There was division and conflict all over tonight’s episode and not just between the police and criminals, but within the police department. The first two episodes introduced us to all the players and built up to answering the question of whether or not Gibbons was corrupt or not. I think we can definitely say that he is corrupt and he is willing to go to great lengths to protect himself.
I was surprised at how much story was fit into this one episode. Not only was the bank robbery solved, but several complex threats and set-ups occurred. The bank robbery was interesting, but I want to focus on the Gibbons corruption story and Wysocki’s problem within the police department.
Superintendent Teresa Colvin decided to test Gibbons and cracked down on Dansworth Construction’s Benton Street project with various tickets. In response, one of Gibbons’ underlings asks Colvin to ease off on the crackdown, not realizing she was the one who ordered it. So, what does Colvin do? She goes to Hugh Killian, who runs the construction site, to try and get him to turn on the city official he is working with. He refuses, so Colvin shuts down the site!
Does that end the story? No! It just gets much more interesting and we finally find out for sure that Gibbons is corrupt. Killian is upset that his site was shut down and threatens Gibbons to get his site opened up again. We get confirmation that Gibbons did support Colvin for Superintendent because he thought she would be under his control. Oops, guess that didn’t work out for him.
It’s not over yet. Killian is arrested for child pornography … set up and blackmailed by Gibbons. So, Gibbons not only is working with the mob, but also has cops in his pocket. How far is Gibbons’ reach? Much, much further as we find out later.
Now, Gibbons knows that Colvin is out to get him and needs to bring her down. He sets up her chief of staff for a bribery charge. Gibbons is in the clear, of course. With this action, he finally got under Teresa’s skin. I loved the scene when she is watching his press conference and then breaks the glass against the wall. Perfect.
When Colvin introduced Wysocki to her new chief of staff and said she was done investigating Gibbons, I was doubtful. I’m glad we found out right away that she was just putting on a show because he was appointed by the Mayor and worked in Gibbons’ district. So, is the Mayor involved with Gibbons and also corrupt? If you didn’t notice, the new appointee was one of the cops with Gibbons at Killian’s house. It looks like the next 10 episodes will have many more reveals.
The Wysocki story is the other side. We see the corruption that Colvin and Wysocki are trying to bring down, but at the same time, she is creating havoc within the police department. While her intentions are good, she is putting Wysocki in a dangerous position. When Moose tells people to freeze Wysocki out, he put police officers in harms way. I don’t think this is the last we have seen of this internal rebellion. Last week, it cost a police officer his life and the lives of those involved in the death. Hopefully, it won’t come to that again.
I am enjoying this smartly written, deep show. Very few shows on television right now could have covered such a detailed story within one hour. And, I’ll admit it, I love the Chicago scenery.
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Feb 22, 2011 @ 05:45 EST5EDT
