Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan has explained season 12's shocking death, revealing how the character's demise will impact others on the team moving forward. In Chicago P.D. season 12, episode 1, a Detective Martel (Victoria Cartagena) is introduced as the latest member of the team. However, while driving with Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) at the end of the episode, she winds up getting shot and killed. This shocking moment serves as the end of the premiere, setting the stage for the rest of the season.

Speaking with TV Insider, Sigan revealed Chicago P.D. season 12 killed Martel so quickly to establish how Voight (Jason Beghe) is struggling with his mortality after a near-death experience in season 11. The showrunner explained how the new detective reflected those fears in her untimely demise, especially because of the character development she received. Sigan also explained how death can happen without drama, an important theme established for the season:

We knew in the room that the story we wanted to tell was really dealing with Voight and how he’s been affected by the events of last year and most especially, I think, two pieces, which is that Upton’s gone, and then also that he had this near death experience and that he remembers a lot of it and he remembers what it felt like, and he remembers that this was all just going to be gone, right? He was just going to be gone, and that would’ve been the end of it. And I think for him, it sort of triggered this almost introspective thing—he doesn’t know that, we just see him dealing with it in a Voight way of, “I gotta move, I gotta move, I gotta move.”

But he’s dealing with this idea that you don’t get a lot of time and you’re not going to know when it’s over, and what do you do with that time and how do you make it worth something? And so when we knew that’s what the episode was about, we also wanted to tell that story through another character, which ended up being Martel. And it felt fresh. It felt different for us to introduce a unit member that way where we get to just see her a month in and she’s already been accepted and she’s already found her footing. She has this past that deals with those same issues where we learn that she’s coming from a mental leave and that she took some time off because her partner died.

And so it, for us, felt like it was all the perfect pieces and then to end in a way where you’re emphasizing that this is how death happens, that it can happen instantaneously, it can happen without you having had any time to prepare for it and without being able to tie up loose ends or say goodbyes or figure out what your life was worth, that it can just be gone. And so to us, it felt thematically like the perfect story and that it would also trigger all the themes we want to tell this year, which are kind of identity and self and crisis of self and transformation and all these things that you think about a lot when you’re thinking about your own mortality.

Alongside Martel's quick death, the showrunner teased how season 12, episode 2 would follow this, presenting a real-time situation with Ruzek immediately after shots rang out. She also explains how it will impact the rest of the season, revealing the extent of violence and how quickly it can change lives. Check out what Sigan had to say below:

Episode 2 is really just an adrenaline ride, and I think you’re in the shock the whole episode. Our hope was that you almost as an audience member feel the same anxiety that Ruzek’s feeling. It’s a real-time episode, so you’re like 42 minutes of being in that moment with Ruzek and feeling what it feels like to have just seen that happen.

And then how it affects the rest of the season is it’s almost always this undercurrent. I think any time that you have a police show and you remind yourself as a writer and also the audience that they are police and that they are going in doors every single day, that they don’t know what’s on the other side, and there is always a threat of danger and violence and a threat to your life, it keeps that reality to it and that authenticity. And so it will be something that I think all of our characters are affected in some way by, but it also is a story that in a nice way, I think, triggers different stories, if that makes sense.

What Martel's Death Means For Chicago P.D. Season 12

The Tone Has Been Quickly Established

Season 11 of the police procedural ended not only with Voight having a near-death experience, but also with Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) leaving Chicago P.D., the character seeking a new job at a federal agency. While it appeared Martel was going to be her replacement, the end of the season 12 premiere shockingly killed her unceremoniously. Not only will this heavily impact Ruzek, who witnessed her sudden death, but also the team's leader as he continues to wrestle with his mortality following such a close call himself.

With Martel's death, the tone of the new episodes has also been established, with the characters in Chicago P.D. having to deal with such a sudden loss to their team. She'd been established as having been with them for a month, meaning many connections were likely formed during her short stint. Dealing with the fallout of her death will also come with the arrival of Officer Kiana Cook (Toya Turner), whose debut in season 12, episode 2 will coincide with Ruzek dealing with the aftermath of his partner's death in real time.

Our Take On Martel's Death In Chicago P.D.'s Premiere

This Season Might Be The Darkest Yet

The fallout from Martel's death is expected to tie into the theme of mortality, something Sigan indicated will be prevalent throughout season 12. This could mean Chicago P.D. will be the darkest season of the show so far, dealing with death in a more direct way than any of the previous seasons have. While there's still plenty of mystery surrounding what happens next, it's clear the detective's death will have wide ramifications for the team as new episodes arrive.