‘I fell in love with her by the end of the episode’: What happened to Emily Martel on ‘Chicago P.D.’?

Chicago P.D. characters move forward with their ambitious yet terrifying careers every day despite grief, breakups, missing former team members, and just a plain old bad day.

When I first saw Emily Martel (Victoria Cartagena), I was excited about a new smart detective… and I’m still thinking about her. When a drama reaches its 12th season, fans expect the stakes to be raised, and that was certainly the case with the handful of episodes that have aired so far. Let’s get into who Martel is and how her presence on Chicago P.D. has affected a character who has been around for much longer.

Emily Martel’s Chicago P.D. character arc, explained

Just like a new friend can never truly take the place of a college bestie or someone you’ve known since childhood, a new TV character can’t make up for losing a beloved cast member. Still, when Cartagena became part of the cast of Chicago P.D. season 12 as Emily Martel, fans of Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) were glad to have a new strong detective to root for.

In a scene as overwhelming and terrifying as seeing a serial killer kidnap Hank Voight (Jason Beghe), Emily is shot and killed. Emily and Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) are driving and try to help when they hear gunfire on one Chicago street. Adam is devastated to realize what has happened.

Emily is dealing with some trauma, as her last partner died when they were working together, and she’s a unique addition in Chicago P.D. season 12, episode 1, “Ten Ninety-Nine.” Sure, she’s technically a new character, but she has been close to Adam since their training days. She also was an Intelligence Unit detective before, but needed a break to grieve.

In an interview with NBC Insider, Gwen Sigan, the Chicago P.D. showrunner, said of Cartagena, “I fell in love with her by the end of the episode” and added, “she did a great job because, obviously, we only know her for such a small amount of time, but that’s a big undertaking as an actor.”

It would have been awesome if Cartagena had joined the cast of Chicago P.D. for longer than one episode. The actress has had a few major TV roles, from Amanda on the drama Almost Family to Renee Montoya on The CW’s Batwoman. It’s sad to think that Chicago P.D. season 12 won’t tell more of Emily’s story. But her death ended up leading to a meaningful arc involving Adam.

Flueger told Parade that when Adam glances at his hands, which are bloody from touching Emily’s body, “he was like a little boy in that moment because they’re all just kids running around with guns and doing their best to solve these crimes.” Adam didn’t miss a beat, though, and when he came across a violent domestic dispute, he jumped into action to make sure a two-year-old boy would live.

Although Emily Martel could have helped tell a great story about loss and trauma if she had remained on Chicago P.D., it will still be interesting to see how Adam is affected throughout the next few episodes. Flueger told The Hollywood Reporter that it was “a shocker” that, after so many cases, Adam would experience such a frightening moment. When I stop and think about it, it’s amazing that this doesn’t happen every single time the detectives head to work…

As Sigan said, Emily Martel’s arc on Chicago P.D. was brief but special. She didn’t deserve to be the victim of such unfair violence and it’s also tough to see Adam suffer. I’ll always remember Martel and anticipate an excellent season 12 of the NBC procedural.