Chicago P.D.'s Imani Has Made A Decision About Her Sister: 'She Can Probably Sleep At Night Now,' Showrunner Says

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."

Elsewhere in Wednesday's premiere, Voight receives the extremely unwelcome news that all specialized units are being assigned a federal agent: Not only will his Intelligence Unit be overseen by an FBI agent, but the agent in question — Charles Boyden — is setting up shop right in Voight's bullpen.

When we first meet Charles (he prefers Charlie!), he comes off as a bumbling newbie, crashing into Voight in the hallway and shattering his water glass. But at the end of the hour, after Voight learns of the newly mandated FBI oversight, he spies Boyden unpacking his things in an office just feet from where Voight's cops do their work — and Boyden fixes Voight with a long smirk.

"We wanted to leave [that look] very open to interpretation," Gwen Sigan says. "The lovely thing about Charlie's character is that he's everything all at once. Obviously, we've never seen somebody up in the bullpen with us, but we've seen antagonists before, and Voight even has a line in a later episode: 'I've seen a dozen of you. I know who you are, whether you present that way or not.' But the thing about Charlie is he doesn't present that way." 

Sigan adds that Charlie "comes off very charming at times, very earnest at times, almost sweet at times" throughout Season 14, but "he also is a threat" to Voight and the police officers who work with him.

"He has all of the stakes, all of the risk, because he legitimately can disband this unit if he sees fit," she teases. "We loved the idea that, for Voight, this is going to be a hard person to read. The audience, too, will have a bit of trouble reading this man's motivations."

With that, I turn it to you! What did you think of the "Chicago P.D." season premiere? Grade it in our poll below, then give us your full reactions in a comment.