Chicago P.D.: Ten Ninety-Nine

Chicago is a great city for a workaholic cop like Sgt. Hank Voight. He always can count on a steady stream of heinous crimes that merit the attention of his intelligence unit. Since surviving a serial killer’s abduction at the end of season eleven, he feels compelled to make the most of his “bonus time” by fighting crime to the fullest possible extent of his human capabilities. Of course, that means the rest of the team must keep up with him in “Ten Ninety-Nine,” the twelfth season premiere of Chicago P.D. (of the One Chicago programming block), airing tonight on NBC.

The first four and of half minutes of tonight’s episode features no real dialogue and only a bit of muffled incidental chatter. We do not need any talking to understand how driven Voight is, as we watch him circling in and out of his office, only pausing long enough to change his shirt. He is like a man possessed.

Since this is Chicago, there is no shortage of crimes, but many of the ones crossing his desk involve a deadly new “bad batch.” He also might have an informant, nicknamed “Rabbit,” who witnessed a gruesome multiple homicide at a trap house, which might be related. Having survived death, Voight might have the right insight to reach him.

Presumably fans were sad to lose a regular cast-member at the end of last season, but “Ten Ninety-Nine” delivers a heaping helping of what makes this show work, steely Jason Beghe as hard-charging Hank Voight. This is episode is a great showcase for his charismatic hardnosed persona.

This will be a particularly memorable episode, for multiple reasons. The self-contained case is realistic in appropriately gritty and tragic ways. It also ends with a shocking, but believable twist that will most likely drive a lot of the long-term drama this season. You will know it when you see it.

Regardless, Beghe does his thing early and often. If he were truly representative of Chicago’s municipal approach to crime, it would actually be a livable city. He definitely serves quite effectively as a surrogate for viewers’ emotional responses. Recommended as a tightly executed installment of a well-established procedural, the twelfth season opener of Chicago P.D. premieres tonight (9/25) on NBC.