The Chicago Code: "Black Sox"

Season 1, Episode 11

The smartest standalone case yet

So maybe we aren’t barreling towards the finale just yet. Though the show seemed primed to finally tackle the Gibbons’ plot head-on, it took a step back this week from last episode’s fairly substantial setup for the home stretch. The effect certainly was jarring, but surprisingly this episode worked, as it kept all of the ongoing plotlines at a nice simmer while also delivering up a nice standalone story.

But let’s continue with the Gibbons plot, just for simplicity’s sake. Now, I’m not exactly sure exactly how this plot played out – while I got that Gibbons wanted Colvin to trade Davis for Reardon for the open colonel position, but I heard him throw the name Gardner around (who I guess was occupying the second openining), and I was confused as to why one more Gibbons plant would be a problem for Colvin. And while I understand that the whole thing was meant to be a loyalty test, it’s connection to Gibbon’s secret business associates was a bit strained. But regardless of all of this, I liked the tension that was on display here, and I liked how Teresa was able to finally engage with Gibbons on her own field.

The other bit of ongoing plot involved both Jarek and Vonda, in what was perhaps the best bit of “personal life” drama the show has produced so far. Now admittedly, Vonda’s part in all of this was a bit tone-deaf – the “mysterious package” felt like it would soon veer off into either psycho-stalker or family conspiracy territory, but instead it took a quick turn into the “dad’s a cheater” arena, which by comparison is kinda of boring. Yet this story soon picked up, and when Vonda confronted Jarek about her dad’s secret, it was perhaps the best moment the actress has ever had, and the truest moment the show has ever given to the character. Vonda has been a bit problematic, as the show has traditionally thrown the standard “female plots” her direction, making her feel useless at best and misogynistic at worst. Yet a woman upset that the family she knew was just an illusion? That was a realistic yet moving moment.

Yet the most powerful moment of all of this was watching this spill over in Jarek’s life. Yes, him finally telling his wife about his affair with his ex-wife after having to admit to knowing his brother’s affair was a bit too on the nose, and yes, the whole reveal seems to have come a bit quickly. Yet that final scene between Jarek and his fiancée was a powerful, mostly for what it revealed about the character. Though we quickly learned in the pilot that he was a rough yet moral person (sexual activities aside), we haven’t learned that much about him since. Tonight, however, we learned that maybe he is a much darker person than we originally thought. Though his confession to his fiancée was motivated in part by his desire to do good, by his own admission, much of the motivation lies in his selfish desire to keep seeing his ex-wife. It was an interesting reveal for this supposedly moral character, and it’s one I hope the show gets a chance to explore next season.

And then there’s the standalone plot, which was perhaps the most meaningful one the show has ever done. As I have admitted elsewhere, I don’t have what can be considered a complete understanding of the gay “standard” as it applies to depictions in popular culture, but I as wise enough to understand it’s a far more nuanced subject than most pundits make it seem. That’s why I enjoyed tonight’s episode, as the case meant that the show got to get its hands into some of the stickier problems of the gays rights movements, like self-hating homosexuals, and the morality of outing somebody against their will.

I could go on a little tangent about how I think it’s a positive step for the shoe to depict Boystown (and possibly in the future, other less marketable parts of the city) in its quest to show the whole of the city, not just the spots that tourists are familiar with. But I think the far more important point here for the show is that it finally found an “issue” that it can actually get some good mileage from. Sure, the show has touched on race, class, and gender issues, but either because these have been so picked over in the past, or because the show refuses to go deep enough into them to make any impact, such attempts to take about touchy subjects has often fell flat, or been straight-out distracting. Here the show was able to give us something that felt a bit fresher, and that added to the story instead of taking away from it. And that’s something that I think we should all celebrate.

Next Week: The first half of the two-part finale. Woah.

Quotes, Etc.:

“So your partner’s gay now?” “Well, I don’t see any evidence to the contrary.”

“My uncle doesn’t get to decided who I see.” “Let’s see if his shotgun agrees.”

“Stop playing with yourself man, you’re under arrest.”