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Chicago PD season 5 finale takeaways: Homecoming

By Brittany Frederick

CHICAGO P.D. -- "Homecoming" Episode 522 -- Pictured: (l-r) Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess -- (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
CHICAGO P.D. -- "Homecoming" Episode 522 -- Pictured: (l-r) Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess -- (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC) /
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Did Chicago PD make the right call with that character death? Dig deeper into the season finale with our Chicago PD season 5, episode 22 takeaways.

Last night’s Chicago PD changed the show forever, as another main character exited the series, as well as the land of the living. But was it the right decision?

Wednesday’s season finale was called “Homecoming” and revealed that Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas) did not survive the stabbing he incurred at the end of the previous episode. But it turned out to have nothing to do with the season’s plot—it was a revenge plan from a drug lord Olinsky had investigated years ago.

If you missed any of this episode, or just want a refresher on the events that we’re discussing, you can catch up with our “Homecoming” recap.

Here are our Chicago PD season finale takeaways:

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1) Oh my gosh, they killed Olinsky

Okay, so we were totally wrong when we said that Chicago PD wouldn’t kill off Olinsky. But did it have to?

It’s not clear if Olinsky’s murder was because Elias Koteas wanted to leave the series, or if it was a creative decision. If it’s the former, you really can’t argue with it. If it’s the latter, well, you kind of have to wonder.

The death of Olinsky takes out another character with close ties and history to Hank Voight (Jason Beghe). Now who is Voight going to drink with and have hard talks with? Trudy Platt (Amy Morton)? We would need Platt to have more scenes first.

The other issue is that the story behind the death leaves something to be desired. It would make more sense, and be more of a surprise, if it had been connected to the storyline that put Olinsky in jail in the first place. Instead, we learn about a whole chapter of his past we’ve never heard of before and the killer is a drug lord we’ve just met. It felt utterly random and a bit disjointed.

Maybe Chicago PD was trying to catch us by surprise by going for the storyline we didn’t expect, but this is one of those cases where the predictable option may have been the more solid one as all the dots were already there, and it would’ve lit an even bigger fire under Voight to take down Denny Woods. Speaking of Denny, let’s move on to our next point.

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2) What’s up with Woods?

Denny Woods (Mykelti Williamson) got busted at the end of “Homecoming,” which was expected since Chicago PD season 5 had to wrap up the storyline it had pulled out over literally the entire season. Voight’s old friend James Osha (Michael McGrady) set up Woods by telling him about a fake witness that Woods then bribed, putting him back on the hot seat with Internal Affairs.

Like Olinsky’s death this storyline had some impact, but there was also some missed opportunity in how it was done. Everyone wanted Woods to go away, but having him just get busted by IAD is an iffy outcome, since he was already in trouble with the department back in season 4 and got off the hook. That makes this arrest less satisfying, because how do we know he won’t get away with it again?

Woods also reveals that he’s gone on this huge vendetta simply because he was angry at Voight for turning him in during that season 4 episode “Grasping For Salvation.” Really? A season-long plot with the most basic motive? So much more could’ve been done there. Or at least have some reason for Voight to punch him in the face.

3) What did Antonio do?

The one note of ambiguity in “Homecoming” involved Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda). Antonio spent the episode questioning Voight’s methods, and he arrived on the scene just after Voight killed the man who ordered Olinsky’s death. He had to give a statement, but Chicago PD deliberately did not let us hear what he said or tell us whether or not the department ruled it a good shoot.

It’d be interesting if Antonio said something contrary to Voight’s self-defense plea (which we know is a lie). The problem is Antonio doesn’t really have anything to say. He wasn’t there when Voight pulled the trigger, so all he can testify to is the bystanders’ claim that it was murder and his own gut feeling—neither of which is actual evidence. But could there be tension between Antonio and Voight next season? That’d be worth watching, especially since that’s what we were waiting for in this season.

Next: Chicago PD's 5 worst Denny Woods moments

What did you take away from the Chicago PD season 5 finale? Leave your thoughts on the last episode of the season in the comments.

Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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