{alltv} Cops and city are one in 'The Chicago Code'

Find the Perfect Valentine's Day Gift at Chocolate.com

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2011/02/04/chicagocodex-large.jpg

The Shield creator Shawn Ryan is back on the beat — exploring the underside of law enforcement — but this time from the good guys' side.

Two cops who worked the streets together form the core of Ryan's new Fox series, The Chicago Code (tonight, 9 ET/PT): Superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals), who blazed a trail as the first female superintendent of the Chicago Police Department; and Detective Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke), a legend at solving cases who wants to find the killer of his brother, also a cop.

"Both characters love being policemen because it's in their blood. But her way of going about it is climbing the ladder, whereas my character likes to be on the street putting his foot through the door," Clarke says. "It's probably why they work so well together." Their paths converge when Colvin enlists Wysocki in a campaign against city corruption.

Colvin, Beals says, "is an interesting mix of being able to be hopeful and idealistic because she has a very clear plan on how to change things. But her experience on the street makes it clear to her this is not going to happen overnight and that she will probably just be the first person to start cleaning the system up."

The pair "really respect each other and have each other's backs. They have seen the worst of humanity together and somehow survived," says Beals, a Chicago native. "There's a kind of intimacy that is deeper than a normal friendship."

As Code develops, their main target is Alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo), but the powerful politician is an elusive prey — and, Ryan says, more complex than just a villain.

"There's certainly a dark, treacherous side that's really fun to watch," Ryan says. "But I think there are some admirable qualities as well that we really investigate over the course of 13 episodes. There's something charismatic about him, and I think we learn how effective he can be for constituents."

Ryan, who grew up outside Chicago, says he wouldn't have done the show if it couldn't be shot in such a "spectacular-looking city, an architectural wonder." To show off Chicago, the show shoots six days outdoors and two indoors for each episode, reversing the typical formula.

Shooting in the "insanely colorful" city provided views of grit and beauty and an education, both from ride-alongs and police on set, for the Australian Clarke.

"As a foreign actor, it was so easy to be a sponge, shooting on the street, talking to Teamsters, meeting the local cops. It was easy to suck up the character and the world," he says.

"Chicago people, they're big in terms of their style, their size, their camaraderie. They're in your face. It gave me some idea of where to pitch the show at. It was go big."

The city also was a great place to explore the juncture of police work and politics, something Ryan says differentiates the story from the standard police genre. Chicago has "a colorful history with politics," Ryan says. "I started thinking of this as a cop show, then I started thinking of it as a city show seen through the eyes of cops, which is a slight change but an important one.

"I didn't want just a crime-solving show taking place in Chicago. There's a focus on government and politicians these days, what they do for us, and suspicion of government. I wanted to tap into that."