Spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of NBC's Chicago P.D. Season 12, called "Contrition" and streaming now with a Peacock subscription.
The first half of Chicago P.D.'s twelfth season is winding down in the 2024 TV schedule, and the last episode before the fall finale started off badly for Torres before getting vastly worse for him by the time the final credits rolled. When Gloria's name came up in the course of an investigation, he wanted to believe that she was truly out of the game... only to learn that she's a powerful player. All in all, it was a great episode of TV to watch but a miserable episode for Torres to endure, so I'm glad to know what actor Benjamin Levy Aguilar was "so happy" about for "Contrition."
Torres knew that his career and even his freedom were at risk if Gloria exposed their past as lovers, and Burgess was in the same situation just after getting her promotion to detective due to keeping his secret. Everything was complicated when Cook went undercover for the first time, and actress Toya Turner wasn't kidding when she said her character wasn't prepared! The episode ended with Gloria driving off with the undercover cop in the passenger seat after connecting the dots that Cook was really police, and the only reason why Torres' secret isn't on tape is because Burgess cut the feeds at the last moment.
And sure, with Cook's fate uncertain at this point, the episode arguably ended worse for her, but Torres was pretty much miserable from start to finish as his past came back to haunt him. He chased after Gloria's car as a shot rang out, closing the episode with a classic One Chicago cliffhanger. The silver lining of an episode with Gloria turning Torres' life upside down is that it means the return of guest star Yara Martinez, who Benjamin Levy Aguilar previously said was "so easy" to work with.
When I recently spoke with Aguilar at NBC's One Chicago press junket, he shared why he was happy to have Martinez back on set despite a not-so-happy storyline, saying:
It's been great. Ever since she came in the first time, we were all like, 'We have to bring her back. She's incredible.' Such a good energy, such a fantastic actress. When I got the news that she was going to come back, I was really happy. We've stayed in contact and are really good friends. So it's so cool. It's so fun to do things. Sometimes we have so much fun that we need to try to not laugh in specific moments, but we really challenge each other as actors, and it's really cool. It's cool to have someone so involved.
Considering that Torres was guilt-ridden to the point that he was confessing to a priest even before everything went sideways with Gloria's return, it's no surprise that he wasn't cracking up over the course of the case! The actor confirmed that the fun was when the camera wasn't rolling:
The laughing I'm referring to was off screen, because definitely no laughing in this episode. He goes through so much. He takes life so seriously, doesn't he? And life has made it that way for him. He's just trying to find a way to do right by a lot of things.
Trying to find a way to do right certainly fits with the title of the episode as "Contrition," and that carries through with the title of the upcoming fall finale: "Penance." Based on the promo, that episode won't be any more fun for Torres than the penultimate was, but Aguilar had more to say in praise of Yara Martinez as a co-star:
I love working with Yara. She's an incredible actress, and a fantastic person to do scenes with and to grow. She really challenges people as actors.
All in all, despite all the good times for the actors working on the episode, I couldn't help but note to Benjamin Levy Aguilar that his character never seems to catch a break, to which he responded:
He does not. He does not. My heart breaks for him sometimes.
For Torres' sake, we can only hope that the fall finale won't end in a way that breaks Aguilar's heart any more... and certainly hope for the best for Kiana Cook, who was in immediate danger at the end of "Contrition." Unfortunately, the promo for the next doesn't give away her fate either. Take a look:
Tune in to the fall finale of Chicago P.D. on Wednesday, November 20 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire's Season 13 fall finale at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med's Season 10 fall finale with the aftermath of that big twist for Archer at 8 p.m. ET. If you'll want some One Chicago action after these episodes and before the 2025 TV schedule kicks off, you can revisit all three shows streaming on Peacock.
