Warning: This article contains spoilers for Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 16, entitled “Seen and Unseen.”
In the latest episode of Chicago PD, titled “Seen and Unseen,”it becomes evident that Voight (Jason Beghe) is not the only one affected by the manipulations of the new antagonist. Deputy Chief Supervisor Charlie Reid (Shawn Hatosy) has consistently been a thorn in Voight’s side throughout this season, maintaining an intrusive watch over the Intelligence Unit for his own motives. It’s crucial for Voight to eliminate Reid’s influence if he wants to operate effectively, but the means to do so remain uncertain.
Reid’s nefarious nature began to surface following Burgess’s (Marina Squerciati) promotion to detective. Although Burgess expressed a desire to transfer to another unit for further training, Reid blocked her plans, reallocating her to Intelligence instead and making it evident she owed him a favor. While his ultimate goal is to undermine Voight, Reid’s maneuvers threaten to jeopardize the entire Intelligence team, with Burgess caught in the middle more than anyone else.
Burgess Faces Overwhelming Workload in Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 16
A Murder Case Unfolds Amid Work Pressures
Burgess is experiencing significant strain owing to her workload in Season 12. Struggling to find time for her family, she attempts to combine work and personal life by bringing paperwork home. Unfortunately, she finds it difficult to focus while Ruzek (John Patrick Flueger) assists their daughter with homework. This leads her to a local diner, which ultimately becomes the backdrop for a tragic shooting incident.
As the storyline unfolds, Burgess must rely on her recollections of diner patrons to piece together the details of the shooting. However, this scenario highlights a broader issue; while cop dramas often depict officers sacrificing personal time for the job, Burgess should not be inundated with paperwork to the extent that it encroaches on her family life.
Reid’s Role in Burgess’s Increasing Work Demands
Confiding in Ruzek About Reid’s Excessive Expectations
Just before leaving work for the day, Burgess receives an email from Reid, compelling her to bring additional paperwork home. She feels coerced into this situation, believing that taking any break will prevent her from completing her tasks. This situation is exacerbated by Reid’s deliberate actions when he reassigned her to Intelligence—presenting it as a “favor,”despite her never having requested it.
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Reid’s tactics have created discomfort for Burgess in confronting him about her mounting workload. Her hesitation stems from a fear of appearing ungrateful or disrupting the status quo. Moreover, under Voight’s warnings about Reid’s dubious intentions, accepting any help from Reid puts her in a precarious position of having to play a double game—pretending loyalty while secretly reporting back to Voight. Consequently, Burgess is left to shoulder excessive work burdens to assist Voight in dismantling Reid’s schemes.
Reid’s strategy is clear: by keeping Burgess swamped with tasks, he effectively neutralizes her ability to support Voight, creating a significant power dynamic that favors Reid’s interests.
Reid’s Retaliation Against Voight
Voight’s Awareness of Reid’s Tactics
Voight and Reid’s conflict escalated in the previous episode during a gang shooting investigation, where Voight uncovered Reid’s connections to Jesus Otero, a violent gang figure. When confronting Reid, the Deputy Commissioner rationalized his actions by arguing that keeping Otero on the streets served the “greater good,”showcasing a willingness to undermine Voight for a personal agenda.
As a result, Reid’s manipulative strategy involves ensnaring one of Voight’s strongest supporters in meaningless administrative work, signaling his conviction that he will not relent without a fight.
In response, Voight promptly reached out to Chapman, pledging collaboration to expose Reid’s unlawful actions. Reid is likely aware of this move and retaliating by overloading Burgess with responsibilities—demanding her involvement in training programs while ensuring she has no downtime. Such tactics serve to weaken Voight’s position while keeping Reis’s adversary preoccupied with challenges.
The Necessity of Collective Action Against Reid
The Importance of Team Involvement in Strategy
Voight has always been known as a lone wolf, preferring to safeguard his officers’ interests rather than openly collaborating with them. While his inclination to maintain secrecy about his true objectives can be advantageous in certain scenarios, it poses a risk in this high-stakes battle against Reid.
Given that Voight is Reid’s principal target, the threat of dismantling the entire Intelligence Unit to achieve his goals means Voight must encourage a unified front amongst his team. Without disclosing critical information, Voight sacrifices the cohesion needed to effectively counter Reid’s tactics.
Voight’s recent decision to share details with Chapman was a positive step in fortifying his ranks against Reid, but he must extend this level of transparency to Ruzek and Burgess—if not the entire Intelligence team. This expanded communication will mitigate Reid’s ability to exploit their vulnerabilities, particularly as he continues to impose excessive work demands on Burgess in future episodes of Chicago PD.
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