Emily Martel's Tragic Ending on Chicago PD (DETAILS)

If you were surprised to see a new member Chicago PD Gang in the Season 12 premiere, you're probably not alone.

Detective Emily Martel (Victoria Cartagena) seemed like she was always there in the series, but unfortunately her time was extremely short. She met a tragic end that was especially painful after getting to know her throughout the action-packed hour. Learn more about Martel—and her unexpected death—below.

Who is Detective Emily Martel? Chicago PD?

A month has passed since the events of the Season 11 finale, and since then Martel has joined the intelligence unit. It's clear that she fits perfectly into the squad and quickly found her place, especially with Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger). The two met while training together at the academy and have remained friends ever since.

“When we really start the episode and the case and see her, she's almost like a team member,” says showrunner Gwen Sigan NBC Insider. “And we thought it was fun and different, and we'd never really done that before. And we liked the idea that she had, like, a dry sense of humor, and it felt like she was someone who got along really well with Ruzek.”

However, Martel's place in the Intelligent Unit marks her return to the force after she found herself on an extended mental leave after witnessing her partner being shot dead in front of her eyes.

“Ruzek was the one who said, ‘You’re coming with us. You join our team and we have your back and you will be great.' And for them it was really like a new beginning and something new and something different, and obviously a lot of the same themes that Voight deals with, about something tragic happening to you and how you keep going and keep moving. “Sigan says.

Martel is played by actress Victoria Cartagena, who you probably know from shows like Gotham, servant, Batwoman, Almost a family, manifestAnd You. Sigan called Cartagena “perfect” for her small but important role.

“I think she really fit everything we were looking for and made it her own,” she says. “By the end of the episode I fell in love with her… She did a great job because obviously we've only known her for such a short time, but This is a big undertaking as an actor. To come and feel like you’re just a part of this team.”

What happened to Martel?

After solving a complicated drug case, the team seems to be in the clear. At the end of the episode, Ruzek and Martel have left a crime scene and are driving back to the train station together when shots are fired in the neighborhood they are passing through. Naturally, they stop to assess the situation and get out of the car with their guns pointed toward the line of fire. The two have barely taken a few steps when Martel is suddenly shot in the head as Ruzek turns his back to him. He looks at her lifeless body in shock.

The scene is shocking to viewers, especially after Martel was just introduced Chicago PD and seamlessly became part of the team in place of Upton's (Tracy Spiridakos) departure. However, the casualness and false sense of security were intended by the series' writers.

“WThis season we explore death in two episodes, aAnd it's kind of the catalyst for the theme of this season, which is self and identity crisis, and a lot of it has to do with, you know, the fact that we all know it's going to end,” Sigan says. “FFor us it was like, “Okay, then we need to express that and show a death that is just so shocking and reminds each of our characters that it can all be over tomorrow… I think it's important for the audience to remember that.” to remember.” Remind us as writers, the cast and characters of this show that they are police officers. And so there is a threat every day.”

Next week's Season 12, Episode 2, “Blood Bleeds Blue,” is a Ruzek-centric hour in which we'll definitely see him in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy he witnessed.

““His character has grown up a lot since the beginning of the series,” she tells us.And there are still so many facets of him that we don’t get to see yet.”