Chicago PD season 8, episode 9 recap: Impossible Dream

This week’s Chicago PD saw the Intelligence Unit’s newest member officially start working with the team, but it didn’t go at all the way that anyone planned.

Wednesday’s episode “Impossible Dream” saw Andre Cooper (new series regular Cleveland Berto) drafted in to help the team with an undercover operation after someone Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) knew was murdered by a local drug dealer. But Cooper didn’t exactly play well with any of his new colleagues.

Here’s what happened in the latest Chicago PD episode for each of your favorite characters, starting with:

Chicago PD season 8, episode 9 recap

Chicago PD opens up with Atwater and Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) mid-conversation: Atwater is thinking about buying a building. However, the duo are five blocks away from a hardware store where a shooting has happened, and Kevin happens to know the owner. They arrive to find the owner is the man who’s been shot, and Ruzek chases the shooter but the person gets away (because otherwise this would be a short episode).

Because this is Chicago PD, the owner dies of his injuries. Atwater tells Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) that Roy was great to the community before Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) confirms that he was “beaten and shot at close range.” Voight tells his team to get the man the justice he deserves; while Atwater comforts Roy’s wife Claire, Voight spots Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller (guest star Nicole Ari Parker). She thinks this would be a good time to talk to him about Andre Cooper from last week’s episode; she wants Cooper to get a spot in Intelligence, in an “if you don’t do it, I will” kind of way. She’s even brought him to the crime scene.

Cooper is much more chill; he apologizes for Miller and says he doesn’t want any special favors. All he wants is to go back to work. He’s even already gotten a detailed description of a witness from a pizza place across the street. Voight sends Burgess and Atwater to the restaurant, but the owner Bob refuses to help, saying that he’s no hero when he has a wife and two kids. Atwater leaves him his card anyway.

Chicago PD identifies the drug dealer who runs the neighborhood as Quincy, and says that Roy was getting harrassing texts from a burner phone leading up to his death. Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) also points out that Quincy has an SUV similar to the one seen casing the area before the shooting. But who was driving the car when it popped up at a car wash later?

The team goes to Quincy’s residence, where he claims the SUV was stolen yet refuses to say where he was during the shooting. Atwater spots another person leaving the place and that guy takes off running, so here’s the second chase of the episode. This one turns out better, with Atwater stopping Damari and Ruzek pulling the gun out of his backpack. He claims he was at a hospital when Roy was killed, so Atwater lets him go, but warns him that they might see one another again.

The show digs into Damari’s backstory, with Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) suggesting they lean on him to go after Quincy. But Burgess points out Quincy’s just seen all of them at his place, so conveniently here’s Andre Cooper again! Upton and Halstead stage a faux bust that gets Halstead punched and secures Cooper’s cover. After Kevin and Jay tell Cooper what to do and what not to do, he goes back under and bonds with Damari by helping when Damari’s brother has a seizure.

The next day Voight congratulates Cooper on his good work just as Atwater gets a call that Quincy is casing his pizza place. Upton and Halstead find that the building’s front door is open and find Bob shot to death in the back. Voight tells Cooper to set up his drug deal with Damari, but Cooper asks what will happen to Damari’s brother if the man’s arrested. “I’m not sure that’s a victory,” he protests, but Voight reminds him that the job is arresting a guy who’s already killed two people.

While Ruzek tells Kevin he doesn’t like his real estate idea, Cooper is with Damari when he finds out his brother has been taken to the ER for yet another seizure. He laments how much money he’s spent on medical bills, and rather than complete the deal, Cooper convinces Damari to go see his brother. Atwater and Ruzek do not approve, and again tell him to focus on the right thing. “If you don’t think you can handle it, step aside,” Atwater warns. “Either way, we’ve got jobs to do.”

But when Atwater tells Voight what happened, Chicago PD has Voight side with Cooper. Burgess interrupts them to show them footage of Quincy with Damari after Bob’s shooting; it looks like he handed Damari the murder weapon. Cooper goes back to Damari’s house with Ruzek, Atwater, Voight and Burgess all in the vicinity. But he gets caught when he sneaks off to snoop around, and Damari gets a call to meet Quincy.

He asks Cooper if he trusts him, which Chicago PD helpfully has our heroes affirm means that Cooper’s been made, and takes Cooper off to this meeting. Not only that but a garbage truck conveniently screws up the surveillance just as they leave. “This kid’s on his own,” Kevin says, stating the obvious.

Chicago PD brings things to a conclusion with Cooper triggering the OnStar inside Damari’s car so Intelligence can find it. As Ruzek and Atwater close in, Damari tells Cooper about his plans for the future just before Quincy arrives to doubt Cooper’s story. He pulls a gun and since our heroes show up to prove him right just moments later, Damari takes a few bullets. Atwater tackles Quincy after a short chase while we find out back at the district that Cooper failed to save Damari’s life.

Atwater tries to tell Cooper it’s not his fault because Damari chose to get involved with Quincy, giving him a whole monologue about how the bad guys aren’t Batman villains. However, Cooper still disagrees, thinking he could have convinced Damari to cooperate and talking about “destroying innocent Black lives.” Atwater reminds him that Bob and Roy were also innocent, and the episode ends with Cooper literally taking a hard look in the mirror.

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