The fifth episode starts out light, an exciting softball game between the usual assiduous police of Chicago. So, these guys finally get their day off, and instead of dodging bullets and chasing down bank robbers, Wysocki and Caleb enjoy a nice day in the sun. While the boys take it to the field, Teresa is in a charmingly decorative kitchen tending to two small children. Wait, huh, Teresa has kids? Oh, just kidding. I spoke too soon. Teresa, or Aunt T, is watching her sister’s kids. It’s a nice change of pace to see these characters take a breather from their extreme line of work. Of course, though, it does not last for long. Crime never takes a day off in The Windy city, does it? Wysocki and Caleb are on the scene of a murder in China Town moments later. But we will get back to that in a bit.
Teresa’s brother-in-law begins to probe her with questions, requesting her assistance (or perhaps her power) for a friend in need. Hm, sounds fishy. Stay tuned, because this guy pops up again in Teresa’s office. We find out a little down the road that Robert is trying to scam his friend for money; he promises him that Teresa’s office will help if he coughs it up. Teresa ain’t happy. She threatens to tell the FBI about what Robert has done if he does not confess. Teresa promises that she will work behind the scenes in order to guarantee that he will only receives probation. That is the best she can do. Robert refuses; Teresa’s sister is in tears as she reminds Teresa how she always puts her job before her family, how lonely she is, and eventually, how her kids are now off limits to her. In the end, Robert decides to confess, however, Teresa’s family is officially torn apart.
Wysocki, Teresa, and Caleb take a trip over to the unofficial mayor of Chinatown, a chairman who owns half the businesses in the area. They hope to retrieve the surveillance footage from a store that may have caught the murderers. He’s a stern Chinese man (or, for you Lost fans out there, the creepy Chinese guy from those Dharma Initiative videos) who, according to Wysocki, is not very cooperative when it comes to the police. You can feel the tension within the office, but the chairman agrees to help. Eh, I don’t really buy it. And minutes later, my predictions are correct. The chairman fails to be of any assistance. Wysocki calls him out on helping a killer escape a few years back. As the episode progresses, this guy becomes shadier and shadier. As it turns out, he is behind the entire murder. The chairman asks for a bargain: he will give up the location of a killer who Wysocki has been looking for in exchange for a reduced sentence.
The Irish mob seems to be torching houses; after doing so, they offer to fix those houses in order to collect revenue. Bad boys. The police catch on to their gig, and Wysocki is let in on what’s been going on. He is not too happy with their undercover cop, Liam, who is unaware of the arsenic activities that have been going on. Come on, Liam, step it up. He certainly does. Later, he is set up with a guy and brought into a nice home. The guy teaches him the tricks of starting a house fire, and Liam’s nerves begin to surface. Despite the guy’s suspicions, he leaves Liam to set the house on fire by himself. Liam knows he has to go through with it; if he doesn’t, then he risks blowing his cover. Apprehensive at first, Liam watches the fire glide up the wall of the home. Afterward, he stands outside with a group of guys as they watch the firemen water it down. Then, a black body bag is soon carried out of the home. Uh, oh. Liam says it all, “seriously, who the Hell is that?” Our undercover guy just unknowingly killed someone.
The phony, spurious relationship between Gibbons and Teresa is still going strong. She takes a walk over to his offices in hopes of getting him to speak with the chairman about the murdered teenager in China Town. Now that we know all of this information about Gibbons, he comes off as eerily sinister. Delroy Lindo plays Gibbons with such an evil air; I like it. Gibbons is not having it at first, but Teresa manages to put him on the spot. Gibbons agrees, but again, we know he always has something up his sleeve.
Yes, once again, Gibbons is less than truthful. By the end of the episode, we find out that Gibbons and the chairman have been working together for some time. After the chairman heads to jail, Gibbons manipulates his partner, or his sidekick, or maybe his successor, who knows? But Gibbons manages to cast his spell on him. We do not see much more from Gibbons; it is definitely a much-needed break from his story line. The previous two episodes strongly focused on his corruptness, while this episode seems to only touch upon his monstrous behavior. I’m happy the show gave us a few more villains this week, but it certainly does not allow us to forget about Gibbons.
The show is always so jam-packed. While I am certainly getting used to it, and while I definitely find it extremely entertaining, sometimes it’s a bit much. There are multiple story lines going on in every episode. Within every scene, it seems like something so unequivocally important is happening. If I look away for a second, I feel like I need to hit rewind. They talk fast, and sometimes it’s hard to catch everything they say. We get it; the crime in this town is perpetual. But, it’s a television show; give us some time to figure out what is going on.
Despite the show’s turbo mode, this episode does not fail to deliver. We get insight into the family life of Teresa, as she struggles between helping her family and doing the right thing. We learn how dedicated she is to the law as well as how much it kills her to turn her back on her sister. We see the relationship between Wyscoki and Caleb developing into a possible friendship. The two engage in witty, fun banter, they discuss Caleb being shot down by a pretty nurse (don’t worry, he tries to ask her out again, but we find out that she made a promise to herself to never date a cop) and they continue to work their booty’s off. A budding bromance perhaps?
Don’t forget, the show is in its first season. I think the first season is solid enough to work the kinks out within the second season. Though, there is no word yet on whether or not it will be picked up. I am still a fan, and I am fully invested in the characters. The second season will only develop these guys more, and it will certainly succeed in bringing the action into our living rooms. Hopefully, FOX feels the same way.
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