Tensions run high in CHICAGO PD Season 12 Episode 21, titled “OPEN CASKET,” as the Intelligence Unit faces the most dangerous enemy from within the system. Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and his team find themselves in a pressure cooker of corruption, blackmail, and deception. The long-running cat-and-mouse game with Deputy Chief Ben Reid finally reaches its boiling point when the squad zeroes in on Jesue Otero, a key player in Reid’s web of criminal ties. With the walls closing in, sacrifices are made, lines are crossed, and the cost may be higher than anyone expected.
THE SHADOW WAR WITH REID HEATS UP
The episode kicks off with Voight intensifying his secret investigation into Deputy Chief Reid, who has built an empire of control and power by manipulating gang activity in Chicago. With assistance from Assistant State’s Attorney Nina Chapman (Sara Bues), Voight is closing in. Reid has been enabling cartel-backed gang member Jesue Otero, letting him expand territory in exchange for a share of the profits. What appears to be crime prevention on the surface is in fact a well-oiled operation of corruption.
But Reid isn’t just relying on street-level criminals—he’s using leverage. He has dirt on Voight’s squad: Dante Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) had a relationship with a former CI turned drug dealer, who was later killed in an operation. Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) knew and didn’t report it. Reid uses this as a weapon to blackmail the unit, making quiet demands to benefit Otero’s empire.
SURVEILLANCE AT THE FUNERAL HOME
Voight can’t let this stand. His unit launches a covert surveillance operation to catch Otero in the act. They receive intel that Otero has moved his stash into a funeral home he owns—his new base after his old stash house was set for demolition. Torres, finally back in the field after a recovery, plants cameras in the basement of the funeral home.
The team’s objective is clear: gather enough evidence to tie Otero to drug distribution, flip him, and use him to take Reid down. But the plan hits a roadblock in an unexpected way—Otero’s own son, Rennie, becomes the wildcard.
FAMILY COMPLICATIONS AND THE CASE TAKES A TURN
Rennie Otero, recently turned 18, is revealed to have stolen a portion of his father’s heroin. Despite his father’s efforts to keep him away from the drug business and raise him right after the death of Rennie’s mother, Rennie falls into the trap of fast money. He’s operating solo and dealing outside his father’s territory.
Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) makes a controlled buy from Rennie, securing enough probable cause to arrest him. When the team moves in, Rennie panics and fires at officers. He’s injured while trying to flee and taken into custody, but Voight makes an unusual call—he doesn’t bring the kid to lockup. Instead, he takes him to a safehouse, using the leverage to make a deal with Jesue Otero.
VOIGHT STRIKES A DANGEROUS DEAL
Voight confronts Otero with an ultimatum: help us take down Reid, and your son walks free. Otero, visibly shaken and deeply concerned for his son, agrees. They both know Reid is a snake who owns people and won’t stop. The catch? No paper trail. If Reid suspects Otero is flipping, it’s game over. Otero chooses to trust Voight’s word—and in the streets of Chicago, that still means something.
Voight escalates the plan. He arranges for Intelligence to hit Otero’s operation in a fake rip, stealing $750,000. The move is meant to send a signal to Reid and draw him into making a mistake. Reid, relying on his usual tactics, contacts Tony Weston, a trusted cop and fishing buddy. Weston doesn’t act fast enough. Worse, someone in Otero’s crew snitches.
REID RETALIATES AND OTERO PAYS THE PRICE
Reid smells the trap and reacts decisively. He abducts Otero before Voight’s team can move. Despite hopes that Otero might survive long enough to help bring Reid down, Voight later finds Otero’s body. Whatever information Otero gave Reid sealed his fate. The plan to flip him has failed—and with him dies their best chance at taking Reid down legally.
Reid isn’t finished. He unleashes a brutal counterattack. An Internal Affairs investigation is launched targeting the Intelligence Unit. Torres is arrested for misconduct, and Burgess is fired. Voight’s team is officially disbanded, and Reid, with cold calculation, positions himself to oversee the entire review process. The very enemy they were trying to stop now has the power to bury them.
A CITY DIVIDED, A UNIT SHATTERED
By the end of “OPEN CASKET,” Intelligence is broken. Voight’s plan failed, and the cost was staggering. One of the city’s most dangerous corrupt officials remains untouchable, and those who tried to expose him have paid a heavy price. Reid’s grip has only tightened.
This chapter of CHICAGO PD doesn’t offer victory. Instead, it delivers a painful reminder that in the world Voight operates in, justice isn’t always served in courtrooms or arrests—it’s often bought, traded, or crushed under the weight of politics. And yet, even with the unit scattered, Voight remains—waiting for his next move.
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