‘Chicago P.D.’: 4 Things You Forgot About the Pilot Episode
Chicago P.D. first aired its pilot episode back in 2014. The series was the first One Chicago spinoff following Chicago Fire. Now Chicago P.D. is in its ninth season and is many One Chicago fans’ favorite show. Although Chicago P.D. has been on the air for a while, it’s always fun to go back and remember how everything began. Fans may have forgotten these four details from the Chicago P.D. pilot episode.
Adam Ruzek is pulled straight out of the police academy
In the Chicago P.D. pilot, Alvin Olinsky takes a trip to the police academy to enlist the help of a rookie cop. He chooses Adam Ruzek after watching him throw his partner to the ground in a training exercise. The episode also reveals that Ruzek’s dad was a patrolman back in the day.
Ruzek goes undercover in the pilot episode. He does a pretty good job and helps Voight’s Intelligence Unit apprehend a drug dealer who has some useful information about the case they are working on. Ruzek has come a long way since then, so it’s easy to forget he was a rookie in the first episode.
Burgess and Atwater aren’t in Intelligence in the ‘Chicago P.D.’ pilot
In the Chicago P.D. pilot, Hank Voight enlists Kim Burgess and Kevin Atwater’s help in a case. However, they actually aren’t members of Voight’s elite Intelligence Unit yet. Atwater is promoted at the end of season 1 and partnered with Adam Ruzek. Burgess is then partnered with Sean Roman until she too moves up to the Intelligence Unit at the end of season 2.
Detective Jules Willhite dies of a gunshot wound
The first episode of Chicago P.D. introduced Detective Jules Willhite, a member of Voight’s Intelligence Unit and close friend of Erin Lindsay. Jules is a wife and mother of two and a devoted detective. While trying to take down Pulpo, Jules and Antonio Dawson enter a building without knowing it is occupied. One of Pulpo’s men shoots through a door and hits Jules in the neck. She is rushed to the hospital but dies of her injuries shortly after, Looper states.
The cast has changed significantly since the ‘Chicago P.D.’ pilot
Chicago P.D. has gone through quite a few cast changes since the pilot. Fans may have completely forgotten about certain characters who left the show long ago. For example, Antonio Dawson, Erin Lindsay, and Sheldon Jin are all-important Chicago P.D. characters in the first episode. However, these characters are no longer in the show.
Amy Morton plays Officer Trudy Platt in the first episode as well, but she is not promoted to a series regular until season 2. Fans who still watch Chicago P.D. will also notice that Tracy Spirikados’s character Hailey Upton is not in the first episode. In fact, Upton is not introduced until season 4.
Chicago P.D. Season 9 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.