin, who chose to move across the country rather than make any attempt at reconciliation. And of course, I'm sure that being a cop involved in so many intense, potentially life or death situations on a regular basis (on top of the PTSD he already had from his military days) is on top of all that. I would truly recommend this person for either counseling or medication, just based on all this. But I'm not really sure that the writers are thinking about his character as deeply as I am, so it may simply be a matter of bad writing at this point.