After turning out a Burgess and Ruzek episode, Chicago PD shifted the focus to an unexpected duo in its sixth episode.
The episode opens with Torres surprising Imani by arriving at her place early to pick her up for work, as it seems they have begun carpooling. When they arrive at work and settle, Burgess and Ruzek quickly pick up on there being something going on between the pair with how they settle in for the day. And it seems that they’re going to be spending even more time together as Voight is informed that the Ninth District’s specialty unit has been shut down and now Intelligence has been tasked with picking up the slack.
Voight assigns Imani and Torres to head out to Chinatown to do community outreach as Agent Boyden informs them that this is going to be an ongoing assignment. The goal is to build trust so they’ll work with the police to report crime.
Imani and Torres head out to Chinatown as assigned and begin their outreach efforts, handing out contact cards and trying to offer their assistance to locals. They quickly discover that the area doesn’t want their help as they’re shut down at every turn, which is when Torres meets a man named Shen, who is happy to see more police in the area.
As Torres and Imani regroup, they hear a woman screaming and race to an alley where they find a woman getting pulled into a white van. They pursue the van but end up losing it after getting stuck in traffic.
When they return to the scene, Torres finds Shen, and he informs Torres that he didn’t call it in, as he’s not an officer: he’s a private citizen who works as a fixer who serves as a liaison to the police. He offers up his help, and Torres enlists his help translating in hopes of finding a witness who spotted something.
Voight, Ruzek, and Burgess join them on the scene and begin working the case as Shen calls Torres over having found a woman who saw things and identifying the woman as a neighbor named Wendy Ping. The witness informs Shen that she encouraged Wendy not to go down the alley, as she had seen the van parked, but Wendy ignored her, which was when masked men abducted her.
Torres and Imani head to Wendy’s apartment to search for anything that might help find out why she was targeted. As they look around the apartment, Imani finds a collection of expensive bags that Wendy never could have purchased on her salary.
Back at the precinct, Burgess finds that phone records indicate Wendy has a secret boyfriend. Their texts started sweetly but recently took a turn as his tone changed and he pressed Wendy about telling someone about their relationship. It seems Jin is married and wanted to keep his relationship hidden.
Voight, Imani, and Torres head to Jin’s office, but the woman at the front desk attempts to send them away, telling them that Jin is not in the office. That’s when Torres spots him in an office and enters the room, surprised to see that Jin is not alone, as Shen is there speaking with him already. Shen informs them that he wanted to speak with Jin first, as Jin notes that this is a sensitive matter and asks to speak somewhere more private.
Down at the precinct, Imani presses Jin for information that might help them find Wendy. Jin informs her and Voight that he received a call informing him he had 24 hours to turn over $2 million in exchange for her life and that they would call back to give him further instructions. Meanwhile, Shen makes it clear to Torres that people in Chinatown are tightly knit and will only speak with those they trust due to fears of discrimination. He assures Torres that Jin will listen to him and he just wants to help, and he comes through on that offer by convincing Jin to give them a consensual overhear to look into his phone records.
As the team looks into Jin’s phone records, Shen texts Torres and asks to meet downstairs. He informs Torres that Jin suspects that a former employee named Jimmy (aka Betz) was behind the kidnapping, as Betz had been stalking Jin and was not happy about being let go. Torres and Imani head out to Betz’s address and spot him assaulting two women. They follow Betz into the building, but there is no sign of Wendy.
Betz claims he’s never seen Wendy before and that he hasn’t contacted Jin in months. He suggests that Jin is playing with them and being set up as a fall guy. Torres notices a jewelry store nearby with multiple cameras and is able to confirm Betz’s alibi via the footage, which suggests Shen played them.
Imani and Torres head back to Jin’s office and confront them about sending them on a wild goose chase while Shen looked for the kidnappers without them. Shen informs them that the leads led to nothing and assures them he has good intentions and it’s clear his primary objective is to help Jin keep this off the radar. Torres makes it clear that Shen doesn’t protect Chinatown; he protects the wealthy. That’s when Jin withdraws his consensual overhear.
Regrouping at the precinct, Torres isn’t sure what the next step is, as Voight suggests they keep moving and try to find the offenders before the drop. The team works on digging deeper into Wendy and Jin’s known associates and narrows in on a man named Victor, who was hired as a busboy at the diner where Wendy works. Footage from the diner shows Victor seeing Jin picking Wendy up, meaning he knows about their affair and that Jin is rich. He also was found to have been scoping her out, tracking her schedule before her abduction.
Following the lead, Intelligence heads to Victor’s address, finding signs that Wendy was there as Ruzek informs them that Shen was seen leaving Jin’s office with a backpack, suggesting that the drop is about to go down. They head out to the drop spot and surveil the area, which is when they spot Shen drop off the backpack and a man on a bike grab it shortly after. Imani and Torres chase after Shen and the young man who grabbed the bag, pressing him for information on where he was told to go with the money.
Shen informs Torres and Imani that Jin cannot get the money, as it’s his wife’s business, and he could lose everything if she finds out. Torres makes it clear that if anything happens to Wendy, it’s on him. Torres, Burgess, and Ruzek press the man who picked up the backpack for information, but he refuses to give them any information. Finally, Torres gets the kid to crack, and he gives them the drop information.
Intelligence heads to the meetup location and finds the white van outside. Thankfully, they’re able to find Wendy inside and bring her home safely. After finding Wendy, Torres and Voight discuss what to do with Shen. Torres is adamant that Shen deserves jail time, and Voight points out that at least he seems to be trying to do some good, while the guy who comes after him might not. While Voight feels it best to let him go, he leaves the final decision up to Torres, who chooses to let Shen go.
After letting Shen go, Torres returns to the bullpen to gather his things, and Imani asks him how he’s doing. He mentions that he notices her late nights and later mornings, how she’s drinking more coffee now, and that neither can say her sister’s name anymore. As her friend, he felt it was time to say something as she assured him that she'd be fine. While she tells him she’s fine, she follows that by telling him she’ll take an Uber home instead of getting a ride from him, hinting that the pair’s friendship—or possibly budding romance? – might be heading into rocky waters.
Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
Add us as a preferred source on Google