Chicago PD Season 8 premiere sees Intelligence fractured

Can Intelligence heal after everything on Chicago PD Season 8 premiere?

We knew the Chicago PD Season 8 premiere was going to be hard. Season 7 ended with Atwater threatened after he did the right thing to help bring about change. Season 8 began with that story.

Atwater is being threatened by everyone who believes in the Blue Wall. Even Voight suggested that Atwater gives up his fight against change. While Voight wants to stand by Atwater, he knows that this is a dangerous stance to take. It’s not easy for a cop to put his career on the line.

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But it’s more than that. Chicago PD Season 8 is set during the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement that have become major parts of 2020. As the U.S. looks at police reform, it was a topic that naturally had to come up in the TV show. This wasn’t something that could be responsibly overlooked.

Yet, not everyone was going to agree with the way things were happening. This wasn’t just about the cops against Atwater right now or about the way the public view the police. Intelligence found itself fractured.

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Everyone has their own opinions about police reform

The topic initially comes up as the new deputy superintendent held a press conference to talk about police reform. Upton took it personally, saying that the new woman in charge was “mean.” According to Upton, they’re doing the best they can.

That’s not the way Atwater sees it, and he wasn’t afraid to call Upton out. While none of them were responsible for George Floyd, they have been responsible for other deaths of Black people who have turned out unarmed or innocent. Just last season there was a whole story about Jay Halstead making a bad call against a Black man that led to that man’s death in prison.

Atwater knows they can do better. They have to do better.

That’s where the fractures start.

Voight struggles with change on the Chicago PD Season 8 premiere

When there’s a mistake with a no-knock warrant by not announcing who was coming in, all evidence in an arrest becomes inadmissible. It means a man who has shot and killed a five-year-old girl is able to go free.

Voight, understandably, isn’t happy about that. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep a bad man off the streets. The “whatever it takes” part isn’t something that Atwater is happy with.

I’ve said for a while that the Cage is used far too much. It’s a police practice that shouldn’t be condoned. Some of Intelligence have spoken out about it before, but now it’s time for Atwater to not back down. He is not letting the Cage get used because that’s not the way things should be done.

The system needs to change. Just because something has always been done some way doesn’t make it right.

The question is whether Intelligence can heal after this. There’s one thing debating and accepting differences when it comes to different football teams or mistakes on a call that lead to nothing. The rifts that are forming here aren’t going away, especially now that Atwater has been beaten by a bunch of (what are most likely) cops who don’t like that he’s willing to stand against the Blue Wall.

Voight needs to change for the healing to start. Is he willing to do that to support his guy who needs it the most?

I’ll admit that I didn’t have too much hope about how the show was going to handle this storyline based on past storylines. The Chicago PD Season 8 premiere surprised me in good ways, and I’m ready to see what’s still to come. I like being proven wrong in this way, so keep it coming.

What did you think of the Chicago PD Season 8 premiere? Can Intelligence heal? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chicago PD Season 8 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.