Abhiroop Das
Co-created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead, NBC’s ‘Chicago P.D.,’ shadows the 21st District and the turns and twists in the lives of its patrol officers and Intelligence Unit. Led by Hank Voight, the team is adept at tackling the most dangerous and insidious criminals hiding in the underbelly of the eponymous city. In the previous episode of the fall season of this crime procedural drama, the mysterious patriarch of the Bell family becomes a suspect in the serial killings. However, with no evidence at hand, the department’s hands are tied. When Imani determines to get to the truth by hook or crook, unheeding of the consequences. Before long, things take a drastic turn, and an innocent life is endangered in the process in this episode, titled ‘Born Screaming.’ SPOILERS AHEAD.
Imani Narrowly Escapes Death at Raymond’s Mansion
‘Chicago P.D.’ season 13 episode 8 picks up immediately after Imani’s break-in at the Bell Mansion. While everything seems eerily quiet and empty, it only amplifies her fear since the phone call. After going in and out of a few narrow corridors, Imani lands in a dungeon, where she finds an unconscious man — one of the unit’s informants — brutally beaten down and tied to a pipe. Given that he is potentially seconds away from death, Imani tries to break out of the spot immediately, but finds herself trapped on the inside. Surprisingly, Julie shows up on the other side of the bar, seemingly too scared to even make a move. Despite Imani’s best attempts to get Julie to help her escape, things don’t flow in her direction, forcing her to get creative and use the tools around to break the door open.
The moment Imani steps back into the hall, however, pure chaos erupts as Raymond begins firing with his shotgun wildly, forcing her to take cover. Before she can recollect and fire back, however, Raymond is long gone, seemingly having taken Julie on foot to avoid suspicion. At the same time, Voight arrives on the scene with Kim and Kevin, who expand the search all through the block. Kevin, in particular, is tasked with finding any hints inside the house, especially now that Imani has tampered with the crime scene. Still, Voight understands her need to act on impulse and does his best to cover things up in front of his superior and nemesis, Commander Delvin.
Raymond Bell is Confirmed to be a Serial Killer on the Loose
While Kevin digs through every nook and cranny of the house, an oddly shaped seating arrangement catches his attention. The seat, as it turns out, is also a storage lid, and opening it reveals a carefully preserved dead body, which shocks him to the core. This is merely the first among many discoveries, and it soon becomes clear that the Bell Mansion was also a house of horrors containing bodies inside most ordinary things. This also means that Julie was likely forced to live in this environment all by herself and is now in a particularly vulnerable position. However, just when it seems that the perimeter search is completely fruitless, the team comes across another dead person, whose car has been stolen.
Voight and Imani check the nearby CCTV footage to confirm the killer to be none other than Raymond, who impaled the man before slamming Julie into the car. While their whereabouts cannot be situated that easily, the broad directions of the vehicle suggest that they are headed out of town, to the more isolated ends. As Dante and company go through any possible hints in Raymond’s immediate contacts list, his cousin’s mansion stands out, and Voight listens to his instincts to get the address down. When he enters with Imani, the mansion seems eerily quiet yet again, but the truth comes out soon enough when a shotgun nearly takes them out. Still, Imani manages to outmaneuver him, and Kevin lands the finishing touches in bringing Raymond down.
Voight and Team Come Together to Pin Down Raymond For Good
While Raymond is technically in their custody, this is far from a win, as Julie is nowhere to be found. Before long, it becomes obvious that they must negotiate with the serial killer to get to the bottom of things, and he seemingly complies. Raymond claims that he never wanted Julie to be involved in the mess that he started with Gary, but circumstances proved to be different. He further claims that Julie tried to get away sometime during the ride, and that he killed her before she could. The reveal crushes Imani, who has been fighting tooth and nail to save the girl’s life this entire time. Raymond then claims that he buried her body at the Bell Estate in the countryside, prompting Voight and company to drive all the way there.
At the farmland, the police have already begun digging through the suspicious areas, but Raymond appears to be keen on delaying the investigative process. Imani is the first to realize that he has been bluffing all along, and this entire scheme has been his attempt at taking control of the situation and letting the police go on a wild goose chase. With the hope of Julie being alive renewed, Imani prepares to restrain Raymond, only for him to lurch towards her gun. Luckily, she is one step ahead and gives him a brutal beatdown before putting the serial killer behind bars, this time with no chances of coming out.
The Truth About Voight’s Father is Revealed
While Julie’s exact location is still unknown, Imani and Voight have some ideas about how to find her. The Bell Estate appears to be yet another burial ground for a number of Raymond’s victims, but given that he came here possibly to admire his own body of work, Julie isn’t likely to be here. Instead, it is possible that she might have gotten away somewhere in the middle of the journey and has been hiding since. Her hunch turns out to be correct, as Julie is found at last inside a pipe, completely frozen with terror. While Imani tries to reach out to the little child, it is evident that she has a long road to recovery and will need to unlearn her experiences with Raymond.
At the police station, Voight realizes that his confrontation with Commander Delvin needs to find its conclusion sooner rather than later. When the two meet yet again, he straight up asks his senior the reason for their animosity, and an exasperated Delvin explains that he no longer has any social credit at the station thanks to the intelligence unit. The plan was always to get rid of the group, but since Voight managed to bargain his way back in, Delvin has no choice but to try other methods, including the photographs of Voight’s father. Voight, however, confirms that, contrary to what the picture indicates, he was never abused by his dad and had actually gotten those injuries from his own fights as a child. Delvin has no leverage on Voight anymore, and the latter uses that opportunity to make his stance clear: the intelligence unit is here to stay.
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