S06.E09: Descent

[doLLish]

As his dependency on prescription painkillers grows, Antonio crosses a line, endangering someone close to him and ultimately putting the entire team at risk.

[Brookside]

Can anyone explain the quiffy hair?  Is this suddenly a thing with Chicago PD?

[mommalib]

They destroyed Antonio, he has no moral leverage at this point.

[langford peel]

This episode does not just require that you suspend disbelief. It forces you to hang it with its shirt in the secret cell in the basement.

Being one of Dawson’s kids is almost as dangerous as dating someone from Firehouse 51.

Why in God’s name would Ruzeck cover up for Antonio? The guy he has been fighting with about not covering up for Voight. Ruzeck is the new Al. But helping a scantamonious  tatter-tale like Dawson is just stretching it too far.  

Edited December 6, 2018 by langford peel

[doLLish]

I kind of love that they destroyed Antonio the way they did tbh. He was getting so obnoxious sitting up on that high horse always peering down his nose at everyone else as if he was some picture of moral perfection. If literally ANYONE else had pulled what he had he would not have been as graceful as all the others. He wouldn’t have been graceful at all. 

Ruzek taking the fall is stupid and I cannot wait for the fallout when Ruzek and Upton get caught. It’s gonna be delicious.

[Beatrice]

5 hours ago, doLLish said:

I kind of love that they destroyed Antonio the way they did tbh. He was getting so obnoxious sitting up on that high horse always peering down his nose at everyone else as if he was some picture of moral perfection. If literally ANYONE else had pulled what he had he would not have been as graceful as all the others. He wouldn’t have been graceful at all. 

Ruzek taking the fall is stupid and I cannot wait for the fallout when Ruzek and Upton get caught. It’s gonna be delicious.

I see what you mean but they needed one character that still at least tried to follow the rules. Now it's just a free for all. Are they trying to redo the Voight/Al situation with Antonio/Ruzek. Only this time Antonio won't let Ruzek take the fall? Anything other than Antonio stepping up would be so out of character imo.

I kinda like Ruzek and Upton. Although, I was so Hailey when he mentioned sharing rent, I was like what the hell. 

[preeya]

I can't see how they can save Antonio from this caper as everyone knows about his downfall. Just wondering, perhaps Jon Seda has something on the horizon and will be written out of P.D. (see below)

Edited December 6, 2018 by preeya

[preeya]

From TV.com:

We all know Voight is pretty adept at making his team's various indiscretions disappear into the void but this feels like a completely different beast. Could Antonio's deadly choice be the thing that finally breaks the sergeant? According to showrunner Rick Eid, maybe not.

"I would never wanna say Voight has bitten off more than he can chew but it's a difficult situation and it's not gonna go the way you think it's gonna go in the [winter premiere]," he told TV Guide.

[Beatrice]

9 minutes ago, preeya said:

From TV.com:

We all know Voight is pretty adept at making his team's various indiscretions disappear into the void but this feels like a completely different beast. Could Antonio's deadly choice be the thing that finally breaks the sergeant? According to showrunner Rick Eid, maybe not.

"I would never wanna say Voight has bitten off more than he can chew but it's a difficult situation and it's not gonna go the way you think it's gonna go in the [winter premiere]," he told TV Guide.

Probably referring to Ruzek trying to take the fall.

[preeya]

45 minutes ago, Beatrice said:

Probably referring to Ruzek trying to take the fall.

Why would he do that? They are "off book" and there's a dead guy that took a header out of an abandoned building.

[Beatrice]

11 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

This is the first season that I have watched this series, so I know I am out of the loop on a lot of stuff.  That said, what the hell kind of cluster *expletive* was this?  Too many people know about the various laws being broken.  A saggy diaper is going to do a better job of controlling leaks.  This series truly seems to have no one to root for.

Well Antonio was the good guy that followed the law before this episode. He was really the only one left. Hailey to a lesser extent is still a straight arrow. But Antonio will no longer be able to chastise anyone for not following protocol. 

Something else is why didn't Burgess, his partner, notice that he was having issues. It was pretty obvious he was acting differently. I think back to Jay/Hailey who both noticed when the other was going off the deep end. 

[Guildford]

1 minute ago, Beatrice said:

Well Antonio was the good guy that followed the law before this episode. He was really the only one left. Hailey to a lesser extent is still a straight arrow. But Antonio will no longer be able to chastise anyone for not following protocol. 

Something else is why didn't Burgess, his partner, notice that he was having issues. It was pretty obvious he was acting differently. I think back to Jay/Hailey who both noticed when the other was going off the deep end. 

Because the writers are inept at following through on any storyline, they have the attention spans of half chewed peanuts. (Except the Ruzek/Upton mess, the one story that the majority of fans hate he thinks is exciting and interesting.)

Would it have killed them to have little breadcrumbs along the way that Antonio was spiralling? Maybe comment that he's late a few times, or misses something, or is always on the phone. Have someone comment on it....but no...he goes from calling his Dr way back in episode 3 0r 4? to suddenly six episodes later they remember and bang full-blown addiction, running from cops, heroin seeking drug addict.

I give it two episodes into the new year, he'll have a counselling session with old Dr dirty coat over on Med, probably in a bar, move in with Voight and woo hoo Antiono is cured.

[VinceW]

This episode moves the series into ‘Shades of Blue” territory with Voight becoming more like his counterpart, Lt Matt Wozniak, in that series whose ongoing job was keeping his band of detectives out from under police scrutiny after a team member goes rogue on a case. In this instance, all of them become complicit in a suspect death. There is no way Antonio keeps his detective shield if a suspect tune up becomes manslaughter.  The death of the accused kidnapper puts Dawson now on the same conspiracy level that persists with Voight (Bingham) and Olinsky (Browning).  Antonio’s drastic turnabout seems odd at this point unless his family issues become an excuse for him to leave the show once again. The whole drug addiction arc for Antonio was just too rushed to be plausible given his backstory with police intelligence. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by VinceW

[Raja]

16 hours ago, langford peel said:

This episode does not just require that you suspend disbelief. It forces you to hang it with its shirt in the secret cell in the basement.

Being one of Dawson’s kids is almost as dangerous as dating someone from Firehouse 51.

Why in God’s name would Ruzeck cover up for Antonio? The guy he has been fighting with about not covering up for Voight. Ruzeck is the new Al. But helping a scantamonious  tatter-tale like Dawson is just stretching it too far.  

Because Ruzeck is a full on disciple of Sergeant Voight. It didn't matter that Detective Dawson was trying to do the right thing against the rest of the  unit he was still part of the unit thus a man to be protected. If Sergeant Voight had time to think of something he would have committed a crime himself to save on of his

[TigerLynx]

Great now Antonio has issues.  {face palm}

Atwater needs to go find Finn, then they need to find John Munch, and someone write them a show.  Trudy can come to.

[Guildford]

29 minutes ago, Raja said:

Because Ruzeck is a full on disciple of Sergeant Voight. It didn't matter that Detective Dawson was trying to do the right thing against the rest of the  unit he was still part of the unit thus a man to be protected. If Sergeant Voight had time to think of something he would have committed a crime himself to save on of his

Because it's the TV rules...

Good Cop fights with Bad Cop

Good Cop does bad shit

Bad Cop covers for Good Cop

All is forgiven and sometime down the track Bad Cop will remind Good Cop that they saved their ass so Good Cop will turn a blind eye to Bad Cop doing Bad things again.

 

Just insert the names of relevant characters and bang you have a compelling storyline that has never been seen before.

[FnkyChkn34]

I'm so glad that this show is writing fresh, new storylines!  It's not like any member of the team has been a junkie befor... oh, wait.  Well, at least kidnapping one of Antonio's children was a surprising twis... oh, that's been done too?  But, they've never accidentally killed someone while going "off book" have they?  Huh, you don't say...

 

They really need some new ideas.  Yawn.

[Guildford]

17 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I'm so glad that this show is writing fresh, new storylines!  It's not like any member of the team has been a junkie befor... oh, wait.  Well, at least kidnapping one of Antonio's children was a surprising twis... oh, that's been done too?  But, they've never accidentally killed someone while going "off book" have they?  Huh, you don't say...

 

They really need some new ideas.  Yawn.

Not to mention Captain Eid merrily steering the 'ship that no one wants' into that inevitable 'love triangle' ....there is nothing really keeping this boat afloat.

[mommalib]

4 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

This is the first season that I have watched this series, so I know I am out of the loop on a lot of stuff.  That said, what the hell kind of cluster *expletive* was this?  Too many people know about the various laws being broken.  A saggy diaper is going to do a better job of controlling leaks.  This series truly seems to have no one to root for.

I think Atwater is still somebody to root for.

[Beatrice]

15 minutes ago, Guildford said:

Not to mention Captain Eid merrily steering the 'ship that no one wants' into that inevitable 'love triangle' ....there is nothing really keeping this boat afloat.

I'm here for that drama. lol Not that I think it's going there. 

I've enjoyed this season a lot just not what they did to Antonio because imo there is no coming back to who he was after killing someone.

[Xeliou66]

I am so glad that I never watch this show anymore, Eid is a god awful showrunner and I’m so thankful he left SVU after season 18 so he couldn’t do anymore damage there, and from what it sounds like he’s completely ruined this show, I know  the episodes I saw last season were terrible, and this season sounds worse from what I’ve heard, more and more “family in danger” plots, predictable romance shit and a cartoon character bureaucrat who’s out to get Voight. And now they’ve turned Antonio into a killer! Not surprising, they seem to want to prop Voight up on a pedestal and take away anyone’s credibility that questions his character. I don’t even know why they brought Antonio back, it didn’t make sense why he would leave the SA’s office. 

I think this show doesn’t have much steam left in it, but never underestimated how much people will swallow shitty TV. 

[MakeMeLaugh]

If we didn’t have these cops, we probably wouldn’t need cops; and now they’re going to spend their well-paid time covering up their own crimes. Plus that bad guy going out the invisible window was like a roadrunner cartoon. Stupid show. 

[WinJet0819]

The entire fact that Antonio went from having pain in his shoulder all the way to becoming a full-on oxy addict getting supplied by a local drug dealer that CPD is closing in on, all in the span of 2-3months(?) is just plain laughable, and not even remotely realistic. And he's so desperate, he has the oxy delivered to his house by a violent drug addict who is willing to do anything to make sure he can still have his drugs, even if that means kidnapping and raping Antonio's daughter. Just no. This storyline might have been more believable had they built this up over the entire course of the season, showing him sneaking oxy, and losing evidence or tipping off dealers to keep them out of jail in exchange for more oxy, and then in the last few episodes, letting his oxy addiction come to a head.

Now, upon the resumption, we know they will find a way to cover up Antonio's killing of an unarmed suspect while high, he'll be put in treatment, his daughter will forgive him, and the team will trust him again. And probably all of that in about 5-6 episodes, and then the whole oxy storyline disappear forever.

This show is supposed to represent the CPD, and it's making a mockery of it. From the stupid Upstek relationship, which almost had me wanting to turn off the episode at the start, to Voight killing unarmed guys in broad daylight with witnesses, to Antonio's very quick spiral into addiction.

This is why I wish the Chicago Code wasn't cancelled all those years ago. It just felt more real.

[Guildford]

3 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

The entire fact that Antonio went from having pain in his shoulder all the way to becoming a full-on oxy addict getting supplied by a local drug dealer that CPD is closing in on, all in the span of 2-3months(?) is just plain laughable, and not even remotely realistic. And he's so desperate, he has the oxy delivered to his house by a violent drug addict who is willing to do anything to make sure he can still have his drugs, even if that means kidnapping and raping Antonio's daughter. Just no. This storyline might have been more believable had they built this up over the entire course of the season, showing him sneaking oxy, and losing evidence or tipping off dealers to keep them out of jail in exchange for more oxy, and then in the last few episodes, letting his oxy addiction come to a head.

Now, upon the resumption, we know they will find a way to cover up Antonio's killing of an unarmed suspect while high, he'll be put in treatment, his daughter will forgive him, and the team will trust him again. And probably all of that in about 5-6 episodes, and then the whole oxy storyline disappear forever.

This show is supposed to represent the CPD, and it's making a mockery of it. From the stupid Upstek relationship, which almost had me wanting to turn off the episode at the start, to Voight killing unarmed guys in broad daylight with witnesses, to Antonio's very quick spiral into addiction.

This is why I wish the Chicago Code wasn't cancelled all those years ago. It just felt more real.

I can't like this post enough....you nailed it. Well done.

My only quibble would be I think you are being generous with 5-6 episodes, I'm tipping 2, 3 at a maximum (Going on it took exactly 3 episodes to stop mentioning Al, so that seems about the concentration span of the writers)

[Kel Varnsen]

Of all the time on Dick Wolf shows where cop characters got involved in a case they had a personal connection with, this had to be the worst.  But I am going to guess like all the others Antonio will face no actual professional reprocussions. 

Also on a side note, I have never been to Chicago, but Ruzek's new apartment seemed ridiculous, even for TV standards. Especially since they just pulled the guy out of police academy at the start of season 1.

[Reality police]

19 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Of all the time on Dick Wolf shows where cop characters got involved in a case they had a personal connection with, this had to be the worst.  But I am going to guess like all the others Antonio will face no actual professional reprocussions. 

Also on a side note, I have never been to Chicago, but Ruzek's new apartment seemed ridiculous, even for TV standards. Especially since they just pulled the guy out of police academy at the start of season 1.

That apartment was way out of his league. I swear it is the same one that the team planted bugs in a couple of seasons ago. The bad guy's gf lived there i think. Anyone else have a better memory than me? 

[rhys]

On 12/8/2018 at 8:08 PM, Reality police said:

That apartment was way out of his league. I swear it is the same one that the team planted bugs in a couple of seasons ago. The bad guy's gf lived there i think. Anyone else have a better memory than me? 

I thought it looked a bit familiar too but I watch entirely too much tv. Ha. It was a sweet apt. 

[babs1226]

On 12/6/2018 at 10:02 PM, Xeliou66 said:

I don’t even know why they brought Antonio back, it didn’t make sense why he would leave the SA’s office. 

He left the SA's office because Chicago Law was cancelled.

[Xeliou66]

2 hours ago, babs1226 said:

He left the SA's office because Chicago Law was cancelled.

It’s Chicago Justice. And yes I know that’s why they brought him back, but it just didn’t make sense, they could’ve written it in a much more compelling way but the writing sucks now and they didn’t even explain why Antonio wanted to leave the SA’s office. 

[FnkyChkn34]

22 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

It’s Chicago Justice. And yes I know that’s why they brought him back, but it just didn’t make sense, they could’ve written it in a much more compelling way but the writing sucks now and they didn’t even explain why Antonio wanted to leave the SA’s office. 

Yeah, they explained it.  They said he wasn't happy and it wasn't what he expected, or something like that.  He wanted his old job back.  They didn't dwell on it for long, but it was mentioned.

On 12/8/2018 at 9:08 PM, Reality police said:

That apartment was way out of his league. I swear it is the same one that the team planted bugs in a couple of seasons ago. The bad guy's gf lived there i think. Anyone else have a better memory than me? 

There was another apartment recently (a crime scene, I think) that was obviously just Erin's apartment re-purposed.  I guess the set budget got cut.  

[SnarkySheep]

Finally made myself watch this ap - I've lived with chronic pain due to lupus and a rare neuromuscular disease for the past 14 years. I need opioids in order to keep working, living independently, etc. (As it is, painkillers are NOT a "cure"; they simply take the edge off the pain so you can force your body through the day's activities.)

Anyways, I've become rather knowledgeable on the subject. I know, for one thing, that only about 1-2% of legit patients (which Antonio is) become addicted. The other 98-99% are just fine. Yet according to TV shows, every single person immediately becomes an addict. NBC is a big fan of this trope - they did this storyline on This is Us last fall, with Antonio here now, and a few other shows. Chronic pain patients already fight tooth and nail these days to get what they need to function; we do NOT need further shaming and stigma via media, which IS a huge means of giving people ideas.

Why exactly couldn't Antonio have an injury, get some painkillers, and be ok? Now there's a novel storyline!

But no. Antonio will "detox" in January - and we will never again hear about his shoulder pain, which is what started this all in the first place. It wouldn't just go away on its own, but thanks to TV magic, it will.

Sorry for the long post, but this is a subject that's painfully close to my heart.

[Guildford]

17 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

Finally made myself watch this ap - I've lived with chronic pain due to lupus and a rare neuromuscular disease for the past 14 years. I need opioids in order to keep working, living independently, etc. (As it is, painkillers are NOT a "cure"; they simply take the edge off the pain so you can force your body through the day's activities.)

Anyways, I've become rather knowledgeable on the subject. I know, for one thing, that only about 1-2% of legit patients (which Antonio is) become addicted. The other 98-99% are just fine. Yet according to TV shows, every single person immediately becomes an addict. NBC is a big fan of this trope - they did this storyline on This is Us last fall, with Antonio here now, and a few other shows. Chronic pain patients already fight tooth and nail these days to get what they need to function; we do NOT need further shaming and stigma via media, which IS a huge means of giving people ideas.

Why exactly couldn't Antonio have an injury, get some painkillers, and be ok? Now there's a novel storyline!

But no. Antonio will "detox" in January - and we will never again hear about his shoulder pain, which is what started this all in the first place. It wouldn't just go away on its own, but thanks to TV magic, it will.

Sorry for the long post, but this is a subject that's painfully close to my heart.

Not to mention they have already done this on Chicago Fire way back in season 1 with Severide. So they are just passing the 'Cliched TV trope' book around the office.

It must be frustrating watching TV shows trot out this same old claptrap because surprise surprise you can have an injury and not get addicted to painkillers in a hot minute. 

We recently banned over the counter codeine medication because of the few who got addicted and now the genuine sufferers need to constantly go to the Dr to get a prescription. Unimaginative storytelling, like this crap only hinders the general publics understanding of chronic pain, it doesn't 'highlight' the issue like they seem to think it does.

I hope you have some good days among the tough ones.

[VinceW]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:03 PM, SnarkySheep said:

Finally made myself watch this ap - I've lived with chronic pain due to lupus and a rare neuromuscular disease for the past 14 years. I need opioids in order to keep working, living independently, etc. (As it is, painkillers are NOT a "cure"; they simply take the edge off the pain so you can force your body through the day's activities.)

Anyways, I've become rather knowledgeable on the subject. I know, for one thing, that only about 1-2% of legit patients (which Antonio is) become addicted. The other 98-99% are just fine. Yet according to TV shows, every single person immediately becomes an addict. NBC is a big fan of this trope - they did this storyline on This is Us last fall, with Antonio here now, and a few other shows. Chronic pain patients already fight tooth and nail these days to get what they need to function; we do NOT need further shaming and stigma via media, which IS a huge means of giving people ideas......

Myasthenia Gravis? (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. My wife was diagnosed with that disease in early college years, but she only needed pain meds when she got shingles some years later.  I wish you the best in health for the upcoming year and many years thereafter.

Edited December 19, 2018 by VinceW

[MakeMeLaugh]

I think shows use far-fetched uncommon prescription painkiller addiction after an injury plots for an “honorable” “not-his-fault” addiction story so we will easily still like the characters after the miraculous insta-rehab. How much more realistic to have a character be an alcoholic, like Lindsey was for maybe an episode, not long enough to develop. 

[Reality police]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:03 PM, SnarkySheep said:

Finally made myself watch this ap - I've lived with chronic pain due to lupus and a rare neuromuscular disease for the past 14 years. I need opioids in order to keep working, living independently, etc. (As it is, painkillers are NOT a "cure"; they simply take the edge off the pain so you can force your body through the day's activities.)

Anyways, I've become rather knowledgeable on the subject. I know, for one thing, that only about 1-2% of legit patients (which Antonio is) become addicted. The other 98-99% are just fine. Yet according to TV shows, every single person immediately becomes an addict. NBC is a big fan of this trope - they did this storyline on This is Us last fall, with Antonio here now, and a few other shows. Chronic pain patients already fight tooth and nail these days to get what they need to function; we do NOT need further shaming and stigma via media, which IS a huge means of giving people ideas.

Why exactly couldn't Antonio have an injury, get some painkillers, and be ok? Now there's a novel storyline!

But no. Antonio will "detox" in January - and we will never again hear about his shoulder pain, which is what started this all in the first place. It wouldn't just go away on its own, but thanks to TV magic, it will.

Sorry for the long post, but this is a subject that's painfully close to my heart.

Thank you for your post. I agree that it makes it much harder for those of us who need the meds and don't get addicted to have access to them. 

Sending you a hug. 

[Sandman]

On 12/6/2018 at 5:06 PM, Guildford said:

Would it have killed them to have little breadcrumbs along the way that Antonio was spiralling? Maybe comment that he's late a few times, or misses something, or is always on the phone. Have someone comment on it....but no...he goes from calling his Dr way back in episode 3 0r 4? to suddenly six episodes later they remember and bang full-blown addiction, running from cops, heroin-seeking drug addict.

I’m watching a rerun of “Descent,” and the story is definitely handled clumsily, especially in its suddenness, and how on-the-nose the beats are. Antonio, blowing up at his doctor that he’s “not some junkie trying to scam his doctor for pills” is just a walking eye roll at this point. Dude, that’s exactly what you are. I’d be more sympathetic, but Antonio’s always been a smug, judgmental dickhead with all the self-awareness of a wad of pocket lint. It’s too late to make me care about his mirror-punching (oy gevalt) self-destruction, writers. 

[Nintra16]

I’m going off memory here but didn’t they show something was off along the way? Like when Antonio tried to take the drugs recovered from a bust and Kim offered to tag it instead, and he was mad. And I think there was another indication too. 

I think him being sneaky and sleeping with that detective from… Colombia (?) and then later having to kill her, also showed a lapse in judgment.