DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 4

 

The fourth season of Chicago PD picks up pretty much right after the events of the season three finale. Voight is being investigated for the murder of his son's killer, and, of course, Erin is caught up in that. As you can imagine, he ends up off the hook, but I will not spoil the particulars. Then, the show pretty much follows its case of the week format. About a third of the way into the season there is a crossover episode with just Chicago Fire, in which the team has to investigate Kelly Severide for a hit and run accident. Then, about 2/3 of the way through the season there is the big crossover that includes Fire, PD, and the new series Chicago Justice. Med did not have an official episode in the crossover, but much of the Fire episode and the PD episode was set at Med, so many of the characters from Med did appear. The episode of Justice was its series premiere (having had the backdoor pilot during the third season of Chicago PD the previous year). The season ends with a slight cliffhanger leaving the fate of one of the main characters up in the air.

This season did see some cast turnover with Brian Gerahety's and Samuel Hunts's characters having been written out, and Jon Seda's character taking a new job as an investigator for the State's Attorney's office (so Seda could transition over to Chicago Justice) about halfway through the season. Also, Marina Squerciati went on maternity leave about 3/4 of the way through the season, so the character of Burgess was allowed to go on furlough following an episode that involved a family member of hers. That paved the way for the addition of a new character, Detective Hailey Upton (played by Tracy Spirdakos), who transfers to Intelligence from Robbery-Homicide. 

For those who get the DVD, there are no real extras like deleted scenes, or behind-the-scenes clips like there were in previous season releases. The crossover episodes of Chicago Fire and Chicago Justice are included, however, so, even if you do not watch the other shows, you can see the entire storyline from the episodes play out. 

Overall, the series was still going strong in its fourth season. The writing and acting was solid, and whatever tension there was on set between actors (which is more than just a rumor) did not bleed over into the finished product). The show also did a good job balancing storylines for the large cast, and while not every character got an equal amount of screen time, none of them seemed like "also-rans". So, if you are a fan of the first three seasons, this one is definitely worth a look.