Chicago PD season 5 episode 21 review: Al Olinsky, stabbed in the back
Did Voight do Olisnky dirty? Despite Al’s frequent declarations that he was fine to take the fall for Hank, at least temporarily, it’s gone too far at this point. He allowed Olinsky to go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and as a result of that, he now sits in a prison cell bleeding out after being stabbed multiple times by another inmate with a major grudge against the police. Voight assumed too many things — he figured that a favorable judge would protect him and, beyond that, he also seemingly wasn’t that worried that something would happen to Olinsky behind bars. Otherwise, why let him go through with this in the first place?
It’s only when Al wasn’t given a chance at spending his waiting-for-trial period outside of prison that Voight started to rethink some of his moves. While we didn’t hear the contents of his meeting with Woods at the end of the episode, all signs point towards Hank actually turning himself in once and for all. His back is against the wall and right now, he knows no other choice.
The real issue that we see with Voight now, though, is simply this: It’s too late. Olinsky’s already near-death and there may not be a hope of saving him. This death may hang on Voight’s conscience even more than the people who he’s actually killed himself. Olinsky was his friend and his ally. He was willing to do virtually everything that he could in order to protect him.
Halstead and Atwater’s mission
The major appeal of seeing this story tonight was that it allowed for an opportunity to see these two characters really dive into a meaty case where they were both undercover, but at the same time working with different factions. Their end goal was stopping the sale of some illegal guns and, in the end, things did get hairy and there were murders committed in the process.
One of the things that we’ve long admired about Chicago PD is the series’ ability to constantly find ways to build new mousetraps and figure out how to create new, interesting, and dramatic situations for some of their main characters in which, in the end, they can solve the case. Tonight, we had a chance to see that happen yet again.
CarterMatt Verdict
Chicago PD season 5 episode 21 was an intense, gripping episode that showed that Voight’s actions may be finally catching back up with him. There were fantastic performances throughout and some really great drama from start to finish.
Are we somewhat bummed-out that some of the other characters are not getting huge side stories along the way? Sure, but given the stakes we’re dealing with — including a case that has been years in the making — we certainly understand it. This episode set the stage for the upcoming finale in a rather brilliant way.
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