Chicago PD is always the darkest of the One Chicago shows. It deals with crime, corruption, and, well, murder, so it only makes sense that it skews less comical than, say, the firehouse scenes in Chicago Fire. Even we were surprised by how dark things got during the episode "The Good Shepherd."
The episode revolved around a juvenile detention centre that's known for running a tight ship. A teen who was supposed to be at the centre turns up dead, and Dante Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar), an ex attendee at the centre, decides to go undercover.
Dante Torres went undercover at a juvenile center
Torres knows how strict the people in charge of the centre can be, and goes about determining who was behind the death of the aforementioned teen. In the end, the culprit turns out to be one of CO's who works at the centre, Collins. Collins ran a sex trafficking ring in which pedophiles paid to come in and have sex with the children against their will. Like we said, bleak.
Torres, to his credit, attempts to bring Collins in and arrest him in the episode's climactic standoff. The CO pulls a gun on the officer, though, forcing Torres to shoot him in self-defense. It was a bleak and utterly shocking turn of events, but one that made sense given the severity of Collins' crimes. He wasn't exactly someone we wanted to see rehabilitated or merely slapped with cuffs.
"The Good Shepherd" not only gave fans a classically pulpy story, but it gave them arguably the best showcase for Dante Torres to date. The character has been around for a couple seasons, now, and he has been mostly relegated to storylines in which he makes mistakes on the job.
Torres was forced to shoot a sex trafficker
He got in trouble for torturing a suspect. Then, he nearly got in trouble for sleeping with an informant. THEN his life and career were almost ruined when said informant returned. Torres is one of the young members of the IU, we get it. He still has a lot to learn about being an officer. That said, it was nice to see an instance in which he navigated a case that was personal to him, and do so effectively.
We aren't going to pretend like the ending of the episode left us with a smile. The implication is that the centre will be better, but teens that Torres befriended are still forced to stay there, sifting through the trauma of what they've been subjected to. Torres made their lives better, even if there's still a lot of work to be done.
This is an excellent use of the character, and by linking it to his own teen years, Chicago PD gave us some insight into his psyche without making it overt. A solid outing all around.