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Chicago PD’s 5 most underrated characters

By Amelia Harper

CHICAGO P.D. -- Season: 5 -- Pictured: (l-r) Elias Koteas as Alvin Olinsky, Tracy Spiridakos as Det. Hailey Upton, Patrick Flueger as Adam Ruzek, LaRoyce Hawkins as Kevin Atwater, Jon Seda as Antonio Dawson, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess, Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Amy Morton as Sgt. Trudy Platt -- (Photo by: James Dimmock/NBC)
CHICAGO P.D. -- Season: 5 -- Pictured: (l-r) Elias Koteas as Alvin Olinsky, Tracy Spiridakos as Det. Hailey Upton, Patrick Flueger as Adam Ruzek, LaRoyce Hawkins as Kevin Atwater, Jon Seda as Antonio Dawson, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess, Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Amy Morton as Sgt. Trudy Platt -- (Photo by: James Dimmock/NBC) /
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Chicago PD
Archie Kao as Sheldon Jin on Chicago PD. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC. /

4. Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao)

The first technical specialist Chicago PD introduced us to was Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao). He frequently assisted the Intelligence Unit in solving their cases, by using his technical mind and ingenious skills to work out important details they needed to crack the case. But his story wound up being short-lived and having an unhappy ending.

By the end of Chicago PD season 1, we discovered that Sheldon had been coerced into
spying on the Intelligence Unit by a member of Internal Affairs, and he was murdered as a result. Although he sent a thumb drive that contained vital evidence to Halstead before his death, Sheldon came across as the weak nerd character who couldn’t defend himself or even tell Voight that he was being threatened.

There was a lot more that could have been done with the character rather than simply killing him off at the end of the season. Sheldon was the only character on the team to not carry a firearm on a regular basis, as he didn’t get to be involved in the action that we know and love Chicago PD for by virtue of his position. The series also showed him submitting to Internal Affairs relatively easily rather than putting up much of a fight.

Between the combination of limited writing and the character’s quick departure, Sheldon Jin was never developed past the general stereotype of tech experts that we see on most TV cop shows. At least he got a plaque outside the 21st District to remember his sacrifice.

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