The following post contains spoilers for the “Chicago P.D.” Season 14 premiere.
Fighting with your sibling? Allow “Chicago P.D.” to offer you this moment of clarity: At least you didn’t finally track down your long-lost sister, only to learn that her checkered past may or may not include at least one murder, and it now falls to you to decide whether she goes to jail or walks free.
The same can’t be said for Intelligence Unit cop Eva Imani, who was tasked with that impossible choice at the end of the NBC procedural’s 13th season. When the series returned for Season 14 on Wednesday night, Imani had made a choice — her sister, Shari, was reported to the authorities, she took a plea deal, and she’s now serving time — but it remains to be seen if it was the right one for either woman.
“We knew what we wanted out of Imani’s decision. We wanted it to be something her character would be comfortable with, and she could sleep at night, and it aligned with who she was,” showrunner Gwen Sigan tells TVLine. “But we also wanted to set her character up for a season-long arc, and it needed to also be [a decision that] Voight would be comfortable making. … This decision that we landed on, to me, felt the most her. She can probably sleep at night now.”
Imani has been a devoted sister while Shari’s behind bars, visiting her in prison every single day… until Shari takes Imani off her list of approved visitors at the end of Wednesday’s premiere, one day after the sisters are forced to acknowledge that neither their relationship nor Shari’s quality of life have improved much since they reunited with each other. A correctional officer tells Imani, “I think she really does want to try and get better here. She says she can’t do it with you here, too. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think Imani wants to accept it at first, but there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room on it. She has to accept it,” Sigan shares. “Her identity was so wrapped up in that search [for Shari] that it leaves her with this void that she has to fill now. We, as the audience, are on that journey with her of what that looks like.”
Sigan continues: “In true Imani fashion, she’s very active about, ‘I’m not going to sit here and wallow. I’m going to figure something out.’ It’s not always the most healthy choice, but it’s what’s working for her, and we see where that goes this season, and where she comes out of it.”
