I know what you’re thinking: She’s writing about Chicago PD again?
Yes, yes, I am. I haven’t even gotten around to my Chicago PD Season 12 Report Card yet, but stay tuned for that.
But let’s get into my girl Chapman. Setting aside the fact that the finale totally botched the Burzek wedding, I have a bigger issue: it completely undermined the Nina Chapman we’ve come to know.
Don’t Let the Finale Fool You, Chapman is That Girl
If you read my Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 22 Review, you know I took issue with how the finale’s editing — rushing major plotlines and emotional beats, including the wedding, etc. But Chapman’s characterization and writing were also frustrating.
Perhaps that’s something that those who don’t care about her character at all may not have noticed. After all, half of the viewers were too busy hyping up the return of Dark Voight, while the others were thoroughly (and understandably) annoyed that Chapman’s issue with Dark Voight stole focus from Burzek and their wedding.
But I am a Nina Chapman fan. Sara Bues has been a delightful addition to this series, embodying a role that often doesn’t receive its proper due.
Chapman is a morally complex, ambitious, and collaborative figure. She’s been a refreshing counterbalance to Voight — not an underling (or an antagonist), but a peer.
Chicago PD Turned a Queen into a Pawn for the Plot
Their relationship was compelling precisely because it was built on mutual respect, power negotiation, and an understanding of the gray areas in which both operate.
And that’s why her sudden turn “because of the plot” irked me so much. Aside from the fact that while my lovely colleague isn’t particularly enthused by the Voight/Chapman romance the season hinted at, I actually enjoyed their romantic potential.
The season finale spends much of its time focusing on how Voight is between a rock and a hard place, trying to take Reid down, and he spends an admirable amount of time trying to genuinely resolve things the “right” and “proper” way.
He had Chapman in his ear — or more so, an angel on his shoulder trying to guide him through the proper channels of taking Reid down and saving the unit every bit as much as the city of Chicago.
And Chapman has stepped into that role rather nicely. Not like Olinsky, Dawson, or whoever came before, but carving out her own thing. A partnership.
Voight & Chapman’s Dynamic Is His Strongest Since Olinsky
Chapman offered that to Voight — frankly, they offered it to one another.
They’ve had a mutual respect between them since Chapman’s introduction — something much fresher than those who preceded her, like Miller, Brennan, or Denny.
Voight and Chapman have always been a strong partnership (of sorts) because they saw through each other and concluded it’s something they could still work with as long as they were honest.
Chapman offered Voight something he’s lacked for seasons: an equal. Someone who challenges him, understands him, and operates with her own set of power. In many ways, she was his most compelling partner since Olinsky.
Chapman was never some “goody-two-shoes” type with a rigid moral code and sense of ethics that she couldn’t bend. She also was never someone who didn’t pick up on who and what Voight was and felt she could change him.
Their Dynamic Thrived Because They “Saw” Each Other
Their entire partnership has thrived in the first place because they understood each other — not in the sense of needing or desiring to change one another, but in recognizing that the very fact that they are so different and operate from different places is what makes them a formidable duo.
The Nina Chapman we know is a “Bad Bitch” who is ambitious, loyal, complex, and knows how to handle business.
That’s why it was so jarring to see Chapman written as a lovesick, naive woman reduced to teary stares and vague disappointment. Where was the confident ASA who lied to a judge for the greater good? The same Chapman who once bent the rules and still owned every move she made?
Even in moments of vulnerability, Chapman was never weak. Her strength came from knowing the line and stepping over it with intention — not confusion. However, the finale asked us to believe that this sharp, capable woman was somehow shocked that Voight operates in the moral gray area.
Chapman Was Always Morally Gray, TOO
Her very introduction on Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 22 was of a woman who knows what she wants but isn’t above bending the rules when it counts. She granted him warrants, not because it was morally right or his threats worked, but because he appealed to her ambition and came correct.
Voight literally protected her during Chicago PD Season 10 Episode 13. Her connection to a drug dealer via a confidential informant she slept with (they love this plot) was dicey enough to make her seem dirty for half the episode.
But she wasn’t dirty, just morally gray. And Voight protected and saved her, cementing their dynamic.
A dynamic whose origins are rooted in both seeing or at least knowing about the dark ugliness of the other and still supporting each other anyway.
The bulk of their tension, particularly during Chicago PD Season 11, stemmed from this unspoken power struggle rather than a failure to understand or see each other. They operated differently, but they recognized that in each other.
From Strong, Fierce, Ambitious Badass to … Naive, Heartsick, Supporting Character Because Plot
Hell, it was Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 5, where Chapman herself bent the rules, lied to a judge, and obtained warrants by alternative means to help Voight with a case.
Chapman is NOT a woman who doesn’t step outside of the lines or comes across as naive in any way when it comes to Voight.
That same hour, she shut down his diatribe about running things and walking in the gray to protect others, not vice versa.
Her cool, confident admission that she cared about him left Voight and us speechless, and it only confirmed that Chapman is just a badass woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t have blinders on.
She didn’t even waver or seem wary when she returned later. The two of them went right back to working on their Reid takedown.
A Casualty of the Finale: Bring Back Our Girl!
And yet, the Chicago PD finale sidelined her depth. The writers sacrificed Chapman’s consistency for the sake of melodrama, seemingly to stall or end the teased romantic arc between her and Voight.
I can accept them attempting to end the potential romance. However, I’m not okay with doing it at the expense of character integrity.
My girl is out here catching strays because the writing didn’t serve her well, and it’s not her fault!
I want the Nina Chapman I know and love back in full glory come next season: Fierce, confident, flawed, badass, loyal, ambitious, and a true partner.
Can the real Nina Chapman please stand up? Come back to me, chica. I miss you!
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