Chicago P.D.: Born Screaming

The police portion of Dick Wolf’s One Chicago serves as a telling Rorschach test. 97% of the world identifies with hard-charging but undeniably dedicated Sgt. Hank Voight, while most of the nation’s big city mayors and DA’s probably root for Internal Affairs Commander Mark Devlin to end Voight’s career. As revealed right before the mid-season break, Devlin even resorted to blackmailing Voight with the threat of unjustly tarnishing his heroic late father’s name. That remains a problem, but Voight has more pressing issues, like the unit member stuck in a serial killer’s house, under iffy circumstances, in “Born Screaming,” the mid-season premiere of Chicago P.D., which airs tonight on NBC.

Voight’s Intelligence Unit always knew Raymond Bell was bad news, but they could never get anything to stick. Since new member Eva Imani has even less patience for procedure than Voight (which is saying something), she came charging in when Bell’s granddaughter (and ward) Julie called for help (she hardly seems intended as a tribute to the cult-favorite artist). Now Imani is in a bit of a tight spot.

Of course, Devlin is there to gum at the works every step of the way. It’s not like lives are at stake, except for maybe a few innocent civilians. Indeed, this episode takes a grisly turn, in keeping with some of the most lurid serial killer movies.

“Born Screaming” perfectly illustrates why Chicago P.D. continues to maintain its popularity. Amongst current cop shows, it is probably the most sympathetic towards law enforcement. It also reaps the benefits of Jason Beghe’s almost superhuman hard-nosed-ness. Showrunner Gwen Sigan wisely continues to let Beghe to do his grizzled thing. To say Beghe’s Voight inspires viewer confidence would be an understatement.

Arienne Mandi still gives Beghe a run for his money as super-driven Eva Imani. Recurring Joel Murray oozes sleaze as Devlin, while Barry Del Shannon is suitably creepy as Bell. This is a rock-solid procedural and probably the most reliable week-in-week-out network series, since the cancelation of Blue Bloods. Highly recommended, “Born Screaming” airs tonight (1/7) on NBC (and streams the next day on Peacock).