Chicago P.D. is finally returning in the 2024 TV schedule to kick off the post-Upton era of the Intelligence Unit following Tracy Spiridakos' exit at the end of Season 11. The cop drama of One Chicago isn't always a great place for happily-ever-afters (see: Upstead), so I took the chance when speaking with showrunner Gwen Sigan to ask about the future of Burgess and Ruzek. The pair finally got engaged in Season 11, and the future seemed nice and bright in a pretty dark show. So, what about Season 12? Well, the showrunner dropped some good news about what's to come.
Burzek and their daughter Makayla are of course already a family without either character saying an official "I do," and I don't think Marina Squerciati was alone in being "a little scared" about what would happen next for the couple. (You can rewatch the proposal episode streaming with a Peacock subscription.) When I spoke with the showrunner ahead of the Season 12 premiere on September 25, I noted that plenty of fans could appreciate that disaster didn't strike Burzek as soon as they had their moment of happiness earlier this year, and Gwen Sigan responded:
We want to keep them in the same spot. I am with the audience that they have fought like hell, and they have gone through a lot, and they have gotten to a point where they're in it together, and they are making that choice every day. 'This is it. It's you and me, and we're in it.'
Fear not, Burzek fans! Chicago P.D.'s longest-running couple is still going strong heading into Season 12, and it doesn't sound like their family will be falling apart either. That's a relief, as the showrunner certainly isn't kidding about Burgess and Ruzek going through hell to get to where they are. Sigan went on:
So they'll be pretty solid, and of course, when things come up, they'll have to deal with it now as a family unit and as an engaged couple and a couple that's planning their wedding and all of the fun things and the stressors that come up with that. They have a lot going on in their independent personal lives, and so the nice thing will be that that relationship... they can keep coming back to as a foundation.
It remains to be seen how much of the wedding planning actually happens on screen, but it sounds like Burgess and Ruzek aren't planning on eloping a la Upstead. Bigger weddings aren't unprecedented in One Chicago, but a big church wedding like April and Ethan's on Chicago Med or even the emotional fish store wedding of Brett and Casey on Chicago Fire are hard to imagine on Chicago P.D. Whatever happens, hopefully the good ship Burzek has as smooth of sailing as possible.
So, how far along is Chicago P.D. in Season 12 as the episodes begin airing on NBC? I asked Gwen Sigan that very question in mid-September, and she shared:
We are currently writing [Episodes] 7 and 8. That's where we're at right now. Isn't it funny? We're only just premiering but we've been at it since June.
Assuming that Chicago P.D. is following its usual format of seasons not affected by COVID complications or the WGA writers strike/SAG-AFTRA actors strike, then the team was nearly at the point of writing the Season 12 fall finale at the time of the interview. (The fall finale is traditionally the ninth episode of a season in One Chicago.) Whatever's in store, fans can at least count on a full season this time around.
Season 12 of Chicago P.D. premieres on Wednesday, September 25 at 10 p.m. ET, following the Season 13 premiere of Chicago Fire to start the next leg of the Stellaride journey at 9 p.m. ET and the Season 10 premiere of Chicago Med as the first with new showrunner Allen MacDonald at 8 p.m. ET, all on NBC. If you want a refresher on what happened in the spring, you can find last season's finales streaming on Peacock.
