If you haven’t heard me say it the billion times before: I love The Chicago Code. I love this show more than I love some people I’m related to. One of the biggest reasons why is the relationship between the characters of Teresa Colvin (played by Jennifer Beals) and Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke) — a team-up so good that it’s actually messing with my head, making me want them to get together and not at the same time.
Allow me to explain that perfectly interesting sentence.
These two characters are so good together that they would be awesome in any form. Particularly in today’s TV landscape, it’s rare for a series to have a male and female lead who don’t either start out as a potential couple or who end up as one along the way. As a woman whose best friend of more than a decade is a man who’s happily married to someone who isn’t me, I appreciate the friendship between Teresa and Jarek. It’s a real, strong, complex bond. I really believe that they have years of history together. All the layers are there: they banter with ease, they fight sometimes, and they always have each other’s backs. Watching them reminds me of me and my best friend. We have the same close relationship, we’re just not as good-looking, or as cool.
And that’s a big reason why I never want to see them get together. Before he got married, my best friend and I had to constantly deny that we were dating, or that we were interested in each other. People around us had a hard time fathoming that a man and a woman could be just close friends. I take no small measure of joy in seeing a similarly close platonic relationship not only exist, but flourish on television.
Not to mention that putting them together would be unrealistic and problematic for the series as a whole. Jarek has enough trouble in his love life, what with being engaged while still carrying on an affair with the ex-wife who still has an obvious torch for him; adding in a third romantic interest would be overkill. This is before one factors in all the various problems and conflicts that would come with having an affair with his boss. We saw this week a potential problem with beat coppers Vonda and Isaac sleeping together. You can magnify that by a million if the Superintendent of Police was carrying on with her best detective. It’s a supremely bad idea for Teresa and Jarek to become a couple.
And yet, more than once, part of me says, “Just kiss her already.”
It drives me nuts. I know all the reasons why it doesn’t work and I’m also predisposed to dislike romantic subplots on TV in general. I laugh at myself for wanting it to happen in the slightest. But I’ve come to the conclusion that it has something to do with both characters being great individually, as well as the actors having a fantastic chemistry between them. This week’s episode was a perfect example of both those things.
Jarek Wysocki has to be one of my favorite TV cops, ever. I love him for so many different reasons. Here’s an experienced cop whose competency is shown, not just told; we hear how great he is, but the show lets him prove it. He’s loyal to the spirit of the law, if not always the letter. He has the courage of his convictions. He doesn’t take anything from anyone, whether it’s his partner, the mayor of Chinatown, or in the case of this week, his union rep as well as a fellow cop. Yet he’s not just a tough guy with a badge. We see his screw-ups and vulnerabilities in equal measure. We’ve seen so many “not quite by the book” cops, but Jarek is so well developed that he moves far past that stereotype.
It’s a perfect role for Jason Clarke, who proved with three seasons of work on Brotherhood that he could dig into the dualities of a character, and lead a series by example. Shawn Ryan described him to me as a “force of nature,” and I absolutely agree. Clarke is so intense that he compels my complete attention.
Teresa Colvin is a great character. Not just a great female character, but a great character period. I appreciate how her gender only comes up when it’s relevant; the show wants no fanfare for putting a woman in power, and doesn’t overuse that fact for the sake of drama. Like Jarek, I believe that she’s done what the show tells me she’s done; after all, we’ve seen her get out from behind that really nice desk and work the streets. Yet we’ve also seen her vulnerable side. Her moral commitment has cost her relationships with her family and a romantic life. (Can we get Adam Arkin back on the show nowish?) And she lost someone dear to her, something that’s stuck with her through the season.
You need a veteran actress with presence in a role like this, and Jennifer Beals is such a spot-on choice. She holds her own against everyone, but is also capable of conveying that emotional turmoil.
Not to discount anyone else on the series — I’d go so far as to say The Chicago Code may have one of the best casts on TV right now — but these two are perfect. It doesn’t surprise me that when they’re together, they’re outstanding.
We’ve seen moments here and there each week that make me believe Teresa and Jarek would make a great couple. Jason Clarke and Jennifer Beals have the kind of real chemistry you cannot fake. There’s the one near the end of “The Gold Coin Kid” where they’re celebrating their new police radios, and it almost feels like they’re flirting. Or the beginning of “Wild Onions,” where I found it incredibly sweet that he was picking her up for work in the morning (and getting the car door for her besides). Then there was pretty much all of “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” You could see how much Jarek cared for Teresa in how worked up he was about her job being in jeopardy. And that entire last scene smacked of chemistry, plus it ended with some good-natured teasing about whether or not offering to do paperwork counted as flirting. I admit that sometimes I really do believe they’d be good together.
But those same scenes also show their affectionate friendship and deep respect for one another. Their relationship doesn’t need to go to that next level when they’re so close already. It’s a testament to the actors and the writers that it feels so genuine. It has me always wanting more. My entertaining of a romance between Teresa and Jarek is because I love whenever they’re in a scene together. These characters probably shouldn’t be a couple, but they’ve gotten me to fall in love with them.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on Apr 19, 2011 @ 16:11 EST5EDT
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I definitely agree with you. Because the two have such amazing chemistry and because TV dictates that two attractive leads must always bed together, I want to see the two do a boom boom boom.
However, because TV always requires that two attractive male and female leads undergo a relationship, I like that Wysocki has a significant other. And, that makes it realistic. Sure, they might flirt and recognize each other’s hotness, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let it get as far as interrupting work or their friendship … yet.
Although Wysocki opening the door for Theresa indicated intimacy it also showed respect. I could see him doing that for a male commissioner who he had a similar relationship with.
Luckily the commissioner has the eye candyish new escort who hopefully she can take advantage of for us ;)
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s why I’m so conflicted! As a writer, as a woman, I’m absolutely supportive of them not being a couple…yet because they have such chemistry together, there’s that selfish little thought in my head that damn the torpedoes, it would be awesome.
Realistically, I just want to see Jarek dig himself out of his personal issues. As someone who loves his character so much I hate to see them wearing on him. And I don’t feel chemistry between him and either of his love interests so far. His fiancee looks young enough to be his daughter, which freaks me out just a tad.
I’d love to see Adam Arkin’s character come back for Teresa. He and Jennifer Beals had some sparks in their exchanges. And more Adam Arkin is always a good thing.
But there’ll always be that part of me that says damn it, Jarek, just kiss her already.
An: For what its worth, some of us were trained by our mothers to open the door for ALL ladies … Whether you’ve got unresolved sexual tension with them or not :P
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<—– One of those people trained to open doors, courtesy of his mother
My boys are being trained to open doors for all women, whether the women are worthy of it or not.
I definitely agree with a lot of things you said. I lean more towards the side that wants them to hook up but certainly not anytime soon. I love the chemistry between them and if they hook up too quickly in the series, they’ll have nowhere else to go. They’ll break up and get back together and break up again, a downfall of many many shows. I definitely also like that he has other relationships to deal with right now, and I agree, adding a third to that would be overkill.
The flirting at the end of “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” was great and definitely highlighted that ever-present chemistry between them. It also made me wonder about the real reason Jarek dumped Teresa as a partner. He kinda wittily dodged the question. I’m thinking (hoping?) that it was because he was getting too emotionally attached to her and was perhaps afraid of those feelings…like maybe he was falling for her and wanted to nip it in the bud. I dunno, something like that.
So yea, I don’t want them to hook up too soon but I definitely want them together eventually…say in a couple seasons if the series gets renewed? I really hope it does because its quality is so much better than a lot of other shows out there. If only viewership numbers were directly correlated with its superior quality. Amazing show with a spectacular cast. Please don’t cancel! (:
*POST AUTHOR*
That scene got me! I was told that we would find out why he ended their partnership sometime this season, so I was all, “Oh, this is it. We’re going to finally…no, we’re not. Damn!” But I loved it all the same.
I have a feeling when we do find out why he broke them up, it’ll be interesting. He referred to her as the best partner he’s ever had, yet I get the feeling that they’re those kind of good friends who are close but don’t hang out constantly. I wonder if the end of their partnership and/or their careers caused them to drift apart a bit.
This show needs a better writer and a better leading actress that can act.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think there are quite a few people who would disagree with you in both categories. Have you had a chance to see The Shield, The Unit, or Terriers? Same creator. And the writers hail from shows like those and Friday Night Lights, to name a few. I won’t go into Jennifer Beals’ resume, but we’ve already seen her lead one show for several years (The L Word).
I’m curious, though: why bother reading the article and taking the time to comment if you’re obviously not interested in the subject?
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<—– one of those “quite a few people” who disagrees