Chicago PD’s Vanessa Rojas: A look at Lisseth Chavez’s debut

Lisseth Chavez’s character Vanessa Rojas was introduced on in the second hour of Chicago PD season 7. Let’s take a look at her season 7, episode 2 Assets debut.

Episode 2 of Chicago PD‘s seventh season served as the rollout of a new character as The Fosters‘ Lisseth Chavez made her debut as Vanessa Rojas during s7e2m “Assets.”

As One Chicago Center reported previously, Chavez’s character of Rojas is a tough, edgy undercover cop who has a good set of street smarts. In the Oct. 2 episode of Chicago PD, fans got to see Vanessa Rojas in action.

Her character was first seen behind a bar, chatting with Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) as he was in an undercover operation of his own. The two seemed to get along as the episode progressed, as things veered into flirtatious territory rather quick.

After their second encounter, Vanessa – whose undercover persona was that of Nina Rodriguez – asked Kevin to stay for a drink at Chatham Lounge. He declined, instead offering a rain check, to which she so aptly responded: “I don’t do rain checks, sweetie. Especially on a sunny day.”

Unfortunately, things got a little more awkward than either expected when, after attempting to get a deal with one of Darius Walker’s (Michael Beach) associates back on track, Kevin discovered  Rojas’ car was at the scene of a crime.

See, Darius Walker sought revenge after one of his own was gunned down by two Latin players – Benji Rodriguez and Luis Torres. So when detectives Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) stumbled upon their bodies, their immediate wonder was how Walker was connected. But of course with all his power, Darius wouldn’t have been the one to actually pull the trigger, right?

But, back to Rojas’ car. Her blue Ford Taurus was seen idling outside the warehouse where the shootout took place, but don’t worry: she can explain. That explanation would have to wait a while though, as her undercover persona of “Nina” was asked by Kevin to do a heroin buy. Kevin thought that he and Jay could use the drug score to trap “Nina” and get her to flip on Darius.

When Intelligence set up their sting for the meet, two gun wielding guys barged in, and before you knew it, cops were pointing their guns at – wait for it – other cops! This was when Kevin and Jay, along with the rest of Intelligence, discovered Nina’s true identity: that of newly minted academy grad Vanessa Rojas, who had been tagging Darius’ crew for three months.

Vanessa and Kevin immediately warmed back up to each other, their formal introduction sounded more friendly than anything else. She was then escorted back to the district, where she volunteered to assist Intelligence by bugging Darius’ office. Her confidence made her all the more trustworthy to Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and his team, as she successfully planted the wire.

Rojas’ skills were further put to the test during another sting of Darius Walker. They were really keen on snatching up his supplier, Mateo Garcia, whose identity they uncovered thanks to the aforementioned wire tap. While they nabbed Darius, Mateo took off, which led to a chase for Rojas and Atwater. Mateo fired shots, but Rojas was quicker on the draw and fired the fatal blows that brought Garcia down.

It didn’t hurt that she looked pretty badass while doing it: her braided hair and black tee gave her a cool vibe that worked well with Intelligence’s “no-nonsense” attitude. Overall, Vanessa Rojas seems to be one to watch, as Lisseth Chavez is sticking around for a while on Chicago PD‘s seventh season.

If the rest of her episodes are anything like her introduction, we’re betting her character’s spunk and determination will help Intelligence take down some of Chicago’s toughest criminals.

As for whether or not Chavez’s Rojas will run into Darius Walker again; that we don’t know for sure. But what we do know is that Chicago PD could always use another strong female detective, and we are excited to see just how Lisseth Chavez portrays Vanessa Rojas this season.

For the latest Chicago PD season 7 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago PD category at One Chicago Center.