The Chicago Code - Hog Butcher (2/14/11)

Really not crazy about the casting or the writing. I think the show has potential, but at its current pace I don't think it will last. In my opinion Beals is all wrong for the role and the lead detective really isn't that much better. And the storyline with the promoted / demoted detective was horrible (and old). Not to mention the sudden promotion of one officer who INSISTED that OCB take his partner with him. Right.

And just curious.... Nuns with earrings?

 

Jennifer Beals is horrible in this role. Her character seems to be crying or on the verge of crying in every scene. No way someone like that commands the respect of the force.

I think she is channeling Terrence Howard from Law & Order: Los Angeles.

Both of them need to go. Unfortunately Beals won't.

 

It was my understanding that he was lured to the bar by the veteran officer. I didn't get the feeling that everyone was asked to leave, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were asked to leave to prevent them from witnessing something they shouldn't. With only 80 members, maybe there isn't always someone around? It seemed strange for him to have a full bottle in front of him rather than a bartender who refilled his drink as he asked for one.

I thought it was clear that she had created a rule that they always had to wear a vest (seems like the two main dudes were always wearing one - I just have no idea why the Superintendent wasn't following her own rule and had to take her driver's).

 

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I'm guessing it applied to the cops on the beat, and not necessarily to those that only have administrative duties.

 

It's an OK show. I can put up with it for a while.

We can see that they're going to play cat-and-mouse with Ald. Gibbons and how close they get to nailing him while he wiggles and they add complexity as he sometimes nearly becomes a good guy.

They had a local TV insert about a voice coach training the lead guy to sound like a Chicagoan. He's another Aussie! What in the he** is going on where they keep casting furreners to play American street-wise characters? We had Idris Elba, a Brit, the guy on "The Glades" is an Aussie, not to mention Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman, and....Hugh Laurie! Aren't there like 50,000 unemployed American members of SAG?

 

Good guy?!?

He causes the benefits issue to come up, then manipulates the mother into suing the city over it, thus pressuring the Superintendent into compromising her principles by asking him to help her violate city policy to get the mother her benefits.

I don't see any complexity at all. He's a mustache-twirling villain.

 

Yeah. "Good guy" is the wrong term. I just mean that in order to make that conflict last Gibbons has to be a more sophisticated villain like a JR Ewing than a ruthless, totally evil Joker.

 

OMG I been saying that for YEARS about Terrence Howard. The guy is HORRIBLE. That verge of tears thing is his entire acting range.



I do like what they are doing with West Indian Archie (Gibbons). That move with the mother was like a chess move. So far I am very pleased with this show.

 

I think the show has potential and I'm willing to keep watching. But I agree Jennifer Beals is all wrong.

One thing I'm finding humorous is her background on the show her father is black and the young version of her looked black. But the adult version looks white. I was thinking that she wasn't pulling off interracial very well.

Then it turns out she is in fact interracial and her father is black and mother is Irish.

And she's from Chicago.

 

She doesn't seem to be very convincing at playing Jennifer Beals...

 

My only problem with Jennifer Beals is that she's too young for the role. That and the writers had the police chief punching out a criminal. Seriously, how often does that happen?

Seems like Jarek is the total opposite personality of Vic Mackey but with the same super cop skills.

I believe that Alderman Gibbons will end up being a far more complicated antagonist than a straight up Dick Dastardly clone by the season's end. At least I hope so.

Wouldn't it be the DA department's job to investigate Gibbons' corruption and not the police department's?

 

VERY disappointed with pretty much everything in last night's episode - from the acting to the writing to the entire story line(s). Too bad.

 

The "...in CHICAGO!!??!!??!!??" guy was such a dick, I was hoping he'd commit suicide.

 

I thought the same thing until I realized she is 47. That could easily give her 25+ years on the force. I don't know if that is enough for that position but it seemed like it.

 

She's 47?! She looks good. I thought she was closer to 40 maybe. So far I don't have the same problems that everyone else has, but then I'm not usually a fan of the "cop" genre and I'm not from Chicago so I don't have any comparison/bias. I like it because it's serialized and not just "case of the week".

I'm wondering if they're setting it up for Jarek's niece to be killed before the season is out, which will obviously send him over the edge in his quest to take to down Gibbons. What I find weird is that from the original promos I thought the show was ABOUT Jarek trying to take down his brother's killer, but it seems the actual premise is more about Colvin's pursuit of Gibbon's.

As the pilot unfolded I thought for sure there would be a reveal that Jarek agreed to help the chief because he wanted to take down Gibbons for killing his brother, but there hasn't been any mention of these two things together. If I remember right his brother was killed by the Irish mob, which has ties to Gibbons, so it's only a matter of time before they "go there", but for now his brother's death has nothing to do with his motivation to take Gibbons down, so why is he so invested in doing that?

For now I like the show enough to stick with it. Like someone else said, I think the battle between the PD and Gibbons is gonna be like a chess game, which can be fun to watch. Gibbon's made his move, now we'll see what Colvin does. As for her being too young, etc, that's part of her storyline/character--just like viewers question it, so are people within the show. It's supposed to be unrealistic to a degree, that's what makes it dramatic. It could have easily been a 60 year male superintendent but then how would it be different from anything else?