Chicago PD has alternated, sometimes inconsistently, between its veteran characters and its new characters in season 12. There are pros and cons to both sides, but the last two episodes have done a surprisingly effective job at getting us reinvested in junior officers Kiana Cook (Toya Turner) and Dante Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar).
It's been a bit since they have gotten a chance to take center stage, and delve into their complicated relationship. Cook and Torres worked closely in the episode "Name Image Likeness," and the actress who plays the former, Toya Turner spoke with TV Line about the future of their partnership within the IU. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it's going to be complicated.
Cook is still hesitant to trust Torres again
Turner told the outlet that Cook is hesitant to trust Torres after the season 12 incident involving his first CI, Gloria Perez (Yara Martinez). Torres' attempt to conceal the fact he had a romance with the CI shook Cook's confidence in the officer, despite previously considering him a friend. This is something the two of them will continue to navigate for the rest of the season.
"I think it does still sting," Turner asserted. "Of course, she’s still going to work with him. But I feel like she don’t really trust him. They’re not as close as they used to be." The actress did note, however, that things will change in the last few episodes of the season. Especially in the two-part finale. "There are some things that bring them a little closer," she noted. "And then there’s going to be a moment or two in the finale."
Perhaps sensing that fans are dying to know more about Cook and Torres' relationship, and the finale in general, Turner cut herself off. She told TV Line that she refused to give up any more info about the two-part conclusion to the season. "That's it. That’s all," she said while laughing. "That’s all I can say, and I feel like it's her gaining trust of him again."
Cook also had complications with a CI
While the jury is still out on whether Cook and Torres will ever be as close as they once were, the episode "Name Image Likeness" made an interesting narrative choice by having Cook undergo her own conflict with a CI (aka Confidential Informant). While she didn't get romantically involved the way Torres did, she did get tricked by her CI into trusting her, when the CI in question was actually one of the people involved in the crime they were investigating.
Given how hard Cook took this mistake, and the conversation she had with Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) at the end of the episode, we're inclined to believe that she has a bit more empathy for her fellow IU officer and what he went through with his CI drama.