Premature Infatuation: NBC’s “Chicago PD” [PHOTOS] 

For those fans of Chicago Fire that didn’t know it, last night’s episode “Let Her Go” was a backdoor pilot for the spin-off titled Chicago PD that NBC just recently announced would be picked up for the 2013-2014 season.  I have to admit I was a little skeptical, but after last night’s superb episode, Chicago PD has made my short-list of “must-watch” shows in the Fall.

“Let Her Go” was centered around the murder investigation of Lt. Casey’s girlfriend, Hallie, who was killed in a fire in last week’s episode.  Leading the investigation is Dawson’s brother, Antonio, as well as the highly-disliked Voight.  To all of the viewers’ surprise, Voight is straight as an arrow in the investigation, and ultimately, kills Hallie’s murderer in a stand-off.   My gut had always told me that Voight may not be as bad as he seemed, and with the integrity he displayed in Hallie’s murder investigation, I was pretty certain that we had him pegged all wrong.  We find out in the end that I was right.  Voight had only been “playing dirty cop” to get close to the bad guys, almost like an undercover operation.  As you probably can guess, I’m at the top of Voight’s fan club now.

From NBC:

District 21 of the Chicago Police Department is made up of two distinctly different groups. There are the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city’s street crimes. And there’s the Intelligence Unit, the team that combats the city’s major offenses – organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.

Leading the Intelligence team is Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe), a man not against skirting the law in the pursuit of justice. Demanding and tough, only those who can take the heat survive under Voight’s command. Take Detective Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) – despite his troubled history with his boss, Dawson has ambitions of running the unit… so if that means facing off against Voight every day, he’ll persevere.

From the street cops with dreams of moving up to the elite crew who are already in, “life on the job” is a daily challenge. The enormous responsibilities that come with the territory take an emotional toll, as we’ll find when we follow the personal lives of our characters outside the walls of District 21.

From Emmy-winning producer Dick Wolf and the team behind “Chicago Fire” comes “Chicago PD,” a gripping, character-driven new police drama about those who put it all on the line to serve and protect.

The series stars Jason Beghe as Sergeant Hank Voight, Jon Seda as Detective Antonio Dawson, and Melissa Sagemiller as Detective Julie Wilhite.

Why I Will Be Watching:

The main reason why I will be be watching this show is last night’s fantastic backdoor pilot.  The storyline was exceptional, the character development was fantastic like all of the episodes of Chicago Fire are, and it was action-packed from beginning to end.  If this episode is any indication at all of what Chicago PD will be like, I think NBC has itself another winner.  Plus, the acting pedigree is top-notch.  Jason Beghe always does a great job on any project he works on, and ever since Homicide: Life on the Street, I’ve been waiting for Jon Seda to find another crime drama to call home.

Chicago PD premieres mid-season this Fall on NBC.