Line #69 Series/TheChicagoCode


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chicago_Code_8655.jpg]]
2
3	->''"When my father pinned the Chicago P.D. badge on me, he told me to shake hands with the good citizens of this city using a velvet glove, but keep a razor blade hidden between your fingers for the ones who forgot their manners."''
4	-->-- "Pilot"
5
6	''The Chicago Code'' is an American crime drama television series set, unsurprisingly, in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}. Follows Detective Jarek Wysocki, his new partner Caleb Evers, and Police Superintendent Teresa Colvin as they try to take down the Chicago Political Machine created by Alderman Ronin Gibbons. Other characters include Wysocki's niece Vonda, [[InTheBlood also a cop]], and her partner Isaac Joiner as well as Liam Hennessey, an undercover cop in TheIrishMob.
7
8	Notable in that it was the first project in over 20 years to receive official support from the Chicago Police Department. The uniforms, insignia, and equipment used on the show are all authentic.
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10	The show premiered on February 7, 2011 on {{Creator/FOX}}, and [[ShortRunners lasted only one season]]. However, it had good ratings when it aired in the US.
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12	----
13	!!''The Chicago Code'' contains examples of:
14
15	%%* BaldOfAuthority: Gibbons is a nefarious example.
16	%%* BlackAndGrayMorality
17	* BulletproofVest: Every overt police officer wears one out in the field. TruthInTelevision. The real CPD is one of the few in the US that requires all its officers to openly wear vests due to their city's high rate of gun crime.
18	* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Jarek's brother was on the take]].
19	%%* ChaseScene: how Jarek Wysocki is introduced
20	%%* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Lilly]], rather literally, in "Mike Royko's Revenge."
21	%%* TheChessmaster: Gibbons
22	%%* CrapsackWorld
23	* CutShort: While the Gibbons arc was brought to a conclusion in the final episode, the mystery of who killed Jarek's brother was never resolved.
24	%%* DaChief: Teresa Colvin
25	%%* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler: Manny Montana as Antonio]]
26	%%* DevilInPlainSight: Gibbons.
27	* DidntSeeThatComing: In "Gillis, Chase & Babyface," Teresa's chief of staff goes to Gibbons and solicits a bribe in exchange for becoming Gibbons' mole in the Superintendent's office. It's no surprise that Gibbons is recording the conversation, but who could have imagined that [[spoiler: Gibbons would take the tape to the prosecutor and get the would-be mole indicted on corruption charges, just to embarrass Teresa in public?]]
28	%%* DirtyBusiness:
29	%%** Liam, in "O'Leary's Cow"
30	%%** how Jarek and Teresa get the brothel videos in "The Gold Coin Kid"
31	* EvenEvilHasStandards: the drug boss in "Black Hand and the Shotgun Man" [[spoiler: lets his wife and 7-year old son go into witness protection so his son won't grow up in the drug trade]].
32	* TheFettered: Though Wysocki seems like a typical CowboyCop, he's ''obsessed'' with the rules and doing things "the right way".
33	* [[FakeUltimateHero Fake Ultimate Villain]]: Doubly averted. In "Pilot," Gibbons does everything he can to drop hints that he rules the city because he's so ruthless. In the second episode, "Hog Butcher," though, we meet Hugh Killian and it seems [[spoiler: Gibbons can barely keep the mob from killing him]] and Killian is the real BigBad. Then, in the very next episode ("Gillis, Chase & Babyface") Gibbons [[spoiler: plants kiddie porn in Killian's house, then has the cops raid the place and arrest him, then uses the threat of a prosecution for possession of child pornography as leverage to get back in control.]] At the end of the day, Gibbons is the BigBad after all.
34	** Also occurs in "Mike Royko's revenge" when Jarek learns that Killian ''didn't'' kill his brother.
35	%%* FeedTheMole: Set up with the new Chief of Staff Kelly, who's reporting to Gibbons.
36	* GoshDangItToHeck: A requirement, as it's a network primetime show, but nicely lampshaded in that Jarek Wysocki (raised Catholic) takes a dim view of strong language and doesn't let people use it around him. However, this sets up the rather amusing scene of a hard-boiled cop [[FelonyMisdemeanor objecting to his partner's use]] of "ass" and "screw you."
37	* HeelFaceTurn: Killian's [[MafiaPrincess daughter]] is totally uncooperative until she learns that [[spoiler: Gibbons had her father killed.]] She immediately turns state's evidence to get even.
38	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Detective Jarek Wysocki [[spoiler: who guns down a suspect, narrowly missing a fellow officer in the process.]]
39	* IndyPloy: In "Greylord & Gambat," to prevent Hugh Killian's {{Mooks}} from killing a grand jury witness, undercover cop Liam [[spoiler: surprises the would-be assassin with a butcher knife to the gut]] and then [[RefugeInAudacity brazenly fast-talks]] other mooks into running off on a wild goose chase, and then uses the faux emergency to trick Killian's accountant daughter into [[spoiler: showing him where the secret ledgers are]].
40	* TheIrishMob, somewhat improbably for Chicago (which has been TheMafia since Al Capone)
41	* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler: Antonio]], mid-narration in the pilot.
42	* LampshadeHanging: Wysocki and Evers are given permission to take whatever case they want, both allowing them to always get the best cases and lampshading that the leads on cop shows always get the best cases.
43	* LargeAndInCharge: Gibbons. (Delroy Lindo is 6' 4")
44	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Just when you're getting tired of the constant expository voiceovers in the pilot, [[spoiler:it cuts off just as two characters are shot]].
45	* MafiaPrincess: Killian's daughter, naturally. [[spoiler: Unlike most examples, she is fully involved in her dad's activities, she manages his money]].
46	* TheManBehindTheMan: Gibbons, with respect to the "unofficial mayor of Chinatown"--and quite a few other people
47	* OhCrap:
48	** Liam, in "O'Leary's Cow," when he sees [[spoiler: a body being removed from the house he torched]], and twice in "Black Hand and the Shotgun Man" when Gibbons [[spoiler: takes him to meet the family of the arson victim]] and later when he realizes [[spoiler: Gibbons knows he was the arsonist]].
49	** Hugh Killian, in "Gillis, Chase & Babyface," when he realizes it was [[spoiler: Gibbons]] who planted the [[spoiler: kiddie porn]] in his garage.
50	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Although Jason Clarke does a reasonably good job with his Midwestern accent overall, there are occasional moments you can tell he's an Aussie. Some native Chicago reviewers have complained about this.
51	* PoliceBrutality: Pretty heavy in the second episode, when the whole force is out hunting a cop killer.
52	* PoliceProcedural
53	* PrayerOfMalice: Jarek Wysaki, encouraged by a nun to pray about his worries, responds by praying that God will give him a steady aim to kill his brother's murderer.
54	* RefugeInAudacity:
55	** Gibbons in "Gillis, Chase & Babyface"
56	** How Jarek and Teresa get the brothel videos in "The Gold Coin Kid"
57	** "Greylord & Gambat" is basically an hour of Liam doing this
58	* SceneryPorn: The show is full of beautiful shots of Chicago.
59	* ShoutOut: "Mike Royko's Revenge" makes more sense if you're familiar with the famous Chicago Tribune columnist.
60	* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: Gibbons]] in the final episode. Though to be fair, how WAS he supposed to know that [[spoiler: Jarek's dead brother kept files on him]]?
61	* TakingTheBullet
62	** [[spoiler:Antonio, for Teresa]], in "Pilot"
63	** Vonda does this for Moosekian, in a metaphorical sense, in "The Gold Coin Kid".
64	* UnderCoverCopReveal
65	* UniquePilotTitleSequence: "Pilot" used a simple title card with no theme music.
66	* VideoWills: [[spoiler: Jarek's brother left one, explaining why he had been a corrupt cop. He also leaves dirt on everyone, including Gibbons]].
67	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Gibbons goes through one throughout the entire final episode, culminating in his arrest.]]
68	* WesternTerrorists: The CPD investigates bombing attempts in Chicago in "Cabrini-Green" by the former leftist group, the Chicago Liberation Army (CLA).
69	* XanatosSpeedChess: the conflict between Teresa and Gibbons, especially in "Greylord & Gambat" and "Mike Royko's Revenge."
70	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: a major cause of [[DeadlyEuphemism employee turnover]] in [[TheIrishMob Hugh Killian's organization]]

Context Series / TheChicagoCode