What's the Deal with Deputy Chief Reid? Chicago P.D.'s Showrunner Explains All
The officer, played by Shawn Hatosy, is an unsettling and mysterious new "friend" of the Intelligence Unit.
With Voight (Jason Beghe), Chicago P.D. fans have become well accustomed to a surly veteran cop who keeps his emotions close to his chest. However, while Voight is closed-off but well-intentioned, the new Deputy Chief Charlie Reid (Shawn Hatosy) is a completely different beast.
Since Reid first appeared in Season 12, he's kept a close eye on the Intelligence Unit under the guise of being a vigilant new boss. But his true motives have become increasingly unclear with each episode. First, he insisted that a newly promoted Detective Burgess (Marina Squerciati) remain in Intelligence against Suarez's advice. In the fall midseason finale, "Penance," he showed up at Voight's office and revealed he knew about Torres' (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) illegal sexual relationship with CI-turned suspect, Gloria Perez, and Intelligence's efforts to cover it up.
Voight pointed out that Reid hasn't had his team arrested and asked how the Deputy Chief wants to leverage the information. Reid had a menacing and cryptic response.
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"I'd like to use the info differently," he said. "I'd like you and I to be friends."
Well, viewers saw a glimpse of what that friendship looked like in Season 12, Episode 9 ("Friends and Family"). Reid was able to scramble together $60,000 in last-minute ransom money for their high-stakes kidnapping case. But something tells us this good deed won't go unpunished.
Is Chief Reid a villain?
So far, all of Reid's actions have only helped Intelligence, but they're also setting off major red flags. Showrunner Gwen Sigan tells NBC Insider that there is definitely a mystery surrounding this "layered" man.
"He’s a character that certainly doesn’t lead with the honesty, you know?" she said. "He doesn’t lead with the truth right away and so the fun thing about him is that it’s going to be a slow build of finding out what his real motivations are, and for Voight, having this relationship with somebody who is a bit of a chameleon, is very hard to get to know. And once he does get to know him more, what is Voight going to think of Reid’s philosophy?"
So, the question we're all asking: Is Reid a villain or Intelligence's new (grumpy) guardian angel? While Sigan acknowledges he's "such a big threat to the way we know Intelligence," she's doing nothing to ease the questions surrounding Chief Deputy Charlie Reid.
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"It's a fun sort of villain to play where, is he a villain? Is he not a villain? There’s a bit of, 'How does Voight respond to this guy and what does he really think of him?' that becomes really interesting," she said.
Reporting by Jessica White.
