‘Chicago P.D.’: Benjamin Levy Aguilar Says Torres’ ‘Whole Life Is Flipping Upside Down’ With His Secret Revealed

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Chicago P.D. Season 12 Episode 7 “Contrition.”]

Life is about to get rough for Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) on Chicago P.D.

Gloria (Yara Martinez), his complicated love interest, once again is in the middle of one of Intelligence’s investigations—and the unit’s newest member, Cook (Toya Turner), goes undercover since she’s the only one the other woman doesn’t know. But Cook’s cover is blown, and she’s MIA at the end of the latest episode.

Below, Aguilar teases what’s next.

It seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong at the end of this episode. Gloria realizes who Cook is, Cook learns the truth about Torres and Gloria, then they’re MIA. How is Torres feeling about all of that and the situation that both he and Cook are in the middle of?

Benjamin Levy Aguilar: Oh my God, not great. He’s seen better days for sure. I think that it’s like when we do something that maybe is not the best thing that we did, and we hope to God that it doesn’t get worse, but then it gets worse. That’s what he’s going through. It’s the worst-case scenario, and he’s living it as we speak. So he does not have a chance to breathe. He is in absolute fear and guilt and self-hate, and yeah, he’s going through a lot.

Elizabeth Sisson/NBC

What is next for him and Intelligence after this with Gloria and Cook MIA? 

Is she alive? She might be dead, and if she’s dead, it’s my fault. So it is as high stakes as it gets, truly as high stakes as it gets. Everything is coming crashing in at the same time. The team could find out. She could die. I could go to prison. I could die. It’s the worst-case scenario, truly, and I felt it as I was shooting it. I truly, truly felt it. I felt all of the panic. There was no other way to do it but to feel it, which was really cool in a way, as an actor, even though it sounds so masochistic. But there’s no other way, at least, I don’t know any other way. But I was also really proud. I was like, well, if I’m feeling this, I guess I’m in the ride. I truly am. And it’s been beautiful. I’ve grown so much in these past episodes we’ve done as an actor and as a person.

The logline for the next episode reveals the unit learns the truth about the secret that Torres has been keeping. How does that go for him? Is it better than he expected in any way?

It is not. It just gets worse. His whole life is flipping upside down, truly. The writers have done a tremendous job with this character the whole season. What an arc he’s had, truly since the beginning, honestly, since the first season he was on, when we find out about his past to all of his guilt and anger issues that maybe he has from everything he’s done in his life, but to this, it’s like, wow, he cannot breathe. And I love it. I mean, I love it as an actor, this is literally the roles we want—I mean, at least a lot of my friends I know, we all want to be able to experience these things. That’s why we are able to be in this career. So I’m lucky that I have such beautiful, beautiful, intense storylines.

Who can he lean on during this?

Burgess [Marina Squerciati]. Burgess. She’s really turned out to be a tremendous partner, and I don’t think there’s much there that we get to see of his own gratitude towards her because he’s going through it. But what she’s done is incredible and truly, what a friend, what a person.

Next week, Reid (Shawn Hatosy) is putting a focus on Intelligence. So what does Torres think of the deputy chief?

Torres is a very perceptive guy and he realizes that there’s something up here. Gwen [Sigan, showrunner] hasn’t told us much about it, and I haven’t asked because I kind of like not knowing where that storyline is going, but something seems to be there and then we’ll see a little bit more about that in the next episode.

Related

'Chicago P.D.' Season 12 Episode 7 Recap: Why Cook Feels Betrayed by Torres

Does Torres regret anything that he’s done related to Gloria?

That’s a very good question. He definitely regrets it in some way, but at the same time, that’s what makes him so special is the same thing he did with Mia, his love interest in his first season. He really sees the best in people and sacrifices a lot to trust in that and to believe that people can change. And unfortunately, some people don’t change. And that’s the case here. She was the wife of this abusive drug lord, and he saw the best in her. And obviously, she’s just a flawed human being. She’s not a bad person, but very flawed, and he can’t seem to wrap his head around it. He can’t believe that she went back. She had all the opportunity to leave and to find a different type of life and peace, and she didn’t do it. Isn’t that so interesting, in human beings, that we just tend to go back?

You said he’s going to lean on Burgess, but is she who he has the most significant scenes with going forward, or is it another character?

Well, depending on what type of scenes, but yeah, with Burgess, it’s definitely this “I’m here for you” type of thing. And it’s a consistent support. With Kiana, in the past, it’s been such a beauty to go through such a strong case together and find this bond. And with Gloria, for example, there’s a lot to explore. There’s a lot of emotions and a lot of love—and a lot of pain. And also in the next episode, we’ll see how everyone absorbs this information.

One word to describe his and Voight’s (Jason Beghe) relationship going forward? Is it tense?

Tense, absolutely tense, at the highest level.

Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC