Chicago P.D. has made some changes to the Intelligence Unit in Season 12, and not just with the departure of Upton and arrival of the possibly sketchy new deputy chief. Officer Kiana Cook is officially part of the team in the fall 2024 TV schedule after a very wet episode in which she proved herself to Voight. That involved joining forces with Torres, and stars Benjamin Levy Aguilar and Toya Turner spoke with CinemaBlend about their characters' bond. I'm just not sure that it will last beyond what this week's episode seemingly has in store.
The new episode on November 13 is called "Contrition," and will feature Torres being haunted by the complications of his relationship with Gloria and Cook taking on her first undercover assignment with the Intelligence Unit. When I spoke with Toya Turner about her character following Marina Squerciati's big Burgess episode, I asked for her thoughts on who Cook is closest to so far, and she didn't hesitate in her response:
Cook is closest to Torres. It would have to be Torres and then Ruzek.
Considering that Ruzek was her first tie to the Intelligence Unit after she helped him in his fast-paced investigation into who killed Detective Martel, the New Amsterdam alum naming him as second behind Torres tracks. As for Torres, I shared what Turner said about their bond when I later spoke with Benjamin Levy Aguilar, and he opened with his own thoughts:
The bond that Kiana and Torres had in Episode 5 is such a bond. What they went through, how he was able to follow his instincts and know that she was saying something truthful. Solving this whole case got them so close.
It's hard to imagine that Cook would have been as sold on the Intelligence Unit if not for how well she worked with Torres back in Episode 5, so that temporary partnership may be the whole reason why Intelligence is back up to five cops under Voight. (You can stream that episode with a Peacock subscription now.) That said, any case involving Gloria is sensitive – to say the least – for Torres, and the promo indicates that "Contrition" won't be an exception. Aguilar went on:
Obviously the things that this new episode coming up are about are things from his past and things that he can't seem to rely on anyone [for], so it could be bumpy in the sense of not being so upfront with everything. He's just trying to protect himself, truly, but the bond is there. The bond is there, which is why things can hurt a little more on his end.
While there is a "bond" between the two newest members of the Intelligence Unit, it's hard to ignore that Torres is all but a master of undercover work while Cook is on the verge of going under for the very first time. Aguilar weighed in on the difference between them, saying:
It's so exciting to have her do her first undercover work. I hope to be able to guide her in the future with stuff like that. Torres is definitely really a chameleon when it comes to that, but because of the circumstances of this episode... if it was in a different place, he wishes he would have guided her better.
Of course, we've seen that Cook has plenty of experience and skill as a CPD officer even if she isn't exactly a chameleon like Torres or any of her other new coworkers. I asked Toya Turner how prepared her character actually is to go under for Intelligence, and she laughed and said:
She's not! She's not at all. Coming from tactical and patrol, there's not a lot of undercover activities going on. I guess she's as prepared and as eager and willing to jump into it head first. She has no experience. I feel like pretty much the audience is watching Kiana grow too, because she's never interrogated anybody, like she did in Episode 5. She's normally [tactical], with the guns, the weapons, going in. Everything is very close and personal for her while she's working with the unit. She's just a fish out of water.
Being a "fish out of water" in the world of One Chicago can be deadly, and P.D. is easily the darkest of NBC's three Wednesday night dramas. When I noted that going under with the Intelligence Unit as run by Voight is jumping right into the deep end, Toya Turner responded:
Very much so. [laughs] Very much so. You never know what you're going to get with this unit, it's something different every day. It's exciting for me, and I think it's exciting for Kiana too, to be honest. A little bit of the danger is exciting too.
So, will Torres' heightened stress (and stakes) with Gloria's return combine with Cook's inexperience undercover to cause a fracture in the bond between them? I supposed it all depends on how well Cook takes to undercover work, and I'm curious to find out why exactly she's being given this mission when she has the least experience. Nothing is ever straightforward when Gloria is in the mix!
While it's too soon to say if there's a breaking point ahead for the two officers, I can't help but suspect that they won't be on as good of terms at the end of the "Contrition" episode as they were at the start. Sure, I might just be paranoid, but just check out the promo for what looks like an intense hour of TV for Torres:
Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, November 13 at 10 p.m. ET for this next episode of Chicago P.D. with Benjamin Levy Aguilar and Toya Turner, following Chicago Fire with Severide's new enemy at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med with Archer and Lenox at odds at 8 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier seasons of all three shows streaming on Peacock now.
