The Chicago Code - "Pilot" Review

“If there’s one thing Chicago knows, it’s how to punch back!” -Jarek

Shawn Ryan has done it again! Fox’s premiere of The Chicago Code couldn’t have pleased me more. Teresa Colvin, played so slickly by Jennifer Beals, is Chicago’s first female Superintendent and she’s looking to take down city corruption because she believes there’s a direct correlation with street crime. This is a tried and true method for a police drama. The Wire was extremely successful using this formula. So what’s different about this show? In this show, the cops are good people. When the show first started, I started wondering which cop was going to be the shady crooked one. Instead, I found out that all are working hard to clean up the streets. I think this will make the quest to take down the kingpin more exciting. With no cops on the take, no cops pushing their own agenda, the line to success is straight and thus to keep the show interesting the villain will have to be that much more cunning. With good cops, I assume at some point someone will have to sacrifice a core belief in order to gain position on the case and it will make that decision more poignant for the viewer.

Jarek Wysocki, played brilliantly by Bortherhood’s Jason Clarke, has a dynamic screen presence. Teresa Colvin was his partner before she started moving up the ladder, and it’s clear that he is having a hard time replacing her, and rightfully so. Jarek is an impassioned cop fueled by his brother’s death on the force. His niece is a cop as well and he swore to his brother that he would look after. So when she decided to be a cop, he took her under his wing. He has a soft spot and a short fuse when dealing with her. I’m curious how this will get in the way, because I’m sure it will. Colvin asks her best cop, Jarek, to take down city corruption, and at first he refuses, but after an assassination attempt on her, he quickly changes his tune. And with that he also found a new partner, Caleb Evers, played by Matt Lauria of Friday Night Lights fame. Jarek is a strong cop and it doesn’t look like he’s to failure in the field. He confesses to Colvin that his father failed to catch the corrupt city kingpin, Alderman Ronin Gibbons, so he thinks no one can. We did catch a glimpse that Jarek is not a saint. He tells Caleb he has a 27 year old fiancé and yet we catch him sleeping with his ex wife. There’s a dark side to Jarek so I’m interested in when it comes out at work.

I really like the way Shawn Ryan is handling the attitude on the show toward a female being in charge of the city’s cops. It would seem trite if it became about all the men clamoring that a woman shouldn’t be in charge. Rather, she is well respected and great at her job. The only person who doesn’t respect her is political kingpin and crime lord, Alderman Gibbons. He used his pull to get her in position because he thought he could push his agenda on her. Oh how he has underestimated her.

The show itself is wonderfully acted and the pacing is brilliant. We got to know the characters, the back story, the city, and yet we were never bored. Shawn Ryan has said that it will be episodic with a serial arc as well, similar to his smash hit, The Shield. Most of the cops used in the show are real Chicago PD so it will have a genuine feel. The action will pick up and the drama will become thick. I wonder if Teresa Colvin will have to make conflicted decisions regarding Jarek and the tactics he uses to carry out her orders on her under the table task force.

Shawn Ryan ended The Shield pilot with an unforgettable shot, and while this doesn’t have the same wow factor, it’s interesting to see him using a gun shot and the killing of a good young man to jump start the action again. Let’s hope it has the same effect as The Shield. There’s a lot of potential in the show for good real crime drama. And that’s something I think TV has been missing for a while. Shawn Ryan deserves this show, especially after the untimely death of Terriers. Watch this show and enjoy. I think we have a new hit.