Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of Chicago P.D. Season 7, called "No Regrets."
Chicago P.D. already lost one longtime member of the Intelligence Unit in Season 7 with the departure of Antonio, and the events of "No Regrets" may have opened the door for another one of the team to leave the action in the not-too-distant future. As teased in last week's trailer for this episode, Burgess did indeed find out that she's pregnant, and she spent the hour trying to decide what to do about it. Now, based on her decision, she might not be able to do her job safely.
Let's break it down. Burgess was actually pretty calm about the unplanned pregnancy, aside from her alarm when the doctor first broke the news. In Burgess' defense, the doctor was very upbeat and teasing in delivering the news that she had no reason to suspect Burgess would be happy about.
Burgess has always wanted kids, but wasn't sure if now was the right time. Ruzek, who is the father after their post-crossover hookup, didn't pressure her one way or the other, and he didn't argue when Burgess said that she'd made "an appointment," presumably for an abortion. After a case that involved a mom who loved and treasured her son above everything, even though his father was a man who had abducted, assaulted, and imprisoned her for years, Burgess was having second thoughts.
Although her conversation with the mom didn't convince Burgess that the time is indeed right to have a child, she did decide to cancel the appointment. For now, Burgess has decided not to make a decision she can't unmake, and she remains pregnant. Will she stay that way, or come to the conclusion that she doesn't want to go through a pregnancy at this point in her life?
I can honestly see it going either way at this point. Chicago P.D. is in its seventh season, and Burgess has been on board from the beginning, so it stands to reason that Burgess might decide to just go for it and have a baby now. Burgess was once engaged to Ruzek, so she must have considered having kids with him in the past.
Besides, she's been pretty unlucky in love, with her latest boyfriend literally being murdered. She wants kids, and the timing is never going to be great as long as she's a cop in Intelligence; why not go for it? On the downside, however, if Chicago P.D. does have Burgess make the decision to stay pregnant, then Burgess might have to leave Intelligence, or at least reduce her work in the unit.
As the doctor in "No Regrets" said, Burgess shouldn't be chasing down suspects in dangerous situations when pregnant, and a big part of the job for Intelligence cops is running into danger with little more than a bulletproof vest and their own instincts to keep them safe. She could stay in Intelligence in a less intense capacity and work more on the information-gathering and in-house parts of the job without going on raids and rips and undercover ops in dangerous situations.
Still, that would mean Intelligence would be a cop down when going on those raids and rips, so Burgess taking a backseat but staying in Intelligence may be easier said than done. At this point, however, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Chicago P.D. could keep Burgess pregnant and actively part of the team without Burgess deciding to make another appointment or tragically suffering a miscarriage.
Burgess is only four weeks pregnant as of "No Regrets," so depending on how much time passes in-universe between now and the Season 7 finale, P.D. could just have Burgess keep her pregnancy a secret and not start showing until the end. She could have her baby off-screen before Season 8, and not a whole lot might have to change.
Would this be realistic in real life? No. Would this be believable through the magic of TV? I don't see why not! (Then again, I am an X-Files fan.) Of course, even if Burgess does decide to remain pregnant on the job and risk her health and her pregnancy by keeping it a secret, I'm not sure I can buy Ruzek keeping it a secret. Of course, I wouldn't have believed that Halstead would go into another secret relationship with somebody involved in a case, and images from the midseason finale next week reveal that he's a bloody mess after doing that all over again.
Only time will tell if Burgess chooses to remain pregnant, and if pregnancy is enough to take her out of the field and off of the team in Intelligence. For now, you can catch the midseason finale of Chicago P.D. Season 7 on Wednesday, November 20 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following the midseason finales of Chicago Fire (with Gabby Dawson back in the mix) at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med (with Natalie recovering her memories) at 8 p.m. ET.
