SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from NBC Chicago PDSeason 13 Finale.
Chicago PD.’s Season 13 finale focuses on officer Eva Imani’s (Arienne Mandi) search for her sister, Shari (Selin Çuhadaroğlu), who was kidnapped at the age of 6. There was no way this story could have a happy ending, but maybe the next best thing will do for now.
Although Shari seemed to accept that Imani was her long-lost sister, too many years had passed to change who among them had grown up. The sisters find themselves at odds with the law, Imani working as a detective and Shari being a suspect in murder.
Although Shari seems to warm to Imani, who once turned to Imani to get back at Kirby, the man who kidnapped Shari and later became her husband. Reunited, Shari and Kirby meet Imani, whom they both attack. Kirby encouraged Shari to take her sister out like she had with her friend. The friend, you may recall, was the lady Imani and Voight (Jason Beghe) found dead by the lake. Yes, Shari admitted that she killed her friend.
The team suddenly arrives and saves Imani, while Voight hunts down Kirby, who was somewhere in the building trying to escape. Not on a Voight watch. Voight not only finds Kirby, but also makes sure that Kirby will never hurt anyone again.
The story ends with Imani discovering that her sister has cut her wrists, and the episode ends with her stable and recovering from her self-inflicted wounds. A conversation takes place between Imani and Voight about Shari being guilty of killing her friend and what that means for her future: a trial and prison, maybe? But will Imani convince Voight not to turn on Shari? It’s a sad truth for Imani to face, as Shari will always be her little sister, but justice must be done.
We held each other Chicago PD host Gwen Sigan and Mandi to break down the events of the finale.
(lr) Jason Beghe as Sergeant Hank Voight, Arienne Mandi as Eva Imani — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Elizabeth Sisson/NBC
Deadline: Gwen, this story could not have had a happy ending. What was your approach to writing the ending?
GWEN SIGAN: What was most interesting about this story was that there was a lot of juice in it. There is so much that can be done within a story like this. With Imani, we found out early on that she defined herself by wanting her sister and that this thing happened when she was young, and it shaped her whole life and shaped who she is.
We always wanted to give it to him, but when he got it, it wasn’t what he wanted or expected. It couldn’t be what he wanted from his sister. So we knew we wanted to take it in the most sophisticated way we could. So that was what our conversations in the room were about: what would be the saddest thing? Does her sister not remember her? Could it be that his sister is betraying him? Could it be that her sister is communicating more with her captor? There were a lot of things, and as you can see at the end, we went with a lot of them.
Deadline: Her sister survives, though, and with her captor dead, at least there’s hope that whatever time they have left, they can communicate properly, right? He will have a lot of time to think while in prison, it is possible.
SIGAN: There is hope that we can see this small moment between them, this memory of both of them when they were children. I think that lives within the Shari, and that provides a certain level of love and protection. If he can get some of that, or if he hears otherwise, I think there’s a lot of hope for him and Imani. It’s fun, isn’t it? We get what we want, but not what we expected.
Deadline: We talk about that time between Imani and Shari, when they were looking back at old photos and toys from their youth. Was Shari’s reaction genuine, or was she doing it to take advantage of Imani?
SIGAN: It is left to the audience to interpret. I love that at the end of the episode, you don’t really know what his intentions are. How much of his intentions were that he was doing it for himself, and how much of this was natural, because this man had this pull on him. I can tell you my meaning. Our intention was that both of these things were true. I think he was fighting with himself in that incident, and that there were times when, whether he remembered them or not, I think he believed in the validity of what he saw in front of him.
Deadline: Arienne, Imani, and Voight have built a trust in each other since she arrived, and she really had him when he needed support the most. She argues with him to help her sister, but she knows what she was going through. What will their relationship be like after this?
ARIENNE MANDI: They are powerful towards the end of the episode. Yes, we are left with this rock of a question: Will my sister be charged with murder? But I think what’s really clear is how much Voight and Imani are cut from the same cloth. They are born that way, with an instinct, and a characteristic they share, which is that they will do whatever needs to be done in certain situations. And that is really clear at that moment when they close their eyes. These people are just the same and not like Shari. I think they end up stronger than before. And the question is, “Do they hide what happened, or is he the one who reveals it?”
Deadline: Arienne, what do you hope to explore as an actress, as Imani, after everything that’s happened?
ARIENNE MANDI: Searching for her sister has been the purpose of her life for the past 22 years. So what happens now that there is even a closing episode?
Deadline: Gwen, now that Imani has found her sister, could there be a trial or prison sentence that could make it into the show next season? Or will these things be more in the background?
SIGAN: Both options are on the table. We’re going to go into the room in a few weeks, and we’re going to be solving some of these questions. I think either way, we’re going to depend on it. It will depend on what kind of decision they made after that decision, how it will affect these characters and Shari’s character. What will his life look like? Will it be a journey of hope and renewal and find yourself all over again? What could happen to this person? So, yes, everything is on the table right now. I think there are so many possibilities.
