Spoilers ahead for the January 15 episode of Chicago P.D., called "43rd and Normal."
Chicago P.D. resolved the bloody Halstead cliffhanger last week in the winter premiere, but his injury may have just provided the solution to Burgess' pregnancy problem. Burgess has been keeping her pregnancy as quiet as possible, as she doesn't want to be benched, and fans undoubtedly don't want to see her out of Intelligence just because of a bun in the oven. Thanks to "43rd and Normal," more people than just Ruzek are in the know, and her status on the team will likely have to change.
Here's how Halstead's role in the episode may have provided the best solution for Burgess.
First, a quick recap. "43rd and Normal" kicked off with Burgess a few months into her pregnancy, Ruzek a couple of months into trying to figure out how to help, and a sonogram making it very real that they're having a baby together. Burgess dropped the pregnancy bombshell on Atwater without consulting or including Ruzek, and Ruzek was slowly but surely freaking out more and more at the prospect of Burgess remaining in the field with bullets flying.
By the end of the hour, Burgess got some advice (and a mug!) from Trudy, went to tell Voight the big news (and received a very warm hug from her sarge), then finally had a talk with Ruzek about their future. She refused his proposal, but confirmed that she loves him and that they'll be a family together. Now she faces a role in Intelligence that is going to have to change, and this is where I'd say Halstead comes in!
Halstead was back on the job in "43rd in Normal," but on light duty while he continued to recover from the gunshot he sustained in the fall finale and fortunately rallied to survive from in the winter premiere. "Light duty" didn't mean that Jesse Lee Soffer wasn't doing anything as Halstead in this episode, though. Halstead was busy back at the precinct, wearing a sling but digging up intel that the rest of Intelligence needed to catch the bad guys, drawing up warrants, and connecting dots that couldn't be connected by his pals out in the field.
Admittedly, he loudly proclaimed at the end of the episode that he could barely stand six minutes of his time on desk duty in Intelligence, let alone six days, and that didn't exactly overjoy Burgess, who had gone off on Ruzek earlier in the episode for interfering with her attempt to talk down an armed suspect and just shooting the guy dead. Still, she saw the reality of her situation, and she'll probably be riding a desk sooner rather than later.
But Halstead's role in "43rd in Normal" is, I think, proof that P.D. can still utilize Burgess as a character and kickass cop despite potentially sidelining her for the rest of her pregnancy. And frankly, the fact that Halstead still has a job after what he pulled is proof that Intelligence cops can come back from just about anything and still have a career. Voight gave her a big hug, so he's clearly not upset with her, and therefore unlikely to want to ruin her career just because she took a break to have a baby.
Will we see less of Burgess in action once she starts to show her pregnancy, and once Voight decides enough is enough and she has to shift to light duty? Most likely. Will Burgess be totally sidelined from Intelligence and reduced to a pregnant woman with nothing to do but incubate? Definitely not, if P.D. handles her pregnancy like it handled Halstead's injury. And just because Burgess shot Ruzek's proposal down in this episode doesn't mean P.D. won't deliver on some of those Intelligence romance teases!
See how Voight handles Burgess' pregnancy on Chicago P.D. when new episodes air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET as the final hour of the One Chicago block on NBC, starting with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and continuing with Fire at 9 p.m. ET before finishing with P.D. Some "shocking stuff" is on the way, so be sure to tune in to find out what's next in Intelligence.
