Steven Culp Online | The Chicago Code

Episode: The Gold Coin Kid

Just a nice preview of what to expect ... more captures coming soon.

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Detailed summary:

I said last week that I thought I was getting addicted to The Chicago Code. Having seen this episode, I can say it for sure: I am in love with this show.

As much as it is possible to have a crush on a fictional character, I think I have one when it comes to Jarek, who has time in his morning to give Teresa a perfect rant about the need for better police radios, and without missing a beat, goes out to bust the bad guys with a smile on his face. He's not happy when Teresa pulls him off a drug bust to talk to a philanthropist who'd like to know who sold her son the illegal substances that put him into a coma. It's not long before they find the kid's girlfriend beaten to death in his car, which is in the river.

This is leads to Jarek and Caleb looking massively out of place at a local nightclub, which they quickly peg as ground zero for high-end prostitutes. They're able to strongarm the girlfriend's roommate and fellow hooker into helping them, which is to say that she reveals that said girlfriend recorded several of her encounters with prominent people – including "coma boy's" father. To close their case, our heroes get to bust open a brothel. This salacious story is nothing new, but it doesn't stop Jason Clarke and Matt Lauria from chewing the scenery. Jarek refers to himself as "an equal opportunity SOB," while Caleb gets tetchy with the roomie. Both actors pop this episode; every scene crackles in some way. Clarke is one of those actors that when he starts talking, I just shut up and listen to him. He's a force of nature, not unlike his character. They're really a perfect fit.

Tension between the partners also begins to build, as Jarek has looked into Caleb's file through dubious means, and doesn't like what he finds there. In turn, Caleb refuses to let Jarek dump him, saying if their partnership ends, "it's because of who you are." By episode's end, Caleb calls Jarek out on having an affair with his ex-wife, leaving the veteran cop almost speechless. I'd call it Lauria's best scene to date, and it's a curveball; one figures that the subplot was going to be exposed, but I never wouldve pegged it for so soon, or for Caleb to be the one to figure it out. (Yet now that I think on it, I should've figured he'd be the one; that's a sign of a good character, when revelations make perfect sense.) I applaud both the actor and the writers for not making Caleb just another fresh-faced, naive new cop. We now know a lot more about his backstory, and we know he came to play. It's got to be tough holding one's own against someone with such gravity as Jason Clarke, but Matt Lauria is doing more than fine in that department.

Teresa locks horns with Dennis, the mayor's chief of staff (the always-amazing Steven Culp of Desperate Housewives, 24, JAG et cetera, who also always seems to be playing a jerk these days), first over the radios and then over the investigation. Teresa tells Caleb and Jarek in front of Dennis to drop the investigation, but already we know her character well enough to know that she's playing for her audience. Though our boys take suspensions, Teresa is quite pleased with what they uncover, and I'd expect nothing less from her. Already, I know what to expect from her; again, that's credit to both the actor and the writer. I feel like this show has three leads who are really entrenched in their characters, and who are always better than they were the week before. That is something most TV shows would kill for, and I feel lucky to know that I can see three great performances week after week.

Isaac and Vonda roll out with Moose (Brad William Henke, who's been doing double duty between this and Justified awhile now) and the task force again, but things go wrong when the guy they're transporting pulls a gun and nearly shoots them both. Vonda takes the rap for failing to frisk the suspect, covering for Moose to keep her spot on the team. We can see that Vonda has her uncle's wiles about her; the question is if that'll get her in trouble, and if it does, if she can get out of it.

We also get to hear from Jarek's 27-year-old fiancee, Elena. If there's one thing about him that drives me nuts, it's how he's cheating on his fiancee with his ex-wife. That makes me want to slap him every time it comes up. But it's one flaw in a character I love, and maybe now that he's been called out on it, he'll sort that out sooner rather than later. And it wouldn't matter so much if I didn't already care so strongly about his character.

It's an accomplishment that only six episodes into the entire series, I feel like I'm in the hearts and minds of all the characters in The Chicago Code. I'm not just invested in them from a dramatic standpoint; I understand why they act the way they do, and I'm feeling more and more each week like they're people. This is the first episode where I found myself talking to my television; not that I thought they could hear me but because these characters are engaging me. While I love the point-of-view voiceovers, I could go without them and still feel like I know these people. I even miss the ones that aren't in the episode (okay, Gibbons not so much, but maybe a little). To me, this whole universe feels like it's filled out and it's alive, and we're only six episodes in. That's really amazing, to be able to start from scratch and build a world that quickly.

Most shows take entire seasons to find their characters, let alone all the smaller things like feel and tone. The Chicago Code found itself early on, and every week I see it grow somehow. It's obvious how much heart and soul goes into this show every week, and knowing that, it's impossible for me not to love it in return. (c) Review by Brittany Frederick @ starpulse.com

Detailed summary:

Detective Jarek Wysocki tells police superintendent Teresa Colvin that his niece, officer Vonda Wysocki, radioed for backup on a shots-fired call and got no response because her radio's battery was dead. Colvin explains that the mayor's office is holding up her request for new radios, but she promises to remedy the situation.

Later, Jarek and his partner, Caleb Evans, are pretending to be repo men to lure three crack-dealing brothers out of their house. When one takes off on a motorcycle, Jarek blocks his way with the tow truck, and he too gets arrested.

Meanwhile, the mayor's chief-of-staff, Dennis Mahoney (Steven Culp), tells Colvin that the money for her new radios was spent elsewhere. She's not happy to hear this.

Back at the station, drug task force officer Moosekian - unhappy that Jarek and Caleb arrested the brothers - interrupts their interrogation, saying that Colvin wants Jarek and Caleb to meet her at a hospital.

When they arrive, Colvin introduces local philanthropist Amanda Langley, whose son, Teddy, O.D.'d on heroin and wound up in a coma. Amanda says that Teddy was trying to get clean with the help of his girlfriend, Emily, and wants his drug dealer arrested, noting that Teddy's car is missing.

Emily's roommate, Taylor, tells Jarek and Caleb that Teddy met them at a nightclub last night and left angry, but Emily followed him. She hasn't seen them since, but she has Teddy's dealer Mason Goldberg's address.

As Jarek and Caleb arrest Goldberg, they learn Teddy's car was found in a lake - with Emily dead inside. Then Jarek says that he knows Caleb has applied to the FBI, so he wants a new partner. Caleb asks Jarek for another month.

Moosekian cuts a deal with one of the crack-dealing brothers to point out the main stash house, which his task force - including temporary members Vonda and officer Isaac Joiner - will bust later.

Meanwhile, Jarek asks Colvin for assurance that if Teddy killed Emily, there won't be a cover-up. Colvin says that there won't be one.

Jarek and Caleb find Taylor at the nightclub, which is a front for a high-class prostitution ring. When they tell Taylor that Emily's dead, she's shaken, and she shows them files that Emily kept on her computer for "insurance." And one of these files contains messages from Teddy's father!

Jarek confronts Teddy's father, who admits to having had a sexual relationship with Emily, but broke it off before his son, who didn't know this, met her. He also admits to offering Emily money to go away, but she loved Teddy and refused to comply. He says the madam, Julie, was supposed get Teddy involved with another girl. But when Jarek questions Julie, she denies everything. And Taylor tells Jarek and Caleb that, fearing for her life, she's leaving Chicago.

After Moosekian, Vonda, and Isaac raid the stash house, Isaac and Vonda drive away with one of the handcuffed suspects, who pulls a concealed pistol and fires, but misses, and they subdue him.

Meanwhile, mayoral chief-of-staff Mahoney tells Colvin that Jarek is irritating a top political donor, so call him off. Colvin asks whether the donor's money is worth more than her radios.

Taylor suddenly appears at the station, telling Jarek and Caleb that Teddy often threatened to kill Emily, including the night they disappeared. While Jarek receives an envelope from the traffic division, Caleb accuses Taylor of being bought off by either Teddy's father or the madam, Julie.

Meanwhile, the drug task force's leader is furious that the suspect was improperly frisked. But when Vonda claims that she's to blame, he simply tells Moosekian to run a tighter ship. Later, Moosekian tells a concerned Jarek that Vonda just made a rookie mistake.

Colvin calls Jarek and Caleb into her office, where Mahoney demands that the nightclub/whorehouse investigation be dropped. After Colvin tells the detectives to comply, Mahoney says she'll get those new radios.

Jarek finds a politically motivated judge who'll authorize a search warrant. Then Caleb, realizing Jarek illegally accessed his personal file, accuses Jarek of disliking him simply because he's not him.

Once inside the nightclub, they search Julie's office. When Julie objects, Jarek cites various violations in progress, and Caleb seizes Julie's computer as evidence.

After Colvin inspects her new radios, she calls Jarek and Caleb into her office and suspends them. Mahoney wants them fired, but Colvin explains that a fired Jarek will go public, but a suspended Jarek will remain silent to get his job back. OK.

Once Mahoney leaves, Colvin apologizes for the suspension. Jarek explains to the mystified Caleb that this way the nightclub gets shuttered without Colvin's fingerprints on the investigation - and she gets all the information found on Julie's computer files.

Jarek then accuses Goldberg of killing Emily and leaving Teddy to die on the street. A red-light traffic camera captured Goldberg driving Teddy's car - with Emily inside - at the time Teddy was found. Goldberg admits that Emily attacked him for selling Teddy heroin, so he killed her.

When Jarek confronts Vonda about her mistake, she explains that she was covering for Moosekian. She feared he would toss her and Isaac off the task force, but now that she took his bullet, he can't. Jarek smiles.

While Colvin issues the new radios, Caleb confronts Jarek about trying to keep his sleeping with his ex-wife a secret from his partner - a violation of Jarek's own "no secrets between partners" code - and walks away, leaving Jarek staring into space. (c) fox.com

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Steven Culp on "The Chicago Code"

Episode: The Gold Coin Kid