Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 20 Continues Imani’s “Hailey Upton-ification” & Delivers a Bittersweet Reunion

Critic’s Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

3.9

Imani and the guys pulled through.

The penultimate episode of the season centered on Imani, and given that there were no other loose threads of the season for the series to touch on, it makes sense that we’d close the season out by finding her sister.

After all, it’s what ultimately brought Imani to Intelligence. She succeeded in that, but it’s not as clear-cut as she had hoped.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

There are moments when Imani feels so uncannily similar to Hailey Upton that you can almost predict her every move, and Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 20 was like that for pretty much the entire hour.

It was the Hailey Upton-ification of Eva Imani as she struggled to keep her cool and her head while searching for Shari.

Laura’s murder was the closest she came in years to a proper lead on finding Shari, and from the moment she saw that body, then the phone with the photo, and onward, Imani was an unstoppable, uncontrollable force ready to tear through everything to get to Shari.

It’s understandable, too, given the fact that she’d been on the hunt for her for years. She spent all of her spare and off time to searching escort websites, scoping out locations, and following up on any breadcrumbs she could find.

And when you come that close to something, you can practically taste it.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

The montage of her and Voight investigating things together was nice, and I got a nice chuckle out of her handing him that rock sugar stick for his coffee and his expression at the mere sight of it.

It was also an endearing bit of characterization to reveal that she needs a sugar fix.

We may have even seen little signs of it before, but it was heavy throughout the hour, even when she popped what I can only imagine was a Life Saver to calm down at one point.

But her candy fixation must’ve connected to Shari. She told Dante about the Life Savers, how they’d get them together and share them, and I’m a sucker for little quirks and signatures that inform a character in some small way.

Finding Laura took them on a hell of a journey, but what Voight warned Imani about it pretty much happened during this hour.

At some point, Laura faded into the background, and it wasn’t about her, getting justice for her, and solving her murder.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

Instead, it shifted to finding Shari; at least that’s all Imani seemed to focus on. It was an overpowering desire that dominated the hour.

And what was great about the whole sugar fix thing is that Imani really did spend the installment like a jumpy live wire. She was all boundless energy that couldn’t be contained in any way, hyperactive in a way that couldn’t be stilled.

It’s no wonder that at some point, the always observant Torres pulled her outside just so that she could breathe. And I loved the line he told her: that nothing was going to happen without her.

Imani was moving like she feared that if she didn’t approach things quickly enough, the investigation would take off without her, and she’d miss out on crucial moments.

She was acting as if the team would shut her out and pull her off the case, and somehow keep her in the dark and on the back foot.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

But the team is never like that. She got to run roughshod all through this case, even when she probably shouldn’t, because Voight has a tendency to give his team a long leash even when things get personal.

And Imani’s junkyard-dog quality, so prominent in Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 1, was just as present here.

There were so many little moments that made me cringe.

How she barged into that lady’s house and demanded the footage instead of using some finesse and basic people skills to get what she wanted, or the way she dove into that car and scraped her leg all up because she was pouncing on that John, before she even figured out what all he knew.

She also should’ve stayed outside when Torres was going undercover in that trap house where they found Kat.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

That said, she’s a natural undercover. Her ability to transform into a certain role for a case is quite fascinating, and Torres is just as good at that. It’s one of my favorite things about them.

The two of them posing as a couple looking to score was so effortless on their part, and some of the best moments of this series are when Intelligence members go undercover. Honestly, they don’t do that nearly enough for me.

She got the information she needed from that venture, and we quickly learned that Shari went by Sable and that she was married to the same piece of excrement who kidnapped her.

He raised her as his daughter, pimped her out, then married her, too.

When they got into some of that, my first thought was that she was groomed well enough to become his accomplice, and Im not entirely sure that won’t be the case still. It’s unfortunate, but Shari has spent 20 years with this man.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

By now, he’s all she really knows and can remember. That’s a hold that will be difficult to break, and I don’t think Imani is prepared for that.

The search for Shari blinded her, and that definitely made her difficult to work with. Every five seconds, she was running off to do something on her own, moving too fast, abandoning people, and not slowing down enough to follow through.

When she bailed on Torres in that house to chase after Kirby, it was irritating. They hadn’t even cleared the house yet, and anything could’ve happened to Torres in that time.

And interrogations were frustrating when she’d completely take over, with all her emotions, getting so close to people that she could see their pores. As if she got closer to them, the information would come out faster or be more insightful.

She’d also redirect to her sister so often that it felt like she’d forget what they were primarily focused on in the first place.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

But nevertheless, the team had her back as they always do. I love the Intelligence Unit because there is nothing they won’t do for one another. Standing behind their own is just this unspoken thing.

Ruzek, Atwater, and Torres all took Imani and all of her erratic behavior in stride. They had her back, through and through.

But things would’ve landed better, felt stronger, if we knew that the others were aware of he sister — if Imani didn’t spend the entire season practically chained to Voight and actually bonded or shared more than a few lines with most of the other characters.

Her dynamics with the other characters are just so thin. There’s nothing really to invest in on that front. But they made up for it a bit during this hour with her and Torres.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

The hour capitalizing on Mandi and Aguilar’s natural chemistry worked to its advantage. It made me wish we had more of Imani and Torres throughout the season.

And again, I love that after everything that Torres has battled, he was this grounding force for Eva and could soothe her.

That’s a quality that’s natural for him.

It’s also nice that whenever it comes to cases that are a bit more personal, Trudy is always waiting in the wings to help out however she can. I’ve come to enjoy seeing Trudy in that capacity.

The final moments were certainly dramatic. I loved the camerawork from the moment Torres told her they had her sister, to her making it back to the station, walking past the others, being reassured that no one had spoken to Shari yet because they were aware of her…

The shots, the overpowering, loud score, all of it leading up to Imani opening that door, was quite the experience.

(Lori Allen/NBC)

And then Imani spoke to her sister for the first time in decades, and Shari doesn’t even know who she is. Outch. But that also tracks.

And now we’ll head into the finale trying to figure out just how damaged Shari is, if they’ll be able to catch Kirby, and what’s next for the gang.

I do hope that the finale will bring all the characters together and that we won’t need anyone to sit it out.

But I fully expect Arienne Mandi to bring it. Her performance in this hour was strong; there were so many little standout moments or things that she’d do to completely pull you in, even when Imani was frustrating.

Her physicality during the hour was what got to me most.

Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics! Were you satisfied with Imani and Shari’s reunion? What are your predictions for the season finale? Let’s discuss below!

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