Whether you're a fan of legal dramas or the many police and other law enforcement procedurals which populate the airwaves, you'll probably know by now that most (if not all) of these shows will be making some changes for upcoming seasons. The worldwide uprisings over police brutality and murders of several African Americans at the hands of officers has led for many people to call for change, not just in our actual police departments and legal system, but in how law enforcement is shown on TV. Now, Chicago P.D. is bringing in former Empire star Nicole Ari Parker as a new character who will help the department with police reform.
According to Deadline, Nicole Ari Parker will be joining Chicago P.D. for Season 8 in the major recurring role of Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller. Hailing from Atlanta, Miller is a big proponent of police reform and very progressive. Part of her goal will be to help Hank Voight and everyone on his Intelligence team adjust to the new rules, but she's not going to take anyone ignoring the new guidelines and strict protocols kindly.
Aside from her time as Giselle on Empire, which lasted for three seasons, Nicole Ari Parker is also known for her work on shows like Younger, I'm Dying Up Here, Time After Time, Revolution and Soul Food, having also appeared in films such as Almost Christmas, Imagine That, and Black Dynamite. While Parker has proven time and again that she can do pretty much anything on screen, and I'm sure that her Samantha Miller will be a force to be reckoned with, we can basically put money on the fact that Miller will not have an easy time going up against Voight, because...well, no one does.
Long-time fans of One Chicago probably remember that Voight was introduced on Chicago Fire as a dirty cop. Not only did he already have a history of being investigated (frequently) by internal affairs, viewers first met him when he covered up an accident which left a young boy paralyzed from the waist down. Why would Voight do such a thing? Well, his son, Justin, was driving drunk when he hit the vehicle that boy was in, and Voight's actions kept his son from being investigated.
The character of Voight was then made the central character of Chicago P.D., where he heads up the Intelligence Unit we follow in each episode, but we've still been treated to his (frequently) not at all above board strategies on many occasions. He's a character who's always been very willing to employ dirty tactics to get his job done, but this has meant threatening suspects and outright killing people more than a few times. And, one of those murders led to Voight's good friend and colleague taking the fall for him and then being murdered while in jail.
Basically, what I'm saying is that it's gonna be really, really hard for anyone, after all of this time of Voight getting away with a lot of criminal stuff under the onus of protecting the good people of Chicago, to keep his brutal tendencies in check. On top of that, Voight has always come out swinging when anyone in IA, or who happens to outrank him, makes any move to threaten his badge, so Samantha Miller is going to have her work cut out for her. Don't be surprised if things get very tricky for Miller, very quickly.
We don't know yet when Nicole Ari Parker will make her Chicago P.D. debut, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. The drama returns to NBC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST, beginning on November 11, but if you need more to watch in the meantime, check out our guide to fall TV!
