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'Chicago PD' Season 7 Episode 18 dives into Vanessa Rojas' past and fans' hearts collectively break for her

Fans love the exploration of Rojas' past on 'Chicago PD' as the character grows more endearing to them

Spoilers for 'Chicago PD' Season 7 Episode 18 'Lines'

This week's episode of 'Chicago PD' took a deep dive into rookie cop Vanessa Rojas's (Lisseth Chavez) past, giving viewers more insight into what Rojas was like in the past and what inspired her to become a police officer.

When the Intelligence Unit is handed a new case in the episode, Sgt Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) asks for all the footage of the crime scene. Rojas notices that her ex-boyfriend Reyes is on the video and erases it to protect him.

Later, she confesses to her colleague and roommate Detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) who berates her and tells her it was obstruction. Rojas then tells Upton as why she did it — she had known Reyes since she was eight and Reyes once took the fall for her, which meant Rojas could become a cop without any criminal history.

Reyes did not previously know that Rojas became a cop and is upset with her. When she tries to explain what happened and why she became a cop, she says, "I never mattered to anyone growing up, not until I met you. I took this job because of that... I wanted to matter."

However, he tells her that he is not her person anymore, as Rojas breaks into tears. Fans, meanwhile love the exploration of Rojas' past on 'Chicago PD' as the character grows more endearing to them.

One fan tweeted, "So Rojas is currently an emotional state because she just put her childhood friend and ex away and now hank is sending Hailey away when she needs her most???? damn, this is not okay #ChicagoPD #OneChicago."

Another fan tweeted to Chavez who plays Rojas, "Just like to say you crushed it this ep, this scene had my heart hurting for Rojas. I just wanna give her the biggest hug @lissethchavez #chicagopd." A viewer wrote, "Poor Rojas... My heart just broke into a million little pieces for her #ChicagoPD."

As one viewer wrote, fans agree that "Vanessa Rojas must be protected at all cost. #ChicagoPD."

Viewers also appreciated Upton for standing up for Rojas. One viewer wrote, "Hailey used to be so by the book. She must really love Vanessa Rojas to do what she did. Love these girls and their friendship!"

However, viewers noted that the show needed to do more for its female characters.

One viewer tweeted, "I genuinely hate that #ChicagoPD treats the female characters like they can only have one primary character at a time. It went from Lindsay dominating seasons at a time to Hailey taking her place with the sporadic 'special' episode and limited screentime for Burgess and Rojas."

'Chicago PD' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights at 10/9c. The next episode will air on April 8.