The Real Chicago? ‘The Chi’ shows new perspective of city

Showtime

Community

Growing up around the violence and crime in the city builds strong relationships and a sense of communal protection.

“The Chi” revolves around how everyone is connected, and how individuals tend to look out for each other. However, the show emphasizes how standing up for people you love can be dangerous. The strong familial connections are very apparent in the first few episodes of the show. The anguish of characters who have lost family members mixed with necessity to carry on with their lives unveils how members of the community lean on each other for support.

Maneuvering his way through the streets, Coogie’s older brother Brandon (Jason Mitchell) makes his way to a bar to meet his mother. As he walks down the street, Brandon stops steps away from the door to place a few coins in the white cup held out by a homeless man. As he walks away, Brandon tells the man to have a blessed day. This simple act of kindness highlights the connectivity and strong sense of community within the neighborhood.

These strong connections are also indicated in the youngest characters in the show. Concealed behind a car, a boy named Kevin (Alex Hibbit) attempts to remain quiet as his nervously watches a murder transpire before his eyes. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kevin and his two friends, Papa (Shamon Brown) and Jake (Michael Epps) must stick together and help each other through the repercussions of what they witnessed.

Law Enforcement

Nobody in “The Chi” trusts the police. From the youngest characters, to the old man on the block, admiration for the CPD is rare. The show portrays an “us vs. them” narrative between the community and the police, but also pushes this narrative to a deeper level.

Sitting among her son Jason’s basketball trophies, medals and team photos, Tracy (Tai’isha Davis) cries with a mix of anger, confusion and sorrow to Ronnie Davis (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), who had been the boy’s prominent father figure. Talking through the night of Jason’s murder while working together to cope, Tracy tells Ronnie he needs to find the man who did this. “Cops ain’t gonna do shit Ronnie, you know it.”

While the characters may not trust the police, “The Chi” shows police officers who genuinely care about the community and those who feel their job is a lost cause. Detective Cruz (Armando Riesco) is a thoughtful officer who focuses on the human aspect of the violence and recognizes the different individuals involved in the crimes, while Detective Wallace (Brian King) portrays a more belligerent and complacent type of officer. As the two detectives argue differing viewpoints on the case, Wallace says smugly, “They’ll eventually kill who needs to be killed and then we file the paperwork.”

This internal conflict within the police makes it easy to understand why the community feels like they can’t be trusted.

Despite the additions of some juicy, cliché television drama to keep viewers eager for coming episodes, Ms. Waithe depicts the South Side of Chicago in its purest form.

Encapsulating the numerous layers of a South Side community, Ms. Waithe aims to help non-Chicago natives recognize the character of the city beyond accusations in the media including comments by President Trump saying Chicago is a “war zone.”

Though some scenes confused Chicago natives, like a Pink Line L train pulling into the Garfield Green Line station, “The Chi” has gained a strong following of proud Chicagoans.

In a raw depiction of the city and the characters within it, this new series paints Chicago with all of its bruises and beauties. Watch “The Chi” on Showtime Sundays at 10 p.m.