Chicago PD's fall finale death was tragic but necessary (and here's why)

Chicago PD went out with a bang for its fall finale. The season 12 episode "Penance" saw the resolution of a Dante Torres arc that established in season 11, and was left curiously open ended. It was nice to see the arc come back into play, even if the results were tragic and potentially damaging to the IU in the long term.

Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) put his life and his career on the line when he struck up a romance with informant Gloria Perez (Yara Martinez). It was a situation that the young officer narrowly got away with in season 11, but when Perez returned for the fall finale, it was clear that he would not get lucky twice.

Gloria Perez was killed in the fall finale's closer

We will obviously be delving into spoilers for "Penance" for the rest of the post. Yes, there was a major death in the Chicago PD fall finale, and yes, it was Gloria Perez. The character went from being a more nuanced and complicated presence in Torres' life to a one-dimensional drug lord who put his life and the life of his colleague, Kiana Cook (Taya Taylor), in danger.

It was definitely a flattening of the material, and one that proved unfortunate given that the Perez arc gave Torres some of his most interesting dramatic material in season 11. There wasn't many places left to go when Perez went full villain, and so Chicago PD made the wise decision of killing her off in dramatic fashion.

Her death represents a crucial shift for Torres

There was never a world in which the character was going to be able to live while Torres kept his job as a police officer. She had too much dirt on him, and their emotional connection fell apart so much that it was difficult to believe she wouldn't sell him out. Perez even made a point of getting in one last dig against Torres before she died.

Perez's death was tragic, not because she was a beloved character, but because her arc seemingly crushed a part of Torres' spirt that was still untainted by corruption. Torres was effectively insulted by every other member of the IU for his involvement with Gloria Perez, and rightfully so, but it does feel as though fans will be getting a more seasoned, and more cynical version of the young cop. He's the rookie no more.

We're ultimately glad that the character was given his rite of passage, and hope that he gets to assume a more prominent role in the the show as it moves forward.