Chicago P.D.‘s Nicole Ari Parker Says Voight Needs to ‘See the Humanity’ in the People He’s Policing
Chicago P.D’s Nicole Ari Parker would like you to put some respect on Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller’s name. The renowned actress recurs in Season 8 as Deputy Miller, a fierce advocate for police reform.
“The level of work and commitment and dedication and climbing that food chain, we need to give her her flowers,” Parker tells TVLine. “The only person higher than her in ranking [currently] is the mayor, so she’s a force.”
Parker, whose lengthy credits include Empire, Soul Food and Remember the Titans, is no stranger to the Dick Wolf family. She starred opposite Law & Order heavyweights Chris Noth, Dan Florek, Jerry Orbach, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston and Ice-T in the 1998 film Exiled: A Law & Order Movie. Plus, her longtime friend Eriq La Salle, who directed the Soul Food pilot, is a Chicago P.D. staple behind the scenes after directing 20 episodes thus far. Parker jumped at the chance to work alongside her friend once more and to be a part of the series she describes as “gritty” and “real.”
Wednesday’s episode, titled “Unforgiven,” will see Parker hesitant to defend the legacy of murdered cop until Intelligence completes their investigation. She and Voight don’t exactly see eye-to-eye on the situation, and this case illustrates their different perspectives on policing. They might not agree with each other, but the pair will need to work together to ensure that justice is served.
“There’s a level of humanity that is going to be part of the solution,” Parker explains. “In order to open a character like Voight’s eyes, he’s got to see the humanity in the people that he’s policing. And for Deputy Miller to be very effective, she’s got to realize that Voight is human, too. It’s hard when you think you’re right to make space for both of those cases.”
Deputy Miller will play a major role in shifting Intelligence’s approach to policing this season, and according to Parker, those changes will come as the crew encounters different “crises.” So far, we’ve seen Atwater go up against the Blue Wall after reporting a racist cop and face retaliation in the form of thinly veiled threats and drugs planted in his car. With Atwater’s situation far from over — LaRoyce Hawkins, who plays the detective, confirmed to reporters that this storyline will continue — the question remains: How will Miller handle things if it reaches her level?
“I think Atwater is one of the many things that she has to temper her personal feelings about with the letter of the law. She has to be a unifying force, and making sure that ‘protect and serve’ is still the oath that everybody took,” Parker says. “The invisible microaggressions that go on and the obvious, aggressive behavior that goes on within the department, I think she really has to find her legal parameters as well as her emotional parameters to make change.”
Would love for Voight to have a relationship after all these years. They have great chemistry together!
Sometimes there’s no humanity left to find in the criminals he pursues. Sometimes people are just bad because they want to be bad and hurt others for no reason.
At the end of season 8, the writers will have Hank quit the police force and become a social worker. Be will visit prisons and bring flowers and candy to the poor unfortunates that he arrested.
so funny
really
That’s what the writers are turning him in to!
I enjoy Nicole’s character. If she is the Deputy Superintendent, does this mean there is no Acting Superintendent as there was last season? Also, if her character is extremely capable and intelligent which I would like to think she is, what was the deal with the blouse trick in the beginning of Episode 2? If her name was Samuel instead of Samantha, there is a name for that type of behavior as she is Hank’s boss. (only speaking as an individual who had to deal with that type of stuff at a previous job years ago.) Not criticizing and definitely not a prude, just trying to figure out what they are trying to do with her character. I would like Hank to get in a true relationship but not with someone he works with and especially not his boss, seriously. And right now, with everything else going on and all the romance issues on the show, do not want it to turn into a soap opera.
Definitely, at any cost, stay away from a soap opera vibe. That would be the worst!
Sgt Voight needs a love interest.
Another show I won’t be watching anymore!!
Amen!
Have Miller find a way to use Atwater’s “Blue Wall” problem to begin to mentor him so that his voice in the show looms larger and his profile is heightened which creates a whole new dynamic/tension in the arc of the plotlines.
This is not the Chicago PD that we have grown to watch and love. Nobody wants to hear about “microaggressions” and “emotional legalities” in a gritty cop show.
The writers have turned Hank Voight into a wimp who stands for nothing.
It was the, “Dirty Harry” attitude that made Voight and Chicago PD popular. The bleeding heart attitude will probably be the demise of the show.
I agree with everything “Darcy” said (1/27/21). Voight absolutely needs some sort of “love” interest this season—badly. And it can’t be just anyone, it can’t be trite, and should NOT be someone he works with. Firstly, he badly needs “work-life” balance, and getting involved with someone he works with would not only not give him that but go against his code. He needs someone who will give him perspective on his behavior, the impact of behavior .and someone who has a totally different perspective from him. It has to be someone very smart and classy and who marches to her own drummer too. He could start out just showing an interest in her, then have them build up to a more intimate relationship—that would be more in line with the quality of the show. Nothing trite or predictable, and definitely NOT Nicole. She’s not his type anyway. With the loss of very key characters from this show and the story lines that go with them, there are BIG voids in this show that must be filled. The writers have to be careful to keep the show interesting and recreate some sort of “edge” to it that it has lost. I absolutely love the show but am very disappointed in Season 8.
They need to rename this show “Barney Miller – Redux”.