Television series

Chicago P.D.

Name: Chicago P.D.
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: 2014
Cast: Jason Beghe, LaRoyce Hawkins, Marina Squerciati, Patrick John Flueger, Amy Morton

Police procedural

Chicago P.D. follows the detectives and officers of District 21's Intelligence Unit as they hunt organized crime, drug traffickers, and killers across a gritty, unforgiving city. It's procedural storytelling with genuine character depth—cases matter, but so do the toll they take. For anyone who wants crime drama that takes itself seriously without pretension.

TVMaze rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like long-running procedurals where the squad room relationships matter as much as the case of the week, and you don't mind the badge-heavy melodrama that comes with a team living on the job.

Skip it if you want self-contained films or a slow, literary crime story; the cases are wrapped in soap-opera personal drama and the pace rarely lets up for quiet.

What it asks of you: Hour-long episodes stacked into a very long run, with a busy, talky rhythm, a fair amount of melodrama between the arrests, and no need to track a single plot closely.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Wire2002

The gold standard for police procedurals: five seasons of Baltimore's drug trade, politics, and institutional rot. Characters breathe, cases sprawl, and the show trusts you to keep up. If you loved Chicago P.D.'s moral complexity, this is where it all started.

But Deliberately slow-paced and dense. The first season feels like homework before it becomes transcendent. Subtitles required for some dialogue.

Homicide: Life on the Street1993

Baltimore's homicide squad solving murders with brilliant, witty writing that never cheapens the tragedy. It has the same DNA as Chicago P.D. but sharper dialogue and a deeper commitment to the detectives' inner lives. Watching this explains why the format still works.

But Older production values. Some cases resolve incompletely, which frustrated viewers in 1999 and frustrates them now.

Hill Street Blues1981

The show that invented the modern cop drama. Ensemble cast, overlapping cases, genuine stakes. If you think you know police TV, this one humbles you with how much it still contains that everything else is borrowing.

But 1980s production and pacing. You'll find yourself impatient before you understand why patience is the point.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Chicago P.D.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Killing2011

Both shows understand that a crime investigation isn't just about the crime—it's about how it warps everyone it touches and what it costs to pursue the truth.

One murder investigated across an entire season. The American version of the Danish original tracks a Seattle detective and a politician through the political, personal, and procedural dimensions of a single case. It's Chicago P.D.'s opposite: obsessive, patient, willing to let the investigation consume everything.

But Glacially paced and genuinely depressing. People make bad choices for understandable reasons, and there's no comfort in resolution. Patience without payoff feels punishing.

Serpico1973

Al Pacino as a cop fighting corruption from inside the NYPD. This is the spiritual ancestor of every Chicago P.D. episode about doing the right thing in a broken system. Tense, beautifully shot, morally uncompromising.

But Slower than modern crime drama. The 1970s aesthetic takes adjustment if you're used to streaming-era pacing.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine2013

A precinct comedy where the characters are real and care about their cases. It sounds lighter than Chicago P.D., but it delivers genuine emotional depth between the laughs. Proof that humor and stakes aren't enemies.

But The tone is fundamentally optimistic. If you need your crime drama bleak, this will feel like a relief you didn't ask for.

L.A. Confidential1997

1950s Los Angeles noir with three detectives on a murder investigation that pulls at the seams of the department itself. Lean, perfectly plotted, with that same tension between procedure and conscience that makes Chicago P.D. work.

But Compressed into two hours. Character arcs that a TV series would spend seasons on happen in montages.

The Sopranos1999

The show that proved television drama could be as artful and psychologically complex as prestige film. If you're watching Chicago P.D. for character, this is what happens when you give those characters six seasons to breathe and break.

But Not a procedural. Murders aren't puzzles to solve; they're consequences that ripple. Some find the pacing infuriating.

Bosch2015

LAPD detective Harry Bosch closing cold cases with the same relentless dedication the Intelligence Unit brings to current ones. Solid crime writing, great character work, and the satisfaction of seeing detectives actually solving things. No flourishes, just good police work.

But More conventional than its peer dramas. It knows what it is and doesn't reach beyond the formula, which some viewers find comfortable and others find safe.

Nightcrawler2014

Both are about people who dedicate their lives to crime—one to solve it, one to document it for profit—and the toll that obsession extracts. The difference is the mirror.

Jake Gyllenhaal as a freelance videographer chasing crime scenes for news footage. It's not a cop drama—it's about the predatory machinery around crime: media, ambition, exploitation. Chicago P.D. assumes crime is real; this film knows the story of crime is a product someone's selling.

But Aggressively unpleasant. No one to root for. Morally sterile in a way that some find important and others find exhausting.