Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 18 Review: Foxwater Makes It Official!

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

We’re really having a baby!

And by “we” I mean, Foxwater. Of course, that’s assuming Chicago PD doesn’t pull the old One Chicago move of having Atwater’s child going through absolute peril.

After what seemed like ages, we finally revisited Atwater and his storyline regarding his child, and the news is out, in an anti-climactic but amusing enough way.

It was a pretty one-of-the-mill type of case. There was nothing too exciting about a sadistic, privileged, rich kid going around stabbing people just because he’s able to, and his mother covering for him because “moms and their sons.”

They even played things the way we’ve come to expect from Chicago PD, where one of Intelligence’s finest just so happens to be out, off-duty, and stumbles upon a whopper of a case.

Atwater and Fox were having a decent enough date night, picking at a piece of chocolate cake that looked to die for, and failing to properly have the conversations they needed to be having about this child they’re having and their relationship.

But then they got pulled into a house party and a pretty tragic scene.

Kids are the worst, man. Poor Emily was lying on the floor, bleeding out, and there were a bunch of random kids just happily partying in her house like nothing was happening.

They didn’t even seem fazed that their host was dying on her bedroom floor. No one seemed to care that people were getting stabbed in the house. What gives?

But the case was definitely fairly easy to follow because, thanks to the trust age of social media, teens have a pesky habit of sharing every single facet of their lives as they go. And the lack of caution regarding this stresses me out on the regular.

Emily’s situation was heartbreaking.

I was just speaking about how there’s this unspoken but universal experience wherein when the worst has happened to someone, it’s almost a deeply biological or chemical reaction for them to call out for their mom.

She was dying, and all she wanted was her mother. And that seemed to hit Tasha pretty hard, given her circumstances.

But then we got the obnoxious element of the hour: Ellis’ father trying to represent all the kids, get his son out of there, and generally interfere with an investigation.

Although sometimes I can’t help but laugh over how lawyers have to be depicted in cop shows — as if they’re not a vital part of the justice system and the checks and balances that help keep the law in order, so to speak.

But Alan was just generally obnoxious the entire time, which was great priming for when they pulled off that twist at the end.

Emily died because of Ellis, and then Dwayne Coleman also fell victim to sadistic Ellis when he realized what happened with Emily and didn’t want any more parts of their activities.

Dwayne didn’t sign up for killing people. And he likely already knew the deal with Ellis in the first place — that when it came down to it, he’d be the one sitting behind bars before the rich kid ever would.

The stabbing in broad daylight was too much for me. I can’t imagine just happening across someone, and then suddenly realizing that they got shanked in the middle of a crowd, and no one is the wiser.

What made this case so straightforward was that they pretty much knew the entire time that Ellis was their guy; it was just a matter of proving it and circumventing his lawyer.

Voight and Atwater, carefully asking questions and trying to avoid triggering Alan, were amusing enough.

But one of the hour’s best technical moments was the dual interrogation. I loved the camera work and how it was shot. Swinging from one to the other with Torres and Ruzek watching was great, and the moment it clicked that it wasn’t Alan who was protecting his son but Toni.

He had no idea his car had been used, and his freakout over the footage was tense. It was interesting to see that not only was he terrified of his son, but he didn’t trust his wife much either.

But their smartest move was to let Ellis go so they could trap him. Texting him while pretending to be his mother worked out well since he took off, attempting to get rid of the murder weapon and other evidence.

The second Atwater took off on foot, I knew Ellis would attack Kevin and that Tasha wouldn’t stay in the car. But she had his back, and the baby is fine despite that brief scare with Ellis wielding the knife, so all’s well that ends well.

It was probably in that moment with all that commotion that Ruzek figured out Tasha was pregnant. His telling Atwater, “Congratulations, Daddio,” was a cute moment.

And Burgess’ shock when Tasha told her was amusing. It’s not exactly how I would’ve envisioned this news coming out, especially Burgess finding out from someone other than Atwater.

But at least the news is semi-out, and we got to see reactions.

It still exposed the downside to the series not tackling certain topics unless someone is having a centric. Kevin not telling everyone in his life because he doesn’t know where he stands with TaSha made a little sense.

But his not telling Burgess at all doesn’t make any sense. We also don’t know how much time has passed either. Nevertheless, after weeks of nothing, we have to take the little wins.

And after this case, it seems Tasha has finally made her choice. They’re both hopeless causes when it comes to communication and learning how to be in love and in a healthy relationship.

I’m glad they found each other. They’re a perfect match.

Tasha was terrified of not having Kevin fully, of him not feeling the same way about her, and of him committing to her only out of obligation to the baby. She didn’t want to disrupt her life for him if she didn’t know for certain where she stood, but she was also scared to commit, too.

And Atwater didn’t know what to do with this limbo. His entire life is in Chicago, and he wanted his child to be there, too, to face his fears with Tasha, raise their child there, and form a family.

Family is so important to Kevin. It’s everything, really. So, his commitment to her — him pouring his heart out and letting her know they can work things out? You can believe him. You know he means it.

And Tasha was vulnerable in a way that was new but refreshing. Her concerns were valid. They barely know each other, but now they’re going to be raising a family together. But she found the perfect guy for that.

Overall, the case was straightforward, the personal drama had low stakes, and we had everyone but Imani working the case, but they mostly fell to the back. Just Chicago PD things!

Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics! Were you underwhelmed by the baby revelation? Are you a Foxwater shipper? Let’s discuss!

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