Chicago P.D.

Starring: Jason Beghe, Sophia Bush, Patrick Flueger, LaRoyce Hawkins, Jon Seda, Elias Koteas, Jesse Lee Soffer, Marina Squerciati, Amy Morton, Brian Geraghty, & Archie Kao

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, made his Chicago series because he wanted to give viewers a separate look at the heroes who make a city run, but beyond that, he wanted to make it as realistic as possible. These shows feel a lot like one of my favorite all-time TV shows, Third Watch, but in that case they were all together in one show. Chicago P.D. focuses on major crimes detectives and shows that unlike Law & Order, the police aren't above reproach and always in control.

The unit is run by Hank Voight (Jason Beghe), who while having a soft spot for victims, also runs on pure emotion. If Voight can't get the bad guy legally, he'll get them another way. He's also not the most honest cop around and has a checkered past filled with abuses of power, as seen in his debut on Chicago Fire. 

Voight's unit includes his best friend and uncover specialist Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas), who is more honest than Voight, but always has his back. Olinsky is a master of disguise, and is in charge of training a rookie and possibly his eventual replacement played by Patrick Flueger. Also joining Voight is Erin Lindsey (Sophia Bush) a runaway that Voight rescued and raised as his own, who is partnered with another hot head, who while reminding her of Voight, also has romantic feelings for her.  Finally rounding out the squad is Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), the brother of a paramedic on Chicago Fire and the man who originally tried to put Voight in jail. He's one of Voight's best detectives, but can he be trusted? 

As you can see from the character descriptions, threes a lot going on here, not to mention a uniform patrol division we see on a semi-regular basis. The show isn't narrowly focused on particular types of crimes and frequently has crossover with both the other Chicago shows and Law & Order SVU. 

The Bottom Line, Chicago P.D. hits the bulls eye as the most realistic cop drama since Southland. They dive deeply into the characters background, families, and personalities, it's a lot of fun to watch. The way they go about doing their job is unlike any other cop show on TV and the whole Third Watch feel to the way it's filmed has me in cop heaven. I can not wait for this show to stream so I can binge away!