Spoilers ahead for the "No Regrets" episode of Chicago P.D. Season 7 on NBC.
Chicago P.D. dropped a pregnancy bombshell on the Intelligence Unit in Season 7, with Burgess finding out that she has a bun in the oven courtesy of her post-crossover night with Ruzek. For most of the episode following her discovery, Burgess was seemingly learning toward keeping her "appointment," presumably for an abortion, but she ended the hour not planning on going through with it just yet. What does all of this mean for Burgess and Ruzek's relationship?
Marina Squerciati, who plays Burgess, weighed in on how the pregnancy bombshell will impact Ruzek (who is "a little broken" this season) and Burgess, saying this:
At the end of this episode, I don’t know that she’s made a decision. She just knows that she cancelled the appointment. She’s struggling with whether she wants to be a mother right now, and when she makes that decision, either way, I think Ruzek sort of feels left out. Basically, the problem with Burgess and Ruzek right now is that they’re both looking at it pretty selfishly, and not how it’s affecting the other person. I think the only way that they’re going to come together is if they sort of take into account the other person’s point of view.
Although Burgess did cancel the appointment by the end of the episode, that doesn't mean she's going to choose to remain pregnant and become a mom. She just didn't make a decision that she couldn't unmake. She did tell Ruzek about her pregnancy and original plan to have an abortion, and she did tell him she ultimately cancelled the appointment, but he was never really part of the process, and Marina Squerciati's comments to TVLine suggest Ruzek might not feel so great about that.
Their reactions in this particular episode were pretty understandable, in my book, as they were both reeling from the news in different ways. How will they continue to process her pregnancy now that it's not going away just yet? And what does this mean for what seemed like a growing intimacy in the aftermath of their seemingly one-off hookup? Marina Squerciati shared her thoughts:
I think it’s kind of unfortunate, because I think that they could have built to something really wonderful, because I do think they’re meant to be together, whether it’s now or later. I think it’s more later than now. But the prospect of a baby is sort of pushing that question to the forefront: Are they ready for each other now? Burgess definitely makes it about her journey. She needs to figure this out on her own, and I don’t think Ruzek appreciates that.
It's hard to put the brakes on a relationship when one person is literally pregnant with the other's child, so Burgess and Ruzek really might not be able to avoid looking at how their relationship has to change. Despite both giving other relationships a shot last season (with Ruzek going for the slightly awkward romance with Upton), they went back to each other after the crossover.
If Burgess decides to have the baby, they'll presumably be in each other's lives forever. And Ruzek may not have much say in that at the moment! I do wonder if he'll say something to her if she tries to remain in the field as a cop while keeping her pregnancy a secret, and the promo photos for the fall finale reveal that Burgess is on the streets where a raid is seemingly going to go down. Of course, given that they're on a mission to rescue Halstead, it may be all-hands-on-deck.
Marina Squerciati went on to sum up what may be the biggest hurdle to a renewed Burzek relationship:
I think right now, there’s a line I say, ‘We’re both so different,’ and I think that’s true. It’s like two people who almost shouldn’t be together, but their chemistry is just amazing. But they’re too different right now. Yeah, I don’t think he’s ready, and I don’t think she’s ready. I think everybody thinks like, ‘Oh, he’s immature. He’s not ready for Burgess,’ but I don’t think Burgess is ready for him either. But I think that they can’t deny their friendship, and the sexual chemistry, and so they keep falling into this pattern.
Well, there's nothing to disrupt a pattern of will-they-won't-they like a bun in the oven! Fans may have to wait until 2020 to find out what happens next on the Burzek front, as the fall finale looks like it will be very Halstead-centric, with Upton as the one going all-out to rescue her partner. Whether or not she's in on his secret remains to be seen, but that could be a hurdle in their own potential relationship.
Catch the fall finale of Chicago P.D. on One Chicago Wednesday, November 20 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following the Chicago Fire fall finale at 9 p.m. ET and the Chicago Med finale at 8 p.m. ET.
