Chicago P.D. delivered a doozy of a twist for Burgess and Ruzek at the end of the latest episode, with the reveal that young Makayla had been kidnapped just when it seemed like their little family unit could stay happy and together. With the babysitter brutally attacked and Makayla nowhere to be seen, the two cops will have to do everything within their power to try and find her in the next episode, called “Gone.” Stars Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger spoke with CinemaBlend about the search for Burzek’s daughter, and they previewed some extreme reactions to the situation.
The discovery that Gabby had been attacked and Makayla was missing came shortly after Burgess got the news that she would retain full custody rather than Theo Morris – who came onto the scene in a fairly dubious way – winning the case, and she and Ruzek were ready to celebrate with their daughter. When I spoke with Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger about what’s on the way with the new episode on March 9, they weighed in on the aftermath of everything going so bad so quickly, with Squerciati sharing:
I think when a trauma of that magnitude happens, they say most couples end in divorce. And while we're not married, we're something weirdly like an old married couple. And it's just amazing. And it's cool the way they wrote us. It's like, there's these moments of attachment and fierce love, and then these moments of like, incredible anger and the way you can only hate someone that you love. And I don't know, we just sort of... we've been in such a good place. It was kind of sad... We were like, 'Oh, no. Oh, man!'
Fans will get to see that “fierce love” that has kept Burgess and Ruzek as a dynamic duo throughout the nine years of the show, but also some anger due to the trauma of losing Makayla. That’s not to say that they won’t find her again and get back to their version of normal, but happy endings are never guaranteed on Chicago P.D. It certainly sounds like the giddy Burzek who were ready to celebrate the custody win with pizza and champagne will be very different in the next episode. Patrick John Flueger shared his perspective on everything suddenly going so badly for Burzek:
My girlfriend, who is fairly close with Marina, has watched the moment where Marina sees... Gabby. She's watched it again and again, because Marina's reaction is so perfect. It was actually almost disappointing to see them write this devastating moment so quickly, because... we'd love to give these characters some reprieve. [laughs] Just a little bit of a moment of like niceties. But you know, the gal that plays Makayla, Ramona [Edith Williams] is so lovable. It's easy to worry about her and these characters and their relationships. So as much as I would have loved maybe an episode or two between us being happy and us being sad, it's not hard to be upset about them losing their happiness.
Poor Burgess not only had her daughter kidnapped and her babysitter brutally attacked, but it all happened in her own home just when things were looking about as positive as they had in a while. The devastation was clear already; a question is whether or not they’ll be able to find their happiness again. A lot likely depends on what happens during the investigation, and of course what happens to Makayla by the end of the episode.
One thing that is a pretty safe bet is that neither Burgess nor Ruzek will rest while their daughter is missing, and they haven’t spent all these years in the Intelligence Unit without learning how to crack cases. The promo for “Gone” proves that Voight will be on their side, and the stars weighed in on whether Intelligence will be all-hands-on-deck or Burgess and Ruzek will have to go rogue for the search. Marina Squerciati said:
I think it's like we're the nucleus going rogue. What I like about the way they write the show is we each get these like meaty episodes. And then when the shit hits the fan, we're all like, 'And we're in.' It's just really nice... It is a family and you see that dynamic, which is nice.
The Intelligence Unit tends to pull out all the stops when cases get personal, and Tracy Spiridakos also spoke about the found family dynamic of the group in Season 9. Burgess and Ruzek will undoubtedly need all the support they can get over the course of the episode, and Patrick John Flueger previewed that there will be some tension as well:
They did a nice job with this episode specifically, spreading it out, making sure that everybody has input, but we're definitely at odds at times.
Although Marina Squerciati chimed in to say that “not in the beginning” are they at odds, all signs point toward a pretty emotionally fraught episode of Chicago P.D. There are certainly a lot of questions going into the episode – namely, who is responsible for taking Makayla? P.D. took some steps to set up Theo as a threat to Burgess’ custody of Makayla earlier in Season 9, but attacking Gabby and kidnapping a young girl would be a very big escalation, so viewers can only speculate for now.
Fortunately, the “Gone” episode of Chicago P.D. will deliver the answers when it airs on Wednesday, March 9 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC to close out a night of One Chicago action. Be sure to check back with CinemaBlend after the episode for more from Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger, and don’t forget to swing by our 2022 TV schedule for more viewing options now and in the coming weeks.
