I passed through a similar situation of family watching this show and getting glimpses of it. I agree, it\'s a rather unconfortable show. Something I might add is that from my limited view, it seems they barely try to justify the situations. There\'s little strawmaning or painting a different picture. One episode one of the cops accidentaly killed a kid. It was the result of improper procedure, the episode went on to try and prove his innocense but it turned out it really was his mistake but they blackmail a mayor who admits is working with gang bosses because the city is forgotten by the government into just droping the charges. What was the message? yeah he fucked up and killed a little black girl but he\'s one of the good guys, let\'s stop a gang boss not for justice or helping the community, but because we can use that to let one of ours scott free of child murder.
Yeah, pretty much. I certainly don\'t mind amoral or unlikeable protagonists, but this whole show just feels morally fucked. Then you get token attempts to justify the protagonists\' actions like that.
Considering Dick Wolf\'s tendency to rip plotlines from the headlines, one can only wonder how he would represent the current public discussion about police brutality in America. Not well, I suspect.
We shall see. That unofficial Season 7 finale seems to hint that it\'s now going to be an imminent topic.
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A slightly concerning bastion for police brutality
So, my family are currently addicted to the Dick Wolf (*snickers*) expanded multiverse and Chicago P.D. is the current binge victim. Looking at IMDB reviews and scores, I really struggle to see what makes this series so great or special in the majority's eyes. At its heart, it's a cliche police action drama starring a lot of raspy-voiced cops with few discernible personality traits fighting crime in Dick Wolf's favourite onion-named 'Murican metropolis. All of the main characters are beautiful and immaculate, even the older officers - it's honestly quite hard to distinguish between all the brunette-bearded white beefcake studs, sometimes.
What bothers me most about this show is how it seems to display a child's naive picture of what the police actually is. Despite being an intelligence unit, it's full of gun-toting badasses who can go anywhere and do anything with apparently unlimited jurisdiction. Despite the fact that these cops never follow any realistic procedure and constantly brutalise suspects Jack Bauer-style with little provocation, no one ever faces consequences for their actions. In fact, the show seems to glorify it. At least Chicago Fire often dealt with media reactions to Firehouse 51's actions and showed plenty of internal affairs drama.
Voight (Jason Beghe), who constantly talks like he's about to keel over from emphysema or something, is the stereotypical grizzled Cowboy Cop who will seemingly go to any legally questionable lengths to see justice delivered, up to including holding an old lady at knifepoint. Somehow, we're clearly supposed to see him as a sympathetic, admirable character in spite of his fascistic actions - "he's a rough maverick, but he gets the job done". Especially in the world we currently live in where police brutality is a tragically huge problem, it's very uncomfortable to see the characters' actions go unquestioned and unchallenged.
On the positive side, the show has well-choreographed, gripping action every episode and is nowhere near as exploitative as some of Dick Wolf's other crime shows. The crossovers and cameos between the Chicagoverse shows help to make the overall setting feel fleshed out. In many ways, P.D. is a faithful throwback to the bygone era of '80s meathead shows, but it often imitates them in the worst ways.