What I’m Watching: The Chicago Code

The Chicago Code: Season 1, Episode 7 “Black Hand and the Shotgun Man” (B)

This episode isn’t bad; it’s just not one of the show’s strongest installments to date. Things are spelled out a bit too explicitly, with Liam becoming Gibbons’ right-hand man and Wysocki being forced to explain his relationship with his ex-wife to their surprisingly old son (I guess I just hadn’t been paying attention if they said it earlier, but I expected him to be younger). It’s entertaining to me to see guest star Jose Zuniga, as this episode’s villain slash kidnappee father, in his usual typecast role that he’s played before in stuff like the fifth ever episode of “Dexter,” especially after seeing him in this very same hour on “The Event.” On the subject of casting, since I hadn’t noticed or mentioned it before, I’d like to point out that Amy Price-Francis is once again playing a long-suffering wife lending a great deal of support and forgiveness to her beau after starring in A & E’s two-season drama “The Cleaner” a few years ago. I like how much fun Caleb is having with the fact that he knows about Wysocki’s affair with his ex-wife. It’s interesting to see such a intense focus on Liam after he’s been relegated to subplots and committing arson, and to have him thrown so fully into the fire as Gibbons parades him around town provides an in-depth character study. I did like the last scene, where Liam swore to Theresa that he’s determined to bring Gibbons down, and I’m hopeful that means things are going to pick up in the next six episodes.