Is Intelligence about to lose one of its own when Chicago P.D. returns for its 11th season?
That’s what the NBC drama left us wondering, with the Season 10 finale wrapping up Ruzek’s (Patrick John Flueger) undercover assignment. The white supremacists, including Richard Beck, were stopped, yes, but his grandson, shot Ruzek. Wanting to protect her son, the kid’s mother took him and fled, leaving the officer bleeding out. It took much too long for our comfort for Ruzek to finally reach Burgess (Marina Squerciati).
He was alive when he was taken to the hospital, but it’s unclear what happened after he went in for surgery. And with the ongoing writers and actors’ strikes, it’s going to be some time before we find out how that cliffhanger is resolved.
In fact, those strikes could very well factor into what we see in the Season 11 premiere, as will the fact that, as reported by Deadline prior to the strikes in April, actors across Dick Wolf‘s NBC shows will be appearing in fewer episodes, and deals were being renegotiated. It’s unclear how the strikes will affect that.
So could Ruzek live but be offscreen recovering when the season begins, depending on when it picks up (and if there isn’t a significant time jump)? Could being shot lead him to decide to leave Intelligence, with his eventual return coming sometime in the season? Or could P.D. kill him off? It has been a while since Intelligence lost someone in the line of duty, though the unit did just say goodbye to Jay (Jesse Lee Soffer) last season.
Sure, you could argue that the Burzek of it — there’s still much more to do with their relationship, especially since they just finally got on the same page again — should keep him alive, but that’s not necessarily the case (say, for instance, Flueger or Squerciati decide to leave before the series ends).
But what do you think will happen? Let us know in the poll and comments below.
Chicago P.D., Season 11, TBA, NBC