S05.E09: Monster

[Jaded]

Quote

The death of Judge Tommy Wells' daughter puts Intelligence on the track of a pill mill spreading into the suburbs of Chicago and the doctor enabling it; Voight discovers who's been leaking information from the 21st.

[Sandman]

UH-oh.

[VinceW]

A pretty weak episode for a fall finale. IMO. Once Voight told the team that the judge was once a cop, it was obvious that the judge killed the dealer to revenge the daughter.  As far as Ruzek, are viewers expected to think that Voight is going to kill him? I didn't see a shovel in Olinsky's car. 

[NJRadioGuy]

I actually liked the episode. Not much Spiradakos (a huge plus for me), an Olinsky sighting, a Platt sighting, and Burgess being the hawt badass. Only thing that bugged me (as it always does on TV-cop dramas) is how they continue to question the suspects after the suspects say the magic "L" word. And I still miss both the patrol facet of the show and the basement torture cage. But the show is starting to get the old feel back to some degree. The first half-dozen episodes under Eid felt wrong. Now they're getting their groove back a little bit.

The ending's got so many possibilities going, Obviously Ruzek's in no danger, but how are they going to play this out? Now, if this were a movie, Ruzek would be sleeping with the fishes. But it's network TV with two good-guy TV heroes so we know they're all going to come out just fine.

Did Voight have a wire up on Ruzek to suss this shit out weeks ago? Maybe, but I'm not so sure. He knew something was up, that was obvious, and the wheels were spinning just as obviously. More likely, I think Ruzek realized he was in too far over his head, goes to Voight and explains that Woods has arc-welded his balls in a vise. After Voight reams him a new one for "not coming to me sooner," he tells Ruzek to go to the meet with Woods and tell him to pound sand, and he'll handle it from here. Part of that handling might involve the favour he asked from the Judge. Ruzek is in the dark from that meet onwards; Olinsky and Voight get Ruzek there to explain their SooperSecretPlan™ to exact payback.

Or what would be a real twist? This was all a test by Woods, in cahoots with Voight, to see how deeply Ruzek's loyalty was, if he would sell out, etc, to save his arse. He stands up and, what, he gets a top-secret deep undercover detail or some shit? That would suck far more. Woods is a weasel and I want to see Voight and Ruzek nail his ass for good this time.

[watcher1006]

34 minutes ago, VinceW said:

A pretty weak episode for a fall finale. IMO. Once Voight told the team that the judge was once a cop, it was obvious that the judge killed the dealer to revenge the daughter.  As far as Ruzek, are viewers expected to think that Voight is going to kill him? I didn't see a shovel in Olinsky's car. 

It was also obvious that the "CI" Olinsky was driving Ruzek to see was going to be Voight. The show isn't about a mobster family so there isn't going to be violence at the scene of reckoning.

3 minutes ago, NJRadioGuy said:

I actually liked the episode. Not much Spiradakos (a huge plus for me), an Olinsky sighting, a Platt sighting, and Burgess being the hawt badass. Only thing that bugged me (as it always does on TV-cop dramas) is how they continue to question the suspects after the suspects say the magic "L" word. And I still miss both the patrol facet of the show and the basement torture cage. But the show is starting to get the old feel back to some degree. The first half-dozen episodes under Eid felt wrong. Now they're getting their groove back a little bit.

The ending's got so many possibilities going, Obviously Ruzek's in no danger, but how are they going to play this out? Now, if this were a movie, Ruzek would be sleeping with the fishes. But it's network TV with two good-guy TV heroes so we know they're all going to come out just fine.

Did Voight have a wire up on Ruzek to suss this shit out weeks ago? Maybe, but I'm not so sure. He knew something was up, that was obvious, and the wheels were spinning just as obviously. More likely, I think Ruzek realized he was in too far over his head, goes to Voight and explains that Woods has arc-welded his balls in a vise. After Voight reams him a new one for "not coming to me sooner," he tells Ruzek to go to the meet with Woods and tell him to pound sand, and he'll handle it from here. Part of that handling might involve the favour he asked from the Judge. Ruzek is in the dark from that meet onwards; Olinsky and Voight get Ruzek there to explain their SooperSecretPlan™ to exact payback.

Or what would be a real twist? This was all a test by Woods, in cahoots with Voight, to see how deeply Ruzek's loyalty was, if he would sell out, etc, to save his arse. He stands up and, what, he gets a top-secret deep undercover detail or some shit? That would suck far more. Woods is a weasel and I want to see Voight and Ruzek nail his ass for good this time.

I suspect that Voight had a one-up on Woods all this time and knew that he was trying to turn Ruzek. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a scene next year when Voight shows the bundle of cash to Woods and gets him in trouble for attempted entrapment or some such. I can't see Voight and Woods working together.

[Guildford]

Ruzek will be fine......a little earbashing by his 'fathers' and he'll be let lose with a specific plan to bring down Woods...with a little help from his family.

[UNOSEZ]

So another cop is gonna walk away from a crime?...woods is a scumbag but hes not wrong abt voight... Dude was dirty from the minute he was introduced and has only been slightly less evil since getting outta jail

[FnkyChkn34]

I don't think I care for the theme of this season: "bad guys" who are actually innocent are getting framed and locked up while the guilty "good guys" go free.  Every. Damn. Week.  It's getting old. 

[Sandman]

Somehow it didn't occur to me until after Olinsky "changed the venue" that the unnamed CI could be Voight. I'm pretty sure that the favour Voight needed from Judge Tommy will involve making Ruzek's troubles go away -- but the one thing I figured for sure was that Judge Tommy offed Bartender Vance, because you don't hire John Pankow for a walk-on.

Is Brown Halstead supposed to be heading for a crisis? I don't know what the show is doing with Jay, except it feels portentous and odd.

[FnkyChkn34]

I've read some interviews, and they say that they are finally exploring Jay's PTSD and will have him spiral downward.  I think lying to a woman that he's sleeping with about his whole identity is a good start...

[VinceW]

4 hours ago, Sandman said:

.....the favor Voight needed from Judge Tommy will involve making Ruzek's troubles go away -- but the one thing I figured for sure was that Judge Tommy offed Bartender Vance, because you don't hire John Pankow for a walk-on...

I wonder if the woman who gave legal advice to Ruzek during the bar conversation provided the heads up to Voight about what was really behind Ruzek's troubles. I think that Voight knew about the Woods setup beforehand which explains Voight openly keeping the cash found at the murder scene.

Edited December 7, 2017 by VinceW

[FnkyChkn34]

52 minutes ago, VinceW said:

I wonder if the woman who gave legal advice to Ruzek during the bar conversation provided the heads up to Voight about what was really behind Ruzek's troubles. I think that Voight knew about the Woods setup beforehand which explains Voight openly keeping the cash found at the murder scene.

I agree, because Voight takes payoffs from the gang leaders - but he doesn't blatantly steal from crime scenes.  That's a first.  It was also incredibly stupid for Voight to take it, knowing that anyone could see the file and know what was logged in or not, and with Atwater and Ruzek knowing the money was there.  Voight is crooked, but he's not stupid; he wouldn't have done that.  

[Guildford]

While I love that Ruzek is finally getting a storyline I just cannot get my head around the fact that he is supposed to be that torn up about a sister & nephew that we have never seen or heard of before and will no doubt never see or hear from again. I get what they are trying to do but they needed to put a bit of legwork into the sister from the start of the season, at least have him talk about it. Not bam I have a sister who I am bailing out & now I am being blackmailed, but i guess they were too busy trying to make him out to be a racist cop at the start of the season.

[NJRadioGuy]

Not just that, but it's an insult to the viewers' intelligence to believe that in as tight-knit a unit as Intelligence is, that when one member gets jammed up he won't go to his C.O. If your unit is decent, and you trust your commanding officer with your life, he's the guy you go to with Exactly This Kind Of Crap. Everybody in the unit knows Voight will go to the wall for his team so WTAF was Ruzek even thinking?

Edited December 8, 2017 by NJRadioGuy

[Jaded]

It's always seemed like the show has never known what they've really wanted to do with the Ruzek character so they stick him in stupid storylines like his current one.

[Sandman]

19 hours ago, VinceW said:

I wonder if the woman who gave legal advice to Ruzek during the bar conversation provided the heads up to Voight about what was really behind Ruzek's troubles.

How likely is this, though? I'm sure Ruzek didn't hire her formally or give her a retainer, so it's not a question of attorney-client privilege in the strictest sense, but it seems somewhat indiscreet even so for her to run to his boss about Ruzek's "friend." Would Ruzek even choose someone Voight was likely to know? (I didn't recognize the character giving Adam legal advice, so I don't know if there's any history there.)

Edited December 8, 2017 by Sandman

[SuzieQ]

I think this whole Ruzek snitch story line is going to be resolved within 10 minutes on the first episode after the break.  Voight will have been in on it and they will take the other guy down.  I'd love to be wrong since it's a tired plot line, but haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise.

[preeya]

5 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

I think this whole Ruzek snitch story line is going to be resolved within 10 minutes on the first episode after the break.  Voight will have been in on it and they will take the other guy down.  I'd love to be wrong since it's a tired plot line, but haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise.

I hope you are right because I can't stand Bubba Gump's character.

Edited December 8, 2017 by preeya

[VinceW]

On 12/8/2017 at 9:53 AM, Sandman said:

How likely is this, though? I'm sure Ruzek didn't hire her formally or give her a retainer, so it's not a question of attorney-client privilege in the strictest sense, but it seems somewhat indiscreet even so for her to run to his boss about Ruzek's "friend." Would Ruzek even choose someone Voight was likely to know? (I didn't recognize the character giving Adam legal advice, so I don't know if there's any history there.)

There is no lawyer/client privilege between a cop and an attorney acquaintance discussing a hypothetical situation.  The greeting between them at the start of the meeting does suggest some kind of personal/professional history and she is somebody he can trust. The scene was more about Ruzek coming to grips with his legal consequences over turning against Voight..

Edited December 9, 2017 by VinceW

[NJRadioGuy]

Assuming Voight knew what was going on and Ruzek didn't come to him, Voight needs to dump this guy from his unit immediately. He's not trustworthy, plain and simple. There is no forgiveness for what Ruzek did in a unit that tight. If there's the slightest doubt that the guy may not have your back at some future point, he's a liability. Period. Turf him. Transfer him. Hell, promote him even, just get him the hell out of your unit, in a way that he can never, ever come back. Since I doubt he's being written out of the show after the break, that means either (a) he went to Voight weeks ago without us, the audience, knowing it, or (b), they're going to let him get off with a scolding or a couple of weeks off then back to business as usual. I'm obviously hoping for (a), or that he gets dumped out of Intel permanently.

[Sandman]

13 hours ago, VinceW said:

The scene was more about Ruzek coming to grips with his legal consequences over turning against Voight..

Exactly -- which is why I don't think Voight learned about it from her.

[VinceW]

8 hours ago, Sandman said:

Exactly -- which is why I don't think Voight learned about it from her.

Relax; It was just speculation on my part. She might help Ruzek with the sister legal issue as well.

[UNOSEZ]

Somehow ruzek will get off with a slap on the wrist... Meanwhile Tamia Porter's character is still waiting on an apology for being kicked off the team in error... But i guess back then there wasn't room for another woman in intelligence with erin... And what happened to the Asian guy who was the mole... Did he get killed or something... 

[Dvldj]

On 12/7/2017 at 1:32 AM, NJRadioGuy said:

a Platt sighting,

Lol. I love that!

On 12/7/2017 at 7:50 AM, UNOSEZ said:

So another cop is gonna walk away from a crime?

Dick Wolf loves his "ripped from headlines" stories and plots. This is no different than what's happening currently all across America.

On 12/7/2017 at 8:07 AM, FnkyChkn34 said:

I don't think I care for the theme of this season: "bad guys" who are actually innocent are getting framed and locked up while the guilty "good guys" go free.  Every. Damn. Week.  It's getting old. 

Agreed! The team just keeps giving the breaks to their "friends" and "good ol' boy 'good cops'" while the slightly not-so-innocent perps get extra and harsher charges pinned on them. 

On 12/7/2017 at 3:58 PM, FnkyChkn34 said:

I agree, because Voight takes payoffs from the gang leaders - but he doesn't blatantly steal from crime scenes.  That's a first.  It was also incredibly stupid for Voight to take it, knowing that anyone could see the file and know what was logged in or not, and with Atwater and Ruzek knowing the money was there.  Voight is crooked, but he's not stupid; he wouldn't have done that.  

Yep! I think Voight did that to test Ruzek's loyalty and know once and for all who was dropping dimes on the team. And because nothing came of it (at least yet) he is meeting with Ruzek to discuss how they are going to get him out from under Woods.

On 12/8/2017 at 10:22 PM, NJRadioGuy said:

Assuming Voight knew what was going on and Ruzek didn't come to him, Voight needs to dump this guy from his unit immediately. He's not trustworthy, plain and simple. There is no forgiveness for what Ruzek did in a unit that tight. If there's the slightest doubt that the guy may not have your back at some future point, he's a liability. Period. Turf him. Transfer him. Hell, promote him even, just get him the hell out of your unit, in a way that he can never, ever come back. 

It was just his turn. Everyone has had their "iffy" moment within the show thus far as to whether or not they should turn their backs on the unit to protect their own. No one else has gotten more than a slap on the wrist so it's unlikely Ruzek will face anything serious. Not to mention the show just lost one of its main characters. It's doubtful they are looking to shake up the cast again anytime soon (barring, of course, unless one of the actors wants out).

13 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Meanwhile Tamia Porter's character is still waiting on an apology for being kicked off the team in error.

Lol!

13 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

And what happened to the Asian guy who was the mole... Did he get killed or something... 

Erm...about that...

 

Jin was murdered in the Season 1 finale and the Season 2 opener was all about solving his homicide. This is why Halstead's friend Craig (or Greg...the way his name was said in the show was always a point of contention) was their tech guy for a short while before heading back to Iraq. They currently have a nameless, not often seen, female tech working for them now.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Dvldj

[FnkyChkn34]

Easier to just call Greg/Craig his nickname, Mouse. :)

[Lyanna19]

I was wondering why Jay was sleeping with someone who calls him Ryan....

On 12/7/2017 at 10:58 AM, FnkyChkn34 said:

I've read some interviews, and they say that they are finally exploring Jay's PTSD and will have him spiral downward.  I think lying to a woman that he's sleeping with about his whole identity is a good start...

This explains it, I thought maybe he was undercover (no pun intended?) or something

[Ailianna]

7 hours ago, Lyanna19 said:

I was wondering why Jay was sleeping with someone who calls him Ryan....

This explains it, I thought maybe he was undercover (no pun intended?) or something

She's the sister of the guy with the security company that was kidnapping, and he got killed in a shootout.  He's obviously still attracted to the sister, who was shown to be pretty cool, but he met her undercover, and is apparently still seeing her in that persona.  With booze (and possible drug use, as that was also part of the original backstory).  So that's healthy.  (That was my actual thought when I saw him waking up with the beer bottles and girl who doesn't know him.)

[Lyanna19]

@Ailianna of course! Now I remember.... My brain shuts down sometimes, thank-you ?

[Sandman]

On 12/11/2017 at 7:32 AM, Ailianna said:

... he met her undercover, and is apparently still seeing her in that persona.  With booze (and possible drug use, as that was also part of the original backstory).  So that's healthy.  (That was my actual thought when I saw him waking up with the beer bottles and girl who doesn't know him.)

Right? So. Healthy. It'd be nice if, occasionally, the members of Intelligence actually, y'know, exhibited some.

(I kid! I kid because I love! Well, most of them. Most of the time.)

[UNOSEZ]

Its sad that with all the characters in the show i only really care abt 3..voight burgess and atwater.. The rest are basucallt background noise if blahness... I mean how is it so many if these characters never seem to really interact  . . . Where us alvin and atwater time... Or halstead burgess... Upton and anyone who isnt jay??.. Come on show..  Do better

[FnkyChkn34]

At this point, I only really care about Atwater and Halstead, and maybe I could care about Antonio again if he ever got any screentime.  

[Xeliou66]

I only still like Atwater, Antonio, Olinsky and Platt. Of those, Atwater is the only one to get good stories this year, Platt and Olinsky barely even exist anymore, Antonio hasn't been focused on much this year and he didn't get much focus even before his stint on Justice. All of those characters I find interesting and a nice balance for the others, I think Atwater and especially Antonio are nice foils for Voight. But this show is just letting Voight run roughshod over everyone and they are only giving focus to Voight, Halstead and Upton in the episodes I've seen. Halstead is okay but he's gotten way too much focus compared to the others who've gotten so little and I've never found him to be the most compelling character. Ruzek and Burgess do nothing for me. 

I have to say, I'm not sure how Ruzek can continue to be on the show, I would think Voight would kick him off the unit for feeding information to Woods, or if this was real life Voight would kill him but they would never do that as that would make Voight completely unredeemable to even the people that still support him. I'm just not sure how Ruzek can stay on the show. 

Is anyone else hoping against hope that Voight will get brought down by Woods? I mean, yeah Woods is sleazy, they still didn't explain how he got his current position after getting busted tampering with evidence, guess he made a deal, but Voight is bad and needs to go, I find it impossible to root for him in most episodes, bully cops like him need to be kicked off the force. 

I'm not surprised this season has been weak, Eid is a garbage showrunner, he did a poor job on SVU and L&O and I think he even admitted he didn't even watch PD before this year so how the hell does he know what he's doing? Seems like the Chicago franchise is falling all around. 

[Ailianna]

7 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

if this was real life Voight would kill him

Killing a cop is nothing like killing a junkie, or a gangbanger or a dealer.  The level of police and community interest and scrutiny is millions of times more intense, and for a cop to just disappear--well every cop in Chicago will be looking for signs of him and clues to his fate.  Voight isn't stupid enough to kill a cop.  There are other ways to deal with him.

[UNOSEZ]

Maybe they'll bust ruzek down to patrol... It was a nice change if pace on the show and he does deserve some kind if punishment..  I mean he got plucked right outta school and has barely ever even worn one... So thats somn

[MakeMeLaugh]

If Ruzek got moved down to patrol maybe Platt would get more airtime. Please, Show?

[Raja]

On 12/12/2017 at 9:20 PM, Xeliou66 said:

 

Is anyone else hoping against hope that Voight will get brought down by Woods? I mean, yeah Woods is sleazy, they still didn't explain how he got his current position after getting busted tampering with evidence, guess he made a deal, but Voight is bad and needs to go, I find it impossible to root for him in most episodes, bully cops like him need to be kicked off the force. 

I'm not surprised this season has been weak, Eid is a garbage showrunner, he did a poor job on SVU and L&O and I think he even admitted he didn't even watch PD before this year so how the hell does he know what he's doing? Seems like the Chicago franchise is falling all around. 

I think that every season will have a big bad going after Voight,  so when the cancellation order comes a story line is in place ready to plug in. It was  done better on The Shield, and their marketing department never pretended that Vic Mackey was good.

[Xeliou66]

10 hours ago, Raja said:

I think that every season will have a big bad going after Voight,  so when the cancellation order comes a story line is in place ready to plug in. It was  done better on The Shield, and their marketing department never pretended that Vic Mackey was good.

I never was a big fan of The Shield, but I know that the whole point of the show was that Vic Mackey and company were bad cops and were meant to be villains and the show disagreed with the viewers who pulled for him, that's why they made him a "rat" at the end of the show just like the cop he killed at the start to prove he was a self serving hypocrite. With Chicago PD, they make Voight out to be a good guy despite the fact that he breaks the law practically every episode and has done every corrupt thing in the book including murder. And he's just gotten worse and no one seems to stand up to him anymore. 

This season has blown chunks overall, with the only exception being Atwater's stuff, it was about time he got some focus, he's become the show's most likable character. Olinsky and Platt are basically nonexistent now, they've had absolutely nothing and are barely on, Antonio hasn't been used enough either, he used to make a great foil for Voight, now he's had his personality neutered. And I can't stand Upton. 

And I can't stand the police reform theme, it comes across as a message that the police don't need reform and that the police breaking the law and brutalizing suspects is a good thing. Dick Wolf's shows are usually so much better than this, he's fallen so far since his L&O days. And it's funny how a lot of people accuse Dick Wolf of having a far left bias ( SVU definitely is liberal to be fair ) but this show definitely promotes a right wing agenda, it's getting as bad as Blue Bloods about it. 

And my comment about in real life Voight would kill a snitch, well, I stand by it, when cops snitch on dirty cops bad things tend to happen, just recently in Baltimore a cop was killed right before he was about to testify in a corruption probe and the case is still unsolved. Coincidence, I think not. 

[SnarkySheep]

Cousin Ira is a judge now! It honestly took me a few minutes to recognize the actor; I have never seen him in such a serious role.

As for Ruzek...why exactly couldn't he just wear a wire when dealing with Woods? Maybe it wouldn't keep him (Ruzek) out of trouble, but hell, may as well bring the other guy down with you, right?