S09.E12: To Protect

[jewel21]

Quote

The team works together to identify the head of the brutal Los Temidos gang. Voight dives deeper into his informant Anna Avalos' past when her undercover role is threatened. Gavin Harris|Bethany Rooney

Airdate: 01/19/2022

[Chicagopdfan]

Did no one watch this episode? 

[Guildford]

I do like Anna, I guess she's not long for this world though, more's the pity. 

This show must think it's audience are idiots.....barely 3 episodes ago Mr Crimestead is turning a blind eye to police brutality, conspiring with the other two to cover it up & blackmailing an FBI agent & this week....Voight can't possibly think of a way to handle the situation 'cleanly' so runs to Mr Crimestead for advice because he's so what? Pure? Innocent? Morally stable? It's insulting. It's not like Voight has always done the wrong thing, he is actually quite smart so to beat us over the head with the 'new' way of doing things was hilariously bad writing. ( And this is not me saying Voight is a good cop...but he's not a dumb cop).

I was actually surprised at how the writers had Burgess going into the bakery & Ruzek not wigging out...sadly I know it wasn't because they intended it to show character growth & maturity & more because they were not the focus of the episode so did the bare minimum. Had it been either of their episodes Ruzek would've been almost leaping out of the car to bust down the door....so even though it was probably  inadvertent I enjoyed just seeing them doing their jobs with no fuss like competent cops. 

I liked the case, and the more case focussed bent without any of the couples drama inserted into it. So that was enjoyable. but the lack of Trudy was disappointing. I could've taken Voight going to Trudy for advice. 

What is annoying though is that they've barely established Anna & now it's a cliffhanger for her character at least and it will be months before it'e revisited. They do nothing to bed down these recurring characters with the viewers. 

 

[jewel21]

Well Anna is definitely not long for this world. 

[LittleIggy]

Burgess could have taken one of those pastries to Adam! 

[FnkyChkn34]

7 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Did no one watch this episode? 

Nope.  I watched "The Chase" on ABC. 

[nittany cougar]

7 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Did no one watch this episode? 

I tried to watch it, but I lost interest. I don't know who the hell Anna is or why she was the star of the episode.   Since I don't know the character, I didn't care much about the story, and I fell asleep. 

I did wonder why Halstead was investigating without Upton in the few scenes that I saw.

Edited January 20, 2022 by nittany cougar

[perkie1968]

4 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Burgess could have taken one of those pastries to Adam! 

Right?!!  She bought two but then we saw her eating one, and left empty handed, so did she just throw the other one in the garbage?

Why bother having Jay and Upton get married if it's never mentioned again?  Not that I want them to mention it, it just seems odd, unless it's to make it so they can't testify against each other at some point down the road.  

[FnkyChkn34]

1 hour ago, perkie1968 said:

Why bother having Jay and Upton get married if it's never mentioned again?  Not that I want them to mention it, it just seems odd, unless it's to make it so they can't testify against each other at some point down the road.  

This was my thought when they did it - more for Jay's benefit, I think.  

[Chicagopdfan]

42 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

This was my thought when they did it - more for Jay's benefit, I think.  

Nope the case was officially solved and closed when they got married. 

[Chicagopdfan]

2 hours ago, perkie1968 said:

Right?!!  She bought two but then we saw her eating one, and left empty handed, so did she just throw the other one in the garbage?

Why bother having Jay and Upton get married if it's never mentioned again?  Not that I want them to mention it, it just seems odd, unless it's to make it so they can't testify against each other at some point down the road.  

It’s more to do with the character led episodes, we’ve not seen much of Upstead since they got married which is fine as other characters are getting a chance to shine but unfortunately it means we haven’t heard much about how their married life is going. 

 The next is a massive Hailey one so chances are we will get an on-site to how their marriage is going then. 

[Guildford]

1 hour ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Nope the case was officially solved and closed when they got married. 

It can be revisited. It's just not an active case, any case can be re-opened with new evidence. This is also TV drama land, anything can happen. 

It is ridiculous that there are zero consequences for her & Voight....It was pathetic & gutless & all it has done is make Halstead look like joke. I actually laughed when Voight went to him for advice & his sensational plan...he just did the same as Voight has done time and time again. It was hilariously bad.  

Edited January 21, 2022 by Guildford

[TM101]

So does this new informant know every single criminal in Chicago?

[Chicagopdfan]

1 hour ago, Guildford said:

It can be revisited. It's just not an active case, any case can be re-opened with new evidence. This is also TV drama land, anything can happen. 

It is ridiculous that there are zero consequences for her & Voight....It was pathetic & gutless & all it has done is make Halstead look like joke. I actually laughed when Voight went to him for advice & his sensational plan...he just did the same as Voight has done time and time again. It was hilariously bad.  

Every single current character/cop has committed a crime and none of them have been punished/sent to prison for it. This storyline is no different. Like you said it’s a tv show. 

17 minutes ago, TM101 said:

So does this new informant know every single criminal in Chicago?

Lol it seems that way. 

[Jaelyn96]

4 hours ago, Guildford said:

It can be revisited. It's just not an active case, any case can be re-opened with new evidence. This is also TV drama land, anything can happen. 

It is ridiculous that there are zero consequences for her & Voight....It was pathetic & gutless & all it has done is make Halstead look like joke. I actually laughed when Voight went to him for advice & his sensational plan...he just did the same as Voight has done time and time again. It was hilariously bad.  

I agree it’s going to probably come back later since they always want to have somebody after Voight . I agree it made Jay look like a fool . And he was once my favorite character . 

7 hours ago, perkie1968 said:

7 hours ago, perkie1968 said:

Right?!!  She bought two but then we saw her eating one, and left empty handed, so did she just throw the other one in the garbage?

Why bother having Jay and Upton get married if it's never mentioned again?  Not that I want them to mention it, it just seems odd, unless it's to make it so they can't testify against each other at some point down the road.  

Because the showrunner is obsessed with Jay and Upton . And I will be happy if they never mention their marriage again . 

[Guildford]

6 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Every single current character/cop has committed a crime and none of them have been punished/sent to prison for it. This storyline is no different. Like you said it’s a tv show. 

 

This storyline is different.

Kev was demoted for just leaving a can in the interview room, Adam went to jail....there have been consequences in the past (even if they were lip service) however that's far more palatable & forgiveable than this story where there was ZERO consequences for the unlawful detainment, beating, killing, & burning of a body & the subsequent destruction of evidence, cover-up, lying & blackmail for either Voight or Upton ....but you are clearly an Upton fangirl so perhaps it's best if we leave this conversation. 

For many many fans, on many platforms it has left a very bad taste in the mouth. 

[greyhorse]

I like Anna.  Tough as nails.  Pretty.  Eager.  But she takes some crazy risks.  Yeah, we knew that she needed to look for the Glock.  But to immediately start going into an office, opening drawers, and then taking out gun boxes so you could take a picture?  Of course she was going to get caught.  Surprised that Paco didn't hold her as a hostage and he basically threw her off to the side and started running.

Do we think that Anna slept with Paco?  Voight asked how she got more information about the gun and she replied "I let him show me all his tattoos."  

So Paco was brought in to the station?  And boss guy found out and somehow sent someone to jail / lockup to kill him?  Why wasn't Paco being kept in isolation for his protection?

[Guildford]

27 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

I like Anna.  Tough as nails.  Pretty.  Eager.  But she takes some crazy risks.  Yeah, we knew that she needed to look for the Glock.  But to immediately start going into an office, opening drawers, and then taking out gun boxes so you could take a picture?  Of course she was going to get caught.  Surprised that Paco didn't hold her as a hostage and he basically threw her off to the side and started running.

Do we think that Anna slept with Paco?  Voight asked how she got more information about the gun and she replied "I let him show me all his tattoos."  

So Paco was brought in to the station?  And boss guy found out and somehow sent someone to jail / lockup to kill him?  Why wasn't Paco being kept in isolation for his protection?

I must admit when she was going through taking photos of the guns I thought she was dead then, even the way she kept asking about seeing the 'glock' was a little too obvious. I was pretty sure she slept with him as well. 

How he died wasn't really explained. I don't think that whole ending worked as a 'cliffhanger' especially if they aren't going to follow up on it right when they pick up. Nobody is that invested in Anna as a character, I mean we all know she's a dead woman walking but same as you I like her, she's one of the better recurring characters they've introduced in a long time.

[FnkyChkn34]

15 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Nope the case was officially solved and closed when they got married. 

It had been "over" for about 4 minutes.  Anything can happen.

15 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

 The next is a massive Hailey one so chances are we will get an on-site to how their marriage is going then. 

Thank you for the warning, I'll be watching The Chase again!!

14 hours ago, Guildford said:

It can be revisited. It's just not an active case, any case can be re-opened with new evidence. This is also TV drama land, anything can happen. 

It is ridiculous that there are zero consequences for her & Voight....It was pathetic & gutless & all it has done is make Halstead look like joke. I actually laughed when Voight went to him for advice & his sensational plan...he just did the same as Voight has done time and time again. It was hilariously bad.  

This. ^

13 hours ago, Chicagopdfan said:

Every single current character/cop has committed a crime and none of them have been punished/sent to prison for it. This storyline is no different. Like you said it’s a tv show. 

Let's not forget that this show started with Voight just getting out of prison.  And in addition to Kevin and Ruzek's punishments mentioned above, AL WENT TO PRISON AND WAS MURDERED THERE!  FOR SOMETHING THAT VOIGHT DID!!  (Sorry, I hated that storyline so much!)  Consequences *can* happen, they just don't - which is the frustrating part.  Since Voight became the star and a popular character on "his own" TV show, he's been untouchable, which is just very unrealistic.  And, it's been at the expense of other decent characters. 

[NJRadioGuy]

Anna's a great character and the actor playing her just nailed the part. I could easily see her carrying a leading role in a different series playing basically what she played as Anna here. Street-savvy, smart, sentimental, with a vulnerable spot. Given a better role, could likely pull off a romantic lead as well. On this show, as an ex-con C.I. there's only so far they can take her character. So either she gets whacked, or sent into witness protection. But instead (Upstead?) we get Upton thrown in our face. What a damned shame. I'd rather the roles were reversed with Anna being the Intelligence Unit operative and Upton the expendable C.I.

[Chicagopdfan]

9 hours ago, Guildford said:

This storyline is different.

Kev was demoted for just leaving a can in the interview room, Adam went to jail....there have been consequences in the past (even if they were lip service) however that's far more palatable & forgiveable than this story where there was ZERO consequences for the unlawful detainment, beating, killing, & burning of a body & the subsequent destruction of evidence, cover-up, lying & blackmail for either Voight or Upton ....but you are clearly an Upton fangirl so perhaps it's best if we leave this conversation. 

For many many fans, on many platforms it has left a very bad taste in the mouth. 

This storyline isn’t that different. A felony is a felony and every member of the unit has committed at least one and none of them have gone to jail over it. Hailey has need punished for past behaviour, Hank temporally kicked her out the unit and sent her to NY. It was supposed to be longer than it was but covid put an end to that. 

3 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

It had been "over" for about 4 minutes.  Anything can happen.

Thank you for the warning, I'll be watching The Chase again!!

 

4 minutes over is still over besides they didn’t marry for spousal privilege because that would only work if the crime had been committed during their marriage not before. 
 

I will say I enjoyed this weeks episode. Anna is a great addition to the case and it’s a shame that clearly she’s not going to be around for much longer. 
I think they should bring the patrol element of the show back. 

[FnkyChkn34]

1 hour ago, Chicagopdfan said:

4 minutes over is still over besides they didn’t marry for spousal privilege because that would only work if the crime had been committed during their marriage not before. 

Sorry, but it's marriage at the time of prosecution of the crime that counts, not when the crime was committed.

"Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, in a criminal case the prosecution cannot compel the defendant's spouse to testify against him. This privilege only applies if the defendant and the spouse witness are currently married at the time of the prosecution. Additionally, this privilege may be waived by the witness spouse if he or she would like to testify."  https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/spousal_immunity 

[Chicagopdfan]

51 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Sorry, but it's marriage at the time of prosecution of the crime that counts, not when the crime was committed.

"Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, in a criminal case the prosecution cannot compel the defendant's spouse to testify against him. This privilege only applies if the defendant and the spouse witness are currently married at the time of the prosecution. Additionally, this privilege may be waived by the witness spouse if he or she would like to testify."  https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/spousal_immunity 

I stand corrected. Thank you. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Am not into this new CI - Anna Avalos. I find her story, her character, her smirk and her mannerism are stressful to watch. With the way she’s doing her job, she will be dead sooner than expected.

Voight consulting with Saint Jay in finding ways to ethically save Anna, nahh, it’s dumb. Voight is more capable than that and the best and more resourceful “consultant” would be Trudy! 👍🏻

[greyhorse]

Everyone here is saying that Anna isn't going to be for long, because that's usually how it works with these CIs.  But I'm hoping that the showrunners realize that this one seems different.  I like the character, the actress, the grit, etc.  Hoping that she can become a recurrent character.  Not one that shows up every episode obviously, but one that Voight can rely on from time to time.

So she was trying to get into Los Temidos, and that's when she said she was drugged and sadly raped.  But then she decided to get out?  And they let her?  I forget the whole back story.  Didn't somebody kill her brother so that's why she's motivated to get these guys?  If she was trying to initiate and get in, how is it that nobody recognizes her?  Isn't she worried if she goes to a house party where there are some gang members that she wouldn't get found out?

[Guildford]

16 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Everyone here is saying that Anna isn't going to be for long, because that's usually how it works with these CIs.  But I'm hoping that the showrunners realize that this one seems different.  I like the character, the actress, the grit, etc.  Hoping that she can become a recurrent character.  Not one that shows up every episode obviously, but one that Voight can rely on from time to time.

So she was trying to get into Los Temidos, and that's when she said she was drugged and sadly raped.  But then she decided to get out?  And they let her?  I forget the whole back story.  Didn't somebody kill her brother so that's why she's motivated to get these guys?  If she was trying to initiate and get in, how is it that nobody recognizes her?  Isn't she worried if she goes to a house party where there are some gang members that she wouldn't get found out?

I hope that I am wrong too, I do really like her character. It just feels very familiar to the Darrius Walker arc. I really enjoyed him as Voight's CI & it had potential to be a long term thing & Michael Beech was awesome, but then Blondie got pissy & threw a temper tantrum & had him murdered. Hopefully she stays away from Anna. 

I guess I just don't have faith in this show to take a risk & do something different.

I thought she was after them because they killed her brother as well so I was a bit confused about how she was easily back in their orbit & nobody is clued in? Lazy writing?  I also thought the long lingering looks between her and Voight when they raided the house were like a screaming red flashing light & that suddenly she is back & the cops are on their asses & the whole glock thing was sloppy.... the plot holes are typically PD enormous but I am liking the whole story in general.

And I loved that there was zero ship drama, so we need more episodes like this. It felt more old school PD.

[tvfanatic13]

😴😴

what a snooze… 

[Chicagopdfan]

8 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

😴😴

what a snooze… 

Yeah it wasn’t my favourite episode, I just don’t really care about Anna or her story. That said it was nice to see Hank get some more screen time. More Trudy please Chicago PD.