Review: 'The Chicago Code' - 'Wild Onions': Hot in the city
A heat wave cripples the city, and Teresa gets to know her new driver
On a hot day in "The Chicago Code," Teresa (Jennifer Beals) has to play beat cop.
Are you a fan of The Chicago Code?
Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.
A review of tonight's "The Chicago Code" coming up just as soon as I'm 50 cents prettier...
The language of the modern cop drama - or, at least, the semi-serialized form of which "The Chicago Code" is an example - was essentially invented by NBC's seminal '80s show "Hill Street Blues." Parts of that show haven't aged terribly well, but if you go back and watch it, you can see how its DNA filtered into not only later Bochco shows like "NYPD Blue," but "Homicide," "The Shield" and even "The Wire."
In many ways, "Wild Onions" felt like it could have been an episode of "Hill Street Blues," with very minimal tweaking required to fit it to that show's characters and fictional city (which was largely modeled on Chicago). That speaks, again, to the durability of what Bochco, Michael Kozoll, David Milch and company did back in the '80s, but also to the fact that "The Chicago Code" still doesn't entirely feel like it has its own identity yet. I like the show and its various pieces quite a bit, but where previous Shawn Ryan shows came out fully formed, "The Chicago Code" still seems to be figuring out its strengths and its weaknesses, its narrative style and its tone.
Plotting - at least, the plotting of the cases Jarek and Caleb take over each week - remains the show's biggest weak spot, so it helped that "Wild Onions" was much more interested in atmosphere than story. I don't know that it entirely sold me on why a Chicago heat wave is so much worse than what hits, say, New York in early August, but it came close at times, and the vignette-driven approach to much of the episode allowed us to get a better sense of how the police department functions on a day like this, how Isaac and Vonda get along (and why Vonda is suddenly willing to make Isaac more than her partner), what Gibbons does when he's not being evil, etc.
I liked all of that stuff, as well as Teresa getting to know her new driver Ray, though I'll be curious to see where the show intends to go with that. It's an unfortunate fact that the default relationship between any attractive male/female pairing on television ultimately leads to romance (see Isaac and Vonda, for instance), and there were definite moments when Teresa and Ray seemed to be on the verge of flirting. I'd like to think that this is really just about the superintendent dropping her guard and letting somebody else replace Antonio (who was her protege but never her love interest), because that's more interesting and less predictable. (One of the reasons I like the Teresa/Jarek banter scenes so much is that there's never any sexual tension to them; they're just two former partners who are now on different political footing, even if he often forgets that.)
Jarek and Caleb's case was, unsurprisingly, the part of the episode I was least invested in. I feel like the show keeps coming right up to the edge of telling us what makes Caleb tick besides being a boy wonder, but it never quite gets there. Caleb being unable to enjoy the victory because the orphaned kid is going into the system was a nice moment, but one that pretty much any character (on this show, or any other cop show) could have played. I like Matt Lauria, but I'm getting impatient waiting for the other half of the show's main partnership to be defined.
Liam seeing the good side of Gibbons, on the other hand, was very interesting - the show never goes wrong when Delroy Lindo's involved - and I appreciated the moment where Liam's cop training kicked in and he went to save the old woman at risk to his cover. The show needs to be careful about maintaining some kind of emotional continuity for Liam - when last we saw him, he was determined to get Gibbons at all costs because of what Gibbons did to him with the man killed in the arson fire - and I hope there's not a whiplash where one week Liam hates the guy, the next he wonders if he's really okay, and back and forth. I'm not saying that Gibbons can't be complicated (because he is and should be), nor that Liam's feelings about him can't be the same; I just don't want a jarring back-and-forth with no real transition.
What did everybody else think?
Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching
Around the Web
News From Our Partners
-
Brad Pitt Promises 'World War Z' Will Be 'Most Intense' Movie You'll See All Year
'Man Of Steel' Stars Open Up About Getting Superman Strong
Spider-Man Will Spin Third And Fourth Sequels By 2018
-
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Jack the Giant Slayer and Quartet
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Man of Steel Sets June Record
Weekly Ketchup: Man of Steel Sequel In the Works
-
The Telefile - TV on DVD: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Telefile - Veep: The Episode's Best Insults
The Telefile - The Most Heinous Person on Reality TV This Week
-
'Star Wars: Episode 7′ — George Lucas Says "I Have Not Spoken to J.J. Abrams"
PlayStation Plus Changes on PS4 Move Social Features, Updating From Behind Paywall
Is 'Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Star Felicity Jones Playing Black Cat After All?
-
'World War Z' New York Premiere: Brad Pitt and Friends Invade Times Square (PHOTOS)
New DVD Blu-Ray: 'Stoker,' 'Jack the Giant Slayer'
'The Lone Ranger' Exclusive Clip: Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer Horse Around (VIDEO)
-
Katy Perry Tells Vogue She's Still in Love With John Mayer [Pics]
Drake Covers GQ, Wants to End Chris Brown Feud
See the Kim Kardashian + Kanye West Rumored Baby Names
-
What to Watch Tonight: SYTYCD, Pretty Little Liars, and the Season 4 Finale of The Voice
Warehouse 13 "What Matters Most" Review: Reality Bites
Watch the Premiere of Showtime's Ray Donovan Now, for Free! (VIDEO)
-
Hear This: My dad toured with Phil Collins
Watch This: White Zombie is the granddaddy of all zombie flicks
Comics Panel: New comics releases include a high-profile Superman title and a musician’s return to comics
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupjosh
April 11, 2011 at 10:06PM EST Reply to CommentIt has been a little while, and since I have started flirting with The Killing as my favorite show, but this was a good episode. Felt confident but oddly, it still felt like a universe builder, almost like a reboot, it felt like a great third episode. Im ok with a show that feels the need to refocus but it is losing some of the electricity of the Lindo character that it had started to build.
I fear that this show wont be back so I hate to get invested, but damn if I don't like these characters. Shield lite but lite is better than NCIS LA.
Mike
April 11, 2011 at 10:45PM EST Reply to CommentI'm not a big fan of shoes that use the same radio talk show voice no matter what time of the day it is. Like the guys are doing a 24 hour radio shift.
Josh The dj was Mancow. A long time chicago shock jock. The show may have been syndicated across the country, but he has been of the air for a few years now in chicago. Not sure what he is up to.
April 12, 2011 at 12:14AM ESTwebdiva Never mind big-mouth Mancow -- did anyone besides me notice Manny's Coffee Shop in the scene with Big Sexy?? Man, I love that place!! BIG pastrami sandwiches, and the best potato pancakes to go with them. Glad they worked that in. Now how about some Polish delis in Jarek's granny's neighborhood? For that matter, do we *ever* get to see any of Jarek's other relatives besides Vonda (which is pronounced that way but **should** be spelled Wanda, the Polish way)??
April 13, 2011 at 7:49PM ESTTausif Khan
April 11, 2011 at 10:48PM EST Reply to CommentThere was a lot of telling going on in this episode. I liked the character spot lights on Teresa Colvin and Billy Lush's undercover cop character (it seems to be progressing in a fruitful direction).
Jon
April 11, 2011 at 10:49PM EST Reply to CommentHadn't there been a scene in an earlier episode intimating that Vonda and Isaac were already together?
Susan Same thoughts. First or second episode. When Jarek asked Vonda in the pilot if she was sleeping with Isaac, I thought she lied when she said no.
April 12, 2011 at 1:50PM ESTJon So maybe, since I like consistency even if it's just imagined, Vonda had a crush on Isaac already and Jarek noticed it in that earlier scene? I'll pretend it's that...but I'm glad I wasn't the only one a little thrown off by the developments in this episode.
April 12, 2011 at 5:42PM ESTScott I just jumped on the comment board right away to make sure that I wasn't crazy either. I don't want to revisit the earlier episodes of the season but I could've sworn they were already together.
April 12, 2011 at 10:15PM ESTa.e.
April 11, 2011 at 10:53PM EST Reply to CommentI so badly want to like this show. I've even watched every episode more or less live. And yet...it does nothing for me. I've thoroughly enjoyed Shawn Ryan's previous work, but I find the language really stilted and cliched, the stories seems forced, the acting can be cringe worthy (see: Vonda, Isaac). I hate to give up on a show at the halfway point, but I walk away each week wishing I had found a better way to spend my 44 minutes.
Austin I'm not too fond of the "banter" between Vonda and Issac. I feel like the focus has been too much on Issac, and the writing could be better, but the thing is, delivery is never perfect. These guys are cops, not comedians, so there isn't supposed to be a perfect flow from one liner to one liner. However, Vonda still needs to be better fleshed out as a character, but this isn't bad for a freshman show.
April 11, 2011 at 11:20PM ESTwebdiva I'm VERY disappointed that Vonda and Isaac are an item already. I'd have preferred her to have the same bantering but platonic relationship with Isaac that Jarek has with the Super. Much more professional, and the story arcs didn't need that useless bit of fluff while the show is still trying to find its legs.
April 13, 2011 at 7:56PM ESTJeff
April 11, 2011 at 11:21PM EST Reply to CommentGosh, maybe I'm the one that just needs a cold shower, but I've always thought there was plenty of sexual tension between Wysocki and Colvin.
Araceli You're not the only one.
April 12, 2011 at 1:50AM ESTMike I agree with Alan. I also do not see or notice any tension.
April 12, 2011 at 9:46AM ESTTeklanika I don't see it either. Respect, yes. Sexual tension, no.
April 15, 2011 at 10:37AM EST
April 12, 2011 at 12:50AM EST Reply to CommentMuch like House, the great joy I find in the show is just in watching Jarek be Jarek, and because there's so much of Jarek being Jarek in the case of the week and keeping Theresa updated about it, I've never had the same problem with that aspect of the show that you have. Perhaps there's something to that in that House is running on fumes after a long run, and adding an occasionally compelling character in the alderman does not excuse a brand-spankin-new show from being held up on such a thin pedestal. I've never found Vonda or Isaac particularly interesting, and while Jennifer Beals can be compelling when showing the strain, pressure, and complexity of the top job as a theme to a particular episode, there's nothing particularly special about watching her in action.
As for this episode, it was a little light on the Wysocki full-court press, but still managed to have interesting themes and moments that made it very enjoyable for what was really a standalone episode. That said, I agree that the whole pretty-driver as knight in shining armor gives rise to some really unnecessary and unfortunate romantic expectation, and with them closing on Theresa's smile seeing him guarding the car at the crack of dawn, it's hard to argue that it was unintentional. If she's such a straight arrow that she'd turn in her brother-in-law for courting favors, she's certainly not going to sleep with a subordinate, and from the outset that's where they seem to be pushing things. If it gets to that point, it will be very unfortunate.
David Cockstump
April 12, 2011 at 2:41AM EST Reply to CommentI think the show would be more enjoyable if it was focused on that one character that is good with the acting. Also more drama as well would make me tune in regularly on monday nights on Fox.
Jeak
April 12, 2011 at 8:13AM EST Reply to CommentI may be crazy but wasn't it already established that Vonda and Isaac were more than partners. In one of the first couple episodes Jarek pulled her aside and asked if she was sleeping with him. She denied it but I thought the Isaac and Vonda mentioned it later on.
conrad
April 12, 2011 at 8:52AM EST Reply to Commenti have to admit that i'm losing a little faith in this show. it has moved from "must watch" to i'll watch it if i can.
might be because of the 2 weeks of reruns or the rumors that it's looking marginal for a renewal. i hated losing rubicon and terriers this year and am not sure i want to invest in another one-and-done series.
April 12, 2011 at 10:08AM EST Reply to CommentI really enjoyed the heatwave as a backdrop for violence just as an actual heatwave in chicago led to an incredibly violent weekend here as well. Accidently very well timed.
JenM I agree. I don't think the point was that heatwaves in here in Chicago are worse than in other places. I think it was more that when people are piled on top of each other in any city and it gets hot, there's a tendency for more violent crime. I was expecting to hear about it on Sunday when we hit 85 degrees, but it seemed like everyone kept it civil.
April 12, 2011 at 10:27AM ESTRobin
April 12, 2011 at 10:08AM EST Reply to CommentBased on comments, I'm probably alone in my feelings, but I really liked last night's episode.
I've had a problem in the past with putting Gibbons too much front and center. It is easy to do, as the character is fantastic and the actor playing him even more so. But I think the Gibbons story line is far more effective when used sparingly. That said, I thought that showing him interacting in his ward was brilliant. THIS is how Gibbons keeps his power, and it's also how he allows himself to sleep at night - I think he genuinely believes himself to be a good guy because he knows all of his constituents, and he "takes care of them."
As for the beat cop story -- spot on. I've lived through 7 summers here, and when the temperature tops 90 for even a day, things get UGLY. You can quite literally feel the tension ratchet up on the streets, even in the "safe" parts of town. Heck, the temps went into the low 80s on Sunday and we had something like 13 shootings Sunday night.
I don't remember it being stated that Vonda and Isaac had slept together before, but you could see it coming a mile away. Very predictable.
Rebecca Jill Apparently, you and I are the only ones who did like last night's episode. I agree with you on Alderman Gibbons. It would be interesting to see Liam's character more and just mention events connected with Gibbons, so that even if he's not in the episode, his presence looms over it, anyway.
April 13, 2011 at 1:38AM ESTI lived through 2 summers there in an old, beautiful but no air-conditioning apartment building, and crazy stuff happened during both of them when the heat rose before the rains came to cool off. The difference in behavior with the temps was like night and day.
The difference between the heat of Chicago vs. New York is that New York to me has been overdone. Chicago is Middle America, and it's geography, neighborhoods and whole city makeup is completely different than that of NY, so that is why it's significant. Also, because the city is as much a character in this show as any of the characters. At least that's how I see it, and why I love the show.
JenM
April 12, 2011 at 10:25AM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
JenM Whoops! Still learning the commenting interface! I just wanted to say that I really enjoy the show. It seems like the show is still in the "we have to introduce the characters and story every show for new viewers" stage instead of the progressing of the plot stage. I have high hopes for it. Plus, my city looks great!
April 12, 2011 at 10:33AM ESTTimm S
April 12, 2011 at 11:16AM EST Reply to CommentSomething is just a little off with this show. I'm not sure if it's the tone, the dialogue, or the dilution of the narrative due to running four story lines concurrently, but something's just off. There are still many engrossing elements of this show, but they somehow seems to get lost. Maybe it's what I've learned from The Shield or The Wire, but I'm just not going to buy Colvin out there taking cases or busting bad guys in the street, or addressing that one precinct every week. I guess I can see it if she's trying to engender some manner of respect from the rank and file, but that's obviously not happening. She was good putting Jarek in his place last night, and that tension is good for the show, but a whole line about her finding a new driver? Who cares, unless they develop the relationship in some way that compromises her, which doesn't seem to jive well with what we know about her character.
Gibbons v. Wysocki is the main battle on this show, and we rarely get to see that play out. There is an argument to be made for both players moving their pieces into place, mainly Billy Lush, for some sort of final move, but that set-up is devoid of tension between the two until then. I liked Evers's story this week, and how he was struggling with what's going to happen with the kid whose dad was shot, but there was something missing in the emotional resonance. It almost got there, but not quite.
I don't know, I want to love this show and want it to do well, mostly because I like Shawn Ryan and Jason Clarke, but there's just something missing that was there when I watched the other shows I mentioned, or when I watch Justified or The Killing. I'm going to chalk it up to a down episode, and hope it ratchets it up in the next couple, even though from the previews of next week's episode it looks to be very Colvin-centric. That's Teresa, not Bunny.
Still, I always feel a little weird being critical of somebody's creation when I'm just a dude commenting on a television blog-site.
webdiva Beals's accent wasn't quite as bad this episode, though it did keep slipping into mock-Boston, but it annoys the hell out of me every time she says "coppers." ***NOBODY*** EVER uses that term here!! I've never one cop refer to another as anything but a cop or a police officer. Period. Where did they get this bullsh*it -- from a Saturday Night Live sketch??!?!! Seriously off.
April 13, 2011 at 8:07PM ESTMike C
April 12, 2011 at 12:05PM EST Reply to CommentWas I the only one who thought there were some serious Friday Night Lights parallels here? just two little things that I couldn't ignore: the use and sound of the radio next to Colvin's bed, awful like the radio in coach Taylor's car. Also just the way the romantic scenes were shot and the music in the background, especially at the end with Colivn/Ray. thoughts?
Dean Winchester The music over the last scene definitely sounded like Explosions in the Sky. I got a serious FNL vibe as well.
April 12, 2011 at 1:53PM ESTAlso, it made me smile to hear Jon Miller's voice calling a baseball game. Joe Morgan... not so much. Its kind of odd that they didn't dub in generic announcer voices, since both those guys aren't doing games on tv anymore. It definitely jarred me out that show's universe to realize they were watching a broadcast of an old game.
eliz
April 12, 2011 at 3:35PM EST Reply to CommentI've viewed several episodes of this show under the misguided recommendation that it was not as bad as Ryan's previous work. All that I have seen is a mishmash of hackneyed dramatic themes organized through Ryan's odious Pop-Fascism ethos. "Hackneyed" is too kind for this episode. I don't think I have to watch any more.
Tony
April 12, 2011 at 5:37PM EST Reply to CommentAnyone else think about Randy when that kid was being sent off to a foster home? I wanted Caleb to take a dramatic walk down the hallway while the kid screamed at him.
Lee
April 12, 2011 at 5:47PM EST Reply to CommentI'm beginning to think that most show creators have one awesome show in them. For Shawn Ryan, it was "The Shield"; for David Milch, "Deadwood"; for Ryan Murphy "Nip/Tuck" (sorry, not a "Glee" fan).
Exceptions would be Tom Fontana ("Homicide" and "Oz") and Larry David ("Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiam," though Curb was basically a happy accident).
There is too much of the Fox "dumbing down for mass appeal" on this show for me to put it up there with Ryan's best work. Maybe that's an unfair yardstick, I dunno, but I agree with the poster who said it's gone from being a "must watch" to "I'll watch it if I can."
Mike C couldn't agree more with the dumbing down comment. The show also suffers from an extreme case of beautiful people syndrome where every actor is good looking no matter how realistic.
April 12, 2011 at 7:09PM ESTMary
April 12, 2011 at 10:19PM EST Reply to CommentI got a creepy vibe from the new driver. He talked too much and took too many liberties. Even though he was endorsed by Jarek, he just didn't seem genuine.
April 13, 2011 at 10:48AM EST Reply to CommentI want to address the heat wave. In the summer of 1995, over 700 people actually died because of the debilitating heat in Chicago over about a week's time. I was there, and it was brutal. The nighttime temps were in the 80s for much of this time. The city was unprepared to react to this crisis. It also displayed many of the social problems within the city. It was a painful time for thousands of people in the city and the actions portrayed by Gibbons in last night's episode are illustrative of how officials regularly react to heat waves in Chicago.
I think if a heat wave killed over 700 people in New York city, it would be national news for weeks. That's what is different between a heat wave in Chicago and New York.
Ed G. I was going to bring that up. During the show I kept thinking about all those souls and that if anything, this episode showed that Chicago is no more prepared to deal with the elderly in their homes than they were back then.
April 13, 2011 at 11:47AM ESTI also think they tried to do too much "Do The Right Thing" stuff, and I don't think it worked well. For instance, I just can't see that Issac would go from the "guy who doesn't sweat," buys sodas for the kids, who fell in puppy love in a hydrant soaked street; to the guy who immediately goes for his weapon when somebody wants to let the kids play a little bit longer. (Which in turn was the catalyst for the gun fight.) Am I forgetting something that made Vonda's and Issac's day so stressed that he would reach for his gun before explaining to the man that the water pressure was down?
April 13, 2011 at 3:50PM ESTbailey Yes, and there's a pretty famous book about the 1995 heat wave called Heat Wave:A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.
April 16, 2011 at 11:57AM ESTJason Potapoff What would take Issac to the state of mind to draw for his gun? Well a few things. Like walking the beat for a full day during a heat wave, considering this was near the end of that shift. Also a few moments before that Issac was talking to the firemen and they mentioned a fireman was shot in the morning (presumably in a similar situation). These thugs were clearly gang bangers trying to intimidate him into keep the fire hydrants open longer and you don't pussy foot around with them you show strength otherwise they see weakness and think they can press it.
April 18, 2011 at 5:05PM ESTRyan
April 13, 2011 at 8:06PM EST Reply to CommentAgree with the general them of your post Alan. To me all of the parts of the show are interesting, but as a whole they don't equal the sum of what their parts should. Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying the show and have made time for it every Monday night. I am just wanting it to all mean something more like how the Shield always had the long-term Strike team plots cooking.
webdiva
April 13, 2011 at 8:22PM EST Reply to CommentI really want this show to find its legs, and soon -- but I have no faith in Shawn Ryan. Never been a fan of his, and now he's just making too many mistakes with this show. Y'all are right: there's still something just OFF with this, and it's more than just Beals's goofy accent and Ryan's inability to get the Chicago slang right. Then again, what could we expect form a guy from Rockford?? He's not from Chicago. That would be like saying that someone from Santa Barbara is from L.A. Hardly. And it shows too damned much. I keep wishing Chicago Code was as good as Third Watch used to be, or as good as Detroit 1-8-7 is now, but it's not. Ryan has a ways to go before he meets that standard.
LArry
April 14, 2011 at 10:01AM EST Reply to CommentI agree that the tone still needs defining...I prefer the grittier-blackmail-y stuff from the first few eps, but I still enjoyed this hour and these characters.
I had to laugh at the shower scene and Issac's cliched standing under the water, all contemplative pose. It'd be more realistic but I guess less sexy if he was like soaping his butt.
Teklanika
April 15, 2011 at 10:35AM EST Reply to CommentNot sure I want to see Teresa and Ray get together. In teh beginning I didn't think she was digging him as her bodyguard at all and thought she was contemplating getting rid of him. But by the end of the show I feared the opposite.
What was the deal with having him stand guard outside her house all night after working in 110 degree heat all day? Is he a robot? Am I to believe he is ready for another 18 hour day of providing alert protection? That was kind of overdone IMO.
DougMac that really bothered me too. His job is really important and high risk, but it's ok to have him working 24 hours a day. Also, the flirty vibe from him all epsiode and then the look out the window at the end from her seemed to scream hook-up which doesnt make much sense.
April 19, 2011 at 2:24AM ESTm
April 26, 2011 at 6:49PM EST Reply to CommentMaybe it's out of context, but I'm Polish and I can hardly stand how the name Wysocki is pronounced in this series. If the character is Polish, he should know the correct pronunciation of his own name!Originally it sounds like "Vysoski" - "vi" not "w" and "c" before "k" also should be stressed. Besides that, I like the series :)