Chicago PD got back to business with an exciting season 12 winter premiere. There wasn't much in the way of overarching storylines, but the episode "Friends and Family" presented a tight story and some crucial information about the newest IU member, Kiana Cook (Toya Turner).
Cook has quietly established herself as an important component of the team throughout season 12, but the winter premiere gave her a chance to shine in a tense case involving a kidnapping. Cook not only navigated the ransom expertly, but she provided the ransom money herself.
Kiana Cook's mother is extremely wealthy
How? Well, the police officer decided to bite the bullet and divulge some information about her family. Cook revealed that her mother, played by Marie-Francoise Theodore, is extremely wealthy. While she grew up with her father (Brian Weddington) on the West Side of Chicago, Cook's mother lived it up in the pricier parts of town.
The aforementioned kidnapping didn't give the IU a lot of time to come up with ransom money, so Cook decides to ask her mother to borrow $200K. Her mother agrees to lend her the money, but it comes with a catch. She asked Cook Cook to attend a fundraiser for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and change her hairstyle before she does.
Kiana Cook has presented herself as a very hardworking and loyal presence within the IU, and so getting a chance to see the wealth that she's been periperhal to her whole life is fascinating. It also gives her a dimension that she previously lacked.
Cook's maternal grandfather disapproves of her
Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) inquires about Cook's irregular upbringing, and she eventually opens up. She tells Ruzek that her mother and father had a one night stand, but her grandfather did not approve of the relationship. As such, she was forced to grow up away from her mother. Cook told Ruzek that her mother didn't "approve" of her, and neither does her grandfather.
It's a lot to throw on Ruzek and the viewer in one episode, but it's something that is going to inform the way Cook is written moving forward. The character's backstory is unlike any other we have seen on Chicago PD, and as such, it's going to push the show in different directions.
"There’s so much more you’ll learn through this season," PD showrunner Gwen Sigan told NBC. "As to who she is and sorta why she polices in the way she polices and what this job really means to her." We can't wait to see how this newfound information gets implemented in future episodes.